Just posted about one of my favorite Halloween books, The Witch Who Was Afraid of Witches. It’s got sisters, a great mom, a cross-gender friendship, and magical power. What more could I ask for? Well, check this out:
Yesterday, when I posted about how the female in so much media is constantly moored on the back of the bike or the back of the Hippogriff, someone told me there is a term for that position: “riding bitch.” With 258,000 matches, Google agrees.
Here, in the story, Roger decides it would be more fun to be a witch than a ghost. He was right.
Savor this image. I wish that, both in fiction and in reality, more females got the chance to steer their own way.
have you read the paperbag princess?
Yo, I was squeezed in riding bitch in the back seat of the truck between the dog and the kid and it was torture all the way.
I am a woman who rides a motorcycle and I have heard the term “riding bitch”. I heard it for the first time only recently and only from an ex-boyfriend, who argued that it wasn’t sexist :/ Fortunately, that term seems rare among casual riders. Can’t speak for hard core bikers, though.
Lastly, a quick “thank you” for a terrific blog and for braving sfgate.com.
Hi somebody42,
this is great to hear, i got another comment like this as well.
you’re welcome, cant say I miss Sf Gate much : )
MM
Have you read any of the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett? I think you’d like them. They’re all about witches and Tiffany, the young heroine, is just the kind of pragmatic, no nonsense heroine I want to see. I think they are aimed at about age 12 but I love them age 41!
http://www.goodreads.com/series/75586-tiffany-aching
Also pretty much anything by Philip Pullman – in addition to his better known ‘Dark Materials’ trilogy, the Sally Lockhart series is great – have a look at the description of Sally:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/114982.The_Ruby_in_the_Smoke
His books for younger children are equally good. They almost all have a tough, feisty female protagonist. Again most of them I guess are for about age 12 and up, but I love them all.
http://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=philip+pullman
Those are two of my very favourite authors, I can’t wait for my girls to be old enough for me to share with them.
Fiona.
I ride a motorcycle, and I’ve never heard a woman passenger (or pillion) referred to as a riding bitch. I do see and meet more and more women riding on their own. Anyone referring to a woman that way is truly out of touch.