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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Dworkin’s work is often quoted and hailed in radical feminist circles, and on my quest to read any feminist-related book I can get my hands on, I finally decided to take the plunge and read from her.
Maybe the little snippets floating around online hyped me up a little too much, because actually sitting and reading this book, I found much of it to be…dated, to say the least.
While I do think her analysis on the Brother’s Grimm and how it’s female archetypes play into a patriarchal mindset, much of these stories now have either been insanely sanitized or completely replaced by newer stories for kids.
Same with the erotica sections- as while her analysis on how the brutalization of women/bottoms has some mirroring to society at large, it doesn’t hold the same weight now as much of written erotica is dominated by women by a *landslide*. Not to mention that much of the same themes and imagery have remained (somewhat) the same. I’m sure Dworkin’s later works better covers this, but just working from this book alone it doesn’t hit the same as it might’ve back in the 1970s when this was first published.
The chapter on foot binding and the larger ‘beauty is pain’ criticisms, however, were very timeless and still held a lot of significance. The accompanying illustration was also incredible. This chapter had most if not all of the snippets I had been seeing online that are from Dworkin, and it’s not a surprise. I feel like if this section was reprinted as a zine, I’d gladly have it on my shelf.
Now, up until this point I was going to settle this at just three stars- After all, while much of the content isn’t exactly the same relevancy or within the same contexts anymore, I still feel the feminist historical value.
Sadly, I had to drop a star after reading the last chapter, and was debating to even allow it stay at two stars.
The last chapter is Dworkin’s suggestion and theory for what the future would look like and how to achieve that (in an abstract sense). I found myself nodding along- The current binary of man/woman female/male has created a punishing system where there can only be one or the other, and if as a society we acknowledged the spectrum that humans are, then the boxes humans are forced into would blend together until no one is trapped.
BUT….She then stamps at the very end of this utopia imagery with a few blurbs stating that in this society with no boxes, things like incest, bestiality, and other paraphilias would flourish too!
Uh. What. What???
Sorry, can we dial back a bit? Can we pump the brakes? Not ONCE have I seen these portions shared or talked about- and I’m completely shocked at the raving reviews not even touching this conclusion of the book. I’m even more shocked that no one had spread these portions online. Even in some of the deep trench radical feminist circles I’ve seen have NEVER pulled up these paragraphs and said ‘hey, what the hell did she mean by that.’
This is the second piece of radfem literature that contains some seriously batshit statements that seemingly no radfem wants to bring up when the ‘Feminst MUST READS’ posts circulate.
I really, really would not recommend this book as a genuine introduction into feminism nor as something to uncritically throw into a ‘must read’ list without at least warning people. If you’re looking into feminist history and want to read from a prominent radical figure of the time, then maybe give it a read for the sake of saying ‘yeah, I read that. kinda bonkers at the ending, right?’
I kept going back and forth between one and two stars, but I think I’m settling at one. The WEIRD sex talk at the end, the sprinkled holocaust imagery, citing some seriously questionable figures…it’s not good. There’s good snippets and points for sure but as a whole, this book is a hot mess and I’m seriously wondering if the radfems who quote this piece actually read it all the way through.
Maybe the little snippets floating around online hyped me up a little too much, because actually sitting and reading this book, I found much of it to be…dated, to say the least.
While I do think her analysis on the Brother’s Grimm and how it’s female archetypes play into a patriarchal mindset, much of these stories now have either been insanely sanitized or completely replaced by newer stories for kids.
Same with the erotica sections- as while her analysis on how the brutalization of women/bottoms has some mirroring to society at large, it doesn’t hold the same weight now as much of written erotica is dominated by women by a *landslide*. Not to mention that much of the same themes and imagery have remained (somewhat) the same. I’m sure Dworkin’s later works better covers this, but just working from this book alone it doesn’t hit the same as it might’ve back in the 1970s when this was first published.
The chapter on foot binding and the larger ‘beauty is pain’ criticisms, however, were very timeless and still held a lot of significance. The accompanying illustration was also incredible. This chapter had most if not all of the snippets I had been seeing online that are from Dworkin, and it’s not a surprise. I feel like if this section was reprinted as a zine, I’d gladly have it on my shelf.
Now, up until this point I was going to settle this at just three stars- After all, while much of the content isn’t exactly the same relevancy or within the same contexts anymore, I still feel the feminist historical value.
Sadly, I had to drop a star after reading the last chapter, and was debating to even allow it stay at two stars.
The last chapter is Dworkin’s suggestion and theory for what the future would look like and how to achieve that (in an abstract sense). I found myself nodding along- The current binary of man/woman female/male has created a punishing system where there can only be one or the other, and if as a society we acknowledged the spectrum that humans are, then the boxes humans are forced into would blend together until no one is trapped.
BUT….She then stamps at the very end of this utopia imagery with a few blurbs stating that in this society with no boxes, things like incest, bestiality, and other paraphilias would flourish too!
Uh. What. What???
Sorry, can we dial back a bit? Can we pump the brakes? Not ONCE have I seen these portions shared or talked about- and I’m completely shocked at the raving reviews not even touching this conclusion of the book. I’m even more shocked that no one had spread these portions online. Even in some of the deep trench radical feminist circles I’ve seen have NEVER pulled up these paragraphs and said ‘hey, what the hell did she mean by that.’
This is the second piece of radfem literature that contains some seriously batshit statements that seemingly no radfem wants to bring up when the ‘Feminst MUST READS’ posts circulate.
I really, really would not recommend this book as a genuine introduction into feminism nor as something to uncritically throw into a ‘must read’ list without at least warning people. If you’re looking into feminist history and want to read from a prominent radical figure of the time, then maybe give it a read for the sake of saying ‘yeah, I read that. kinda bonkers at the ending, right?’
I kept going back and forth between one and two stars, but I think I’m settling at one. The WEIRD sex talk at the end, the sprinkled holocaust imagery, citing some seriously questionable figures…it’s not good. There’s good snippets and points for sure but as a whole, this book is a hot mess and I’m seriously wondering if the radfems who quote this piece actually read it all the way through.
reflective
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
sad
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
first half was pretty good but the second half... anyways... dk what to rate this bc i dnf after 50%
★★★★☆ - good book, nice intro to this genre of books for me.
The last few chapters discuss more taboo? topics... - but the book was decent overall
The last few chapters discuss more taboo? topics... - but the book was decent overall
I was all on board until dworkin began advocating for incest and zoophilia. what the hell were those last few pages??
2.5 because the first half, part 1 and 2 and the first chapter of part 3 were really good. I thought yes this is great a sure 5 star.
Then she asserted that the women burned during the Inquisition were indeed witches and were essentially guilty of every non-supernatural thing they were accused of. That's a hard no from me. Just no. That is not okay. Those women were not witches, were not pagans. Don't call them witches.
So I thought, you have to lose at least a star for that. But OK it's 4 star quality still. But no. For we still had the Androgyny part to go.
Now either Dworkin had some messed up ideas and meant to imply exactly what most people would infer from her words. Or she is a really bad writer. Either way, that was a massive mess and I am not okay with it.
Sigh. I had hoped for better from such a well praised author. Maybe her other books are better.
Then she asserted that the women burned during the Inquisition were indeed witches and were essentially guilty of every non-supernatural thing they were accused of. That's a hard no from me. Just no. That is not okay. Those women were not witches, were not pagans. Don't call them witches.
So I thought, you have to lose at least a star for that. But OK it's 4 star quality still. But no. For we still had the Androgyny part to go.
Now either Dworkin had some messed up ideas and meant to imply exactly what most people would infer from her words. Or she is a really bad writer. Either way, that was a massive mess and I am not okay with it.
Sigh. I had hoped for better from such a well praised author. Maybe her other books are better.