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montsett's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
communistbatman's review against another edition
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
The premise of this book is self-explanatory from its title. It’s a short novel entirely devoted to our assess: the language we use surrounding it, its physiological makeup, and of course, societal perception throughout history.
Still, it’s not really about butts. I mean it is but it isn’t, because it examines how 21st century society ended up where we did with our exhibitions of butts. This book isn’t a textbook so it doesn’t lay down facts and figures about the sensibilities behind butt-oriented culture. Instead, it challenges how the past relates the present: in summation, with racism and cultural appropriation.
Still, it’s not really about butts. I mean it is but it isn’t, because it examines how 21st century society ended up where we did with our exhibitions of butts. This book isn’t a textbook so it doesn’t lay down facts and figures about the sensibilities behind butt-oriented culture. Instead, it challenges how the past relates the present: in summation, with racism and cultural appropriation.
feministcowboy's review against another edition
5.0
This book has helped me repair my relationship with my body.
emrodav's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmmmm. 3.5 stars, probably.
Butts: A Backstory has quite a lot going for it. Radke is a great writer, able to balance historical narrative and smart commentary well. The subjects chosen for each section are interesting and worthy of discussion, and I learned a lot (especially about Sarah Baartman, who I was unfamiliar with before reading this book).
However, Butts is somehow both too narrow and too broad in its scope. By narrowing the context for the book down to women in the UK and USA in the last 250 years, so many possible avenues that could've been explored...aren't. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed what I learned and what Radke wrote about, but I could feel throughout the book that there were so many possibilities ignored!
On the other hand, Radke tries to look at how women, their butts, their feelings about their butts, their feelings about others' butts, and others' views about their butts, shape culture. This involves looking at racism (a very important theme in this book, not going to discount that at all), cultural appropriation, body image issues, women's fashion, celebrity culture, fashion, and more. It's a lot! It feels at times like these are a series of essays connected by the theme of butts (specifically women's butts), but it's not all enough to make a cohesive book out of it.
I don't know! I did really enjoy what I learned in the first 1/3 of the book, and I enjoyed Radke's writing style quite a bit. And I do think the discussion of body/size/physique and racism is important. I just don't think Radke was able to bring everything together in what is overall a pretty short book.
Butts: A Backstory has quite a lot going for it. Radke is a great writer, able to balance historical narrative and smart commentary well. The subjects chosen for each section are interesting and worthy of discussion, and I learned a lot (especially about Sarah Baartman, who I was unfamiliar with before reading this book).
However, Butts is somehow both too narrow and too broad in its scope. By narrowing the context for the book down to women in the UK and USA in the last 250 years, so many possible avenues that could've been explored...aren't. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed what I learned and what Radke wrote about, but I could feel throughout the book that there were so many possibilities ignored!
On the other hand, Radke tries to look at how women, their butts, their feelings about their butts, their feelings about others' butts, and others' views about their butts, shape culture. This involves looking at racism (a very important theme in this book, not going to discount that at all), cultural appropriation, body image issues, women's fashion, celebrity culture, fashion, and more. It's a lot! It feels at times like these are a series of essays connected by the theme of butts (specifically women's butts), but it's not all enough to make a cohesive book out of it.
I don't know! I did really enjoy what I learned in the first 1/3 of the book, and I enjoyed Radke's writing style quite a bit. And I do think the discussion of body/size/physique and racism is important. I just don't think Radke was able to bring everything together in what is overall a pretty short book.