LSU’s Thought Daughter Book Club offers a fun opportunity for students to analyze feminist and intersectional themes in literature, all in a safe and welcoming community.
The Feminists in Action club recently revived its book club under the new title Thought Daughter Book Club, with its first meeting on Friday, Sept. 26. The aim of the club is to read both fiction and nonfiction novels and analyze them through a feminist lens.
“Basically, it is the girls, gays and theys getting together to talk about books and have a good time and get to know each other,” said FIA President Lilli Sims, a senior psychology major.
Thought Daughter Book Club is starting off strong with “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang, which follows Juniper Heyward as she attempts to pass off her dead friend’s manuscript as her own. The book explores themes of cultural appropriation, race and identity, giving the group plenty to discuss.
“My goal and my hope is to look at that and look at how race and gender may intersect, which is one of the big themes of our larger club — intersectional feminism,” said FIA Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Temi Oduola-owoo, a senior mass communication major.
Oduola-owoo is the officer in charge of running the book club. Having been a member since her sophomore year, the book club was what really got Odoula-owoo into FIA in the first place. Now a senior, the club officer hopes to reestablish the book club as a fun way for students to get involved in the larger club and meet new people.
At the first meeting, Odoula-owoo led a pre-book discussion over chocolate chip cookies, fruit snacks and soda, asking questions like “What defines cultural appreciation vs. appropriation?” and “Can we separate the art from the artist?”
These questions introduced the group to the themes in “Yellowface” and prompted members to draw from their own experiences concerning identity, media consumption and friendship in their answers.
“It is definitely about promoting critical thinking and thinking about books and how they apply in real life,” Odoula-owoo said.
Reviving this club was not without its challenges, however. Organizing and promoting the meetings, updating TigerLink, seeking approval from the club’s faculty advisor and preparing discussion material was a lot for Odoula-owoo to take on. However, she says that the whole process was ultimately worth it to create such a positive, safe space for open discussion.
“We are a safe space,” Sims agreed. “Like, you can basically say whatever you want.”
The club is scheduled to meet every Friday at 3 p.m. in the Women’s Center, and anyone is welcome to attend (yes, even men). Odoula-owoo hopes that by opening the club to anyone interested, Thought Daughter Book Club can become a fun, low-key environment for students to meet and make friends who come from all different backgrounds, while discussing a good book.
“I am a big reader, and I always sometimes felt like ‘dang, I don’t have people to talk to about books at the same level,’” Odoula-owoo said. “So having a book club, especially with students here, is really cool. I love thought daughters. I love people who like to think.”
