Rank Ladies: Gender and Cultural Hierarchy in American Vaudeville
by M. Alison Kibler I just can't get enough vaudeville lately.. this book satisfied my obsessive urge, although it didn't entirely live up to the title. A few female performers were showcased, but it could have used more commentary on the subject from actual women in vaudeville.
Ruth Budd, a strong and outspoken acrobat, was my favorite part of the book. Her life sounded pretty interesting and even included a controversial engagement to a female impersonator. Which stirred people because since she was strong, they already thought she was totally a lez. She actually was really pretty, judging from the pictures in the book. Anyway, she was neat.
There was lengthy explanation of the fact that the moral cleaning-up of vaudeville was therefore seen as a "feminization," since at the time, women represented moral judgment and offended sensibilities. That was new to me. There was a lot of quoting from actual reports written by theater owners, which was a totally awesome source. The footnotes were worth reading.
Gossip Girl #1: A Novel
by Cecily Von ZiegesarRemember,
I love teens! I want to start familiarizing myself with the modern-era of teen "literature", starting of course with this seminal work of the new millennium. Man, did you know that the girl Serena in this book goes to an art opening and gets her anus (or maybe bellybutton) photographed? Then the artistic anus portrait is displayed on buses and cabs. But Serena doesn't care, she's so cooool. All the guys love her. She's the prettiest.
Because of this, I sympathized with the bitchy character Blair. I know all too well what it's like to be outshined. Blair's boyfriend is even secretly in love with Serena. That sucks!
The "gossip girl" gimmick was pretty pointless but I guess without it the book would lack 'zing'. I was embarrassed to check this out from the library but it's important for my education. I'm glad I took the plunge.
Labels: books, teens, vaudeville
