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siria's review against another edition
3.0
Kameron Hurley's essays look at the intersection of feminist and geek culture, with a particularly strong focus on the representation of women in SFF and pop culture. Hurley's voice is strong, but the essays themselves are sort of... adequate? (With the exception of the one on Benjanun Sriduangkaew/Requires Hate, which was riddled with the sort of false equivalencies and hedging that Hurley decries elsewhere in the book.) If you're a newcomer to these issues, you might get more out of them than I did, but mostly I thought these were rather Tumblr 101.
katepowellshine's review against another edition
4.0
An important book, especially as geek culture is more and more synonymous with American culture more generally. I do wish the author had gone more in-depth at times; I felt like I was getting a lot of repeated information instead of a deeper analysis. Also, much of it is a depressing read, despite occasional woman-power cheering. But I made myself read it anyway, because it's just that important.
diamondolc's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
I think this book raises some important points, but the title is misleading. It’s less “the geek feminist revolution” and more “a person who happens to be geeky and feminist rambling and ranting about various shitty aspects of society.” The book is somewhat scatterbrained, rambling here there and everywhere which made it hard to get any clear message out of it other than that The Man is shitty and we should rise up against him.
Also, I listened to this book on audiobook and the narrator’s voice was *sooooo* irritating. That in and of itself made me want to rate this 1 star but I know that wouldn’t have been fair haha.
I think this book raises some important points, but the title is misleading. It’s less “the geek feminist revolution” and more “a person who happens to be geeky and feminist rambling and ranting about various shitty aspects of society.” The book is somewhat scatterbrained, rambling here there and everywhere which made it hard to get any clear message out of it other than that The Man is shitty and we should rise up against him.
Also, I listened to this book on audiobook and the narrator’s voice was *sooooo* irritating. That in and of itself made me want to rate this 1 star but I know that wouldn’t have been fair haha.
shawcrit's review against another edition
5.0
I mean, Kameron Hurley is a badass magical unicorn kind of person. I knew that when I read God's War and reading The Mirror Empire only reinforced it. THIS though, takes her bad-assery to a new level. I've never been one to read author blogs but I will now. Throughout these essays, the personal and the political intertwine so well, with such clarity and strength, and I will continue to return to this book when I need encouragement and a dose of hope.
grayola's review against another edition
3.0
Falling somewhere between a call to arms and a compilation of blog posts, I was being tugged in and out of love with this collection of empowering essays. There's no doubt we need voices like Kameron's now more than ever, but my misguided expectation of a book filled with feminist analysis of geek culture in essay form—like some essays contained in Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist—turned out to be very wrong and contributed to my disinterest at times. The Hugo Award-winning essay that is referenced throughout the book and closes out the collection, however, is worth trudging through it, no matter your expectations.
ronsos's review against another edition
3.0
This is basically a collection of Kameron Hurley's blog posts, and she is very capable at the form. There are some interesting and provocative pieces -- in particular, "We Have Always Fought" is the jewel of the collection.
I found reading this straight through to be exhausting. I suppose that is the point.
I found reading this straight through to be exhausting. I suppose that is the point.
ria_mhrj's review against another edition
4.0
I picked this book up, expecting a series of essays on women and geek culture, a subject dear to my heart. I wasn't expecting such an intensely personal book but there's no escaping the fact that Kameron Hurley is angry, driven and smart, and she has some thoughts to share.
Throughout this thought-provoking collection, I found myself questioning my own prejudices and examining my reactions to popular culture (I did criticise Young Adult for having such an unlikeable lead character... but good news, I didn't like Sideways either!). She makes some excellent points calmly and thoughtfully. Her experience of the jungle that is US healthcare was particularly heartbreaking. She asserts several times that she's an optimist, and that was certainly a key takeaway I had after reading this - the world can change for the better, we just have to fight against those who would push for maintaining an unfair status quo.
I must check out her fiction next.
Throughout this thought-provoking collection, I found myself questioning my own prejudices and examining my reactions to popular culture (I did criticise Young Adult for having such an unlikeable lead character... but good news, I didn't like Sideways either!). She makes some excellent points calmly and thoughtfully. Her experience of the jungle that is US healthcare was particularly heartbreaking. She asserts several times that she's an optimist, and that was certainly a key takeaway I had after reading this - the world can change for the better, we just have to fight against those who would push for maintaining an unfair status quo.
I must check out her fiction next.
erikachung182's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
Ranging from personal essays to calls to action, The Geek Feminist Revolution speaks to the hardships and wonders of feminist politics in practice, and the challenges and pitfalls that come along the way. I particularly found the part where it discussed how it can sometimes feel very isolating and exhausting in doing so, and how an individual is not at fault when they need to take a step back - either temporarily or permanently. This made me think of how important solidarity across different communities is critical to systemic change.
The essay collection also speaks to the sexism and misogyny in pop culture, and how the skills and trade of storytelling can reinforce and challenge that issue. Hence, the value and importance of storytelling across all media. With that comes the tension between creative labour and industries, which gave me a glimpse into the publishing world. Her essays on creative writing and the craft really highlights the amount of thought that goes into world building in fantasy fiction, especially when building fictional worlds that are meant to juxtapose against systemic issues in reality.
I think what I was most pleasantly surprised by was the essay on hypermasculinity, especially on how it is damaging to everyone. At one point, I tried writing a paper on how the application of (hyper)masculinity on female characters in film was not as progressive as Hollywood pitched it as. I struggled with articulating my thoughts and criticism. So I really admired Hurley’s essay on the topic, and how difficult it is to confront internalized sexism. Lots of food for thought there.
Hurley isn’t writing these essays as a cultural critic but some of the arguments are relevant in this regard. She’s writing based on her lived experiences, which is at the intersection of gender and class. And so these essays reflect self-awareness of how this body of work is limited in scope. Hence the essays that speak to the importance and value of advocating for diversity, inclusion and equality in publishing and media production.
It should be noted that this essay collection was published in 2016 so some of the pop culture examples may not be as relevant any more. But Hurley’s arguments are still poignant, especially regarding the socio-cultural hostility that targets women and people of marginalized genders. Of course, if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, give it a read! But if this sounds like something outside of your comfort zone, both in terms of reading taste and/or politics, I’d still encourage you to give this a try. Either way, there likely will be some parts in this collection that make you question yourself, and I think that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to sit with our thoughts and ask, “why do I agree or disagree with this point?” or “why does that point bother me?”.