Crazy ideas

There's a Blog Against Sexism Day thing goin' around, which I will take as a proximal goad to link to these two interesting articles that I read today:

• A book review of a book on the absence of women in science, which does a great job of presenting a number of interesting (but often conflicting) arguments as a sort of discussion. Good ideas, questions, stuff. Worth a read.
  (via Medley)
  
  
• Muttering in a Corner offers an excellent examination of words and their power, looking at a kerfluffle around a reading from the Vagina Monologues.

  Well, while it’s great and all to reach the mastery level of feminism, it’s always good to remind yourself that the reason that conservatives fear and loathe this play so much is that it still has a lot of power as a feminist teaching tool for much younger women. It’s the Sassy magazine for the early 21st century. If nothing else, the reaction young women get lately when they try to embrace the play and its message that everything you’ve learned about what a terrible person you are because of your genitals is wrong, they are going to get the smackdown from people that just wish the vagina would disappear and take away all its power to soften our fascist phallic spirit.
  [Actually a subquote from Amanda at Pandagon]

  Indeed, in the context of the current story, the excerpt provided from the play comes across as very powerful, and that power has almost nothing to do with the word itself.