Women's Studies Program sponsors new book club

Though she's a self-described avid reader, Nancy Viens, secretarial assistant in the Willis Library reference department, had never belonged to a book club until this semester.

In September, she learned about the Bluestockings Book Club sponsored by the UNT Women's Studies Program. When Viens went to the group's first meeting, she was hooked.

"The club is a lot more fun than I thought it would be," she says. "I've belonged to writers' clubs, and sometimes those meetings are boring. But in the Bluestockings Book Club, everyone gets a chance to talk, and I like to talk about books that I've read with others who have read the same books."

The Bluestockings Book Club is named after the Blue Stocking Circle, an informal literary club that flourished in London in the second half of the 18th century. The name comes from member Benjamin Stillingfleet's blue worsted stockings; he was too poor to afford the customary black silk stockings suitable for evening wear.

The group was run by educated, conservative women who tried to raise the moral, intellectual and cultural standards of their time. Members took turns hosting evenings of entertainment in which the literary figures of London took the spotlight.

Sandi Spencer, director of women's studies, says she and several faculty members who teach courses in the program decided to start the book club to provide a way for students to discuss nonfiction as well as fiction relating to women's issues.

"We're choosing readings that are thought provoking in their discussions of several women's roles — women as mothers, women as professionals and women in other roles that have been delegated to them," she says.

The club, which has met monthly since September, will not meet in December but will resume Jan. 22. Meetings are from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Denton's Golden Triangle Mall.

The books that will be discussed during the spring semester include Unless, a novel by Carol Shields that focuses on a mother's grief over a daughter's break with the family; All About Love by feminist theorist Bell Hooks, which challenges assumptions about love; and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, a mystery first published in 1860 that is told through several narrators.

Spencer says more than 50 women signed up for the Bluestockings Book Club, with about 25 attending the monthly meetings.

"The club is drawing not just students, faculty and staff members, but also people from the community who want to talk about books," Spencer says. "And although no men have attended so far, the club isn't limited to women."

She adds that club members range from undergraduates not long out of high school to women of retirement age.

Club member Judith Kulp, a staff member with UNT's International Studies Office, says the age range of members is exciting to her.

"At my age, I've seen women's issues like pay equality and domestic violence come to the core and then fade away again. Then there's a resurgence years later," she says. "It's exciting to see the younger women's perspectives on these issues. Some of the older women in the group disagree with them, so it's always a lively discussion."

For more information about the Bluestockings Book Club, call the women's studies office at (940) 565-2098.

BY NANCY KOLSTI nkolsti@unt.edu

Other web references

• Bluestockings Book Club web site

Other featured articles in this issue

• Rep. Burgess announces $3.1 million for Center for Advanced Research and Technology
• Latest UNT IDs serve as debit and ATM cards
• E-trans offers many benefits
• Holiday giving continues on campus
• Winter weather brings possibility for closures
• UNT creates Center for Psychosocial Health
• Council focuses on daycare
• UNT Moot Court teams take first, second place at statewide tournament
• TAMS students honored in science competition

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