Author Archives
-
We Are All Earthings: Speciesism and Feminist Responsibility Toward Animals by Amy Levin
“earth’ling: n. One who inhabits the earth.” – Earthlings, 2006 “We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. Remote from universal nature, and living by complicated artifice, man in civilization surveys the creatures through… Read More ›
-
Through Body and Space: A Glimpse into Women Worshippers of Aadhi Parashakthi by Amy Levin
Once what happened was after people started believing someone around also started believing in this temple and one person kept a statue on their steps. Her Aunty she believed and she is very much interested in small things. So she… Read More ›
-
Deepa Mehta’s “Water” and Homegrown Indian Feminism by Amy Levin
In the first scene of the Deepa Mehta’s 2005 Indian film Water, a father tells his eight year old daughter, Chuyia, “Child. Do you remember getting married? Your husband is dead. You’re a widow now.” These are some of the… Read More ›
-
Jewish Weddings: Identity, Desire, and Anxiety by Amy Levin
As a Jewish feminist, I’m often critical of marriage. And, as a 26-year old (this month) who attended Jewish camp, leadership/environmental programs in Israel, and was active in Jewish youth groups growing up, I’ve been frequenting my fair share of… Read More ›
-
Beyond “Liberal” Female Piety or “Women Read the Qur’an Too” by Amy Levin
I’m a teacher’s assistant for an undergraduate course at New York University called, “What is Islam?” The other day in class, my professor asked the students whether or not the Qur’an is considered a “book”. Fraught with anxiety over inheriting… Read More ›
-
A Room of One’s Own: Sacred Women’s Space by Amy Levin
I normally don’t get too personal in my blog posts. I figure if I’m going to take up space on the blog I might as well offer up something other than me, my voice, my body, and instead some good… Read More ›
-
Women, Religion and Consumption By Amy Levin
While my last post focused on the similarities between the social and collective experience (perhaps qua Durkheim?) of the occupy movement and the feminist movement in religion, I’d like to continue thinking about themes by taking a different path towards… Read More ›
-
Occupying Feminism/Religion: Letting Community Consciousness Roam Free By Amy Levin
Becoming involved in the women’s movement means moving from isolation as a woman to community. Through telling my story, I reach out to other women. Through their hearing, which both affirms my story and makes it possible, they reach out to me. I am able to move, gradually, from defensiveness to openness, from fear of questioning to a deep and radical questioning of the premises from which I have lived my life. I experience relief; my anger has been heard, and I am not alone. But I am also frightened; I am undermining my own foundations. The walls come tumbling down. – Judith Plaskow, The Coming of Lilith
Lately, I’ve been thinking about this blog – what it does – in relation to my life, as it promotes the intersection between scholarship, activism, and community. I notice these three elements in most, if not all of the FAR posts, but I’ve been wondering what exactly it means to really embody a life that allows scholarship, activism, and community to mutually mix and inform each other.
-
Feminist Imaginings in the Contemporary Kabbalah Movement By Amy Levin
Amy Levin is a graduate student in Religious Studies at New York University with an interdisciplinary focus on American religion, gender and queer theory, secularization, spirituality, and consumption. She is a regular contributor to The Revealer and a practicing feminist. If Kabbalah… Read More ›