Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

17 reviews

jalexpulliamkepler's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

4.0

Interesting and often moving but sometimes felt more like a series of essays than a memoir

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Child abuse, Classism, Sexism, Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and War

ctinawest's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Blatantly honest. Powerful and emotional. Beautifully detailed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Racism, Sexism, Mental illness, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Racial slurs

brynalexa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

It’s hard to give a poet anything but five stars on their autobiography. I can’t imagine having such a strong memory of my formative years after going through so many transitions and traumas. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Abandonment, Medical content, Sexual content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexism, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Murder

Moderate: Slavery, Lesbophobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, War, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion, Addiction, and Alcohol

wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.75

Difficult to read, but in the way that it challenges how you think about things.

In particular this made me consider the times it took place during, the "good ole days" and how shitty they were for a lot people.  I make it a habit to not read much about a book before I pick it up to give everything a fair chance and the reason why I picked those one up was because I saw it on a list of commonly banned books.  While it contains some mature(-ish) content, it is much tamer than many things I read as a youth and the value of showing other-ing on a personal degree is unmatched.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Grief, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Sexual violence, and War

trisha_clay's review

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape

chriswoody94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Grief, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Violence, Sexism, and Pregnancy

bookish_bry's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

This is a fantastic book. Angelou has a wonderful grip on the English language and it made every story she told pop off of the page. This is an autobiography, so it doesn't have a plot perse, but she chose what stories to tell very well and made a cohesive story out of pieces of her life and  imparted a very personal but also socially important message.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Pedophilia, Hate crime, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy

a_bloom's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

It took a little while for me to get used to the writing and actually interested in the story, but within a hundred pages it REALLY captured my attention. Her writing is beautiful and descriptive and painfully aware of how her younger self perceived the situation of her birth and life. However, the last few chapters come off awkward as it strays from the usual pacing, but considering she had more autobots it makes sense.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Sexual violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Grief, Death, Blood, Abortion, and Addiction

Minor: Infidelity, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, War, Incest, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, and Slavery

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Violence, Racism, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Body shaming, Ableism, Sexism, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Medical content, and Child abuse

Minor: Child death, Bullying, War, Infidelity, Car accident, Police brutality, Torture, Slavery, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Excrement, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Drug use, and Classism

Poverty, WWII, concentration camps, Japanese displacement, homelessness, d slur.

signeskov's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

5.0

“Without willing it, I had gone from being ignorant of being ignorant to being aware of being aware. And the worst part of my awareness was that I didn’t know what I was aware of.”

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a beautiful and haunting piece of writing on the troubles of growing up black and female in interwar America. But more than that, it is really just that: a story of growing up and the wisdom that comes from experience.

Written in wonderful prose and effectively weaving its tapestry of real-life characters, events, and glimpses of memories, Angelou expresses both childlike wonder, horror, teenage anxiety, and most of all, love of family and self in the most exquisite ways. This is truly a  timeless and recommended read  and understandably part of the modern American literary canon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexism, Racism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia