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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
informative
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
fast-paced
First half is pretty great but it falls off
Everyone should read this book. It is mind blowing and horrifying and true.
Interesting read for sure, STRAIGHT WOMEN PLEASE READ THIS!!! My misandry is growing
3.5 — The first few chapters of this are compelling, though I don’t know that I was fully convinced that “patriarchy is…too blunt a conceptual instrument to capture the nuances of heterosexual dysfunction” and that heterosexuality itself needed to be examined.
The 4th chapter is quite bad and unfortunately soured the experience for me a bit. The author acknowledges that chapter 4 does not represent rigorous academic analysis, but it takes the shine off the excellent work done in chapters 1-3 and feels counterproductive overall. Every queer person has heard and intimately understands the queer criticisms of straight culture. They don’t need them rehashed through a lens of pity and condescension. And I’d assume any hets reading this section (are there any???) would likely feel mocked and alienated, which kind of defeats the purpose of a book written in “solidarity with straight people” with the express goal of trying to improve the heterosexual experience.
Anyway, this was a bit of a mixed bag, but I did love this quote — “It is possible for straight men to like women so much, so deeply, that they actually really like women. Straight men could be so unstoppably heterosexual that they crave hearing women’s voices, thirst for women’s leadership, ache to know women’s full humanity, and thrill at women’s freedom. This is how lesbian feminists lust for women. I do not despair about the tragedy of heterosexuality, because another way is possible.”
The 4th chapter is quite bad and unfortunately soured the experience for me a bit. The author acknowledges that chapter 4 does not represent rigorous academic analysis, but it takes the shine off the excellent work done in chapters 1-3 and feels counterproductive overall. Every queer person has heard and intimately understands the queer criticisms of straight culture. They don’t need them rehashed through a lens of pity and condescension. And I’d assume any hets reading this section (are there any???) would likely feel mocked and alienated, which kind of defeats the purpose of a book written in “solidarity with straight people” with the express goal of trying to improve the heterosexual experience.
Anyway, this was a bit of a mixed bag, but I did love this quote — “It is possible for straight men to like women so much, so deeply, that they actually really like women. Straight men could be so unstoppably heterosexual that they crave hearing women’s voices, thirst for women’s leadership, ache to know women’s full humanity, and thrill at women’s freedom. This is how lesbian feminists lust for women. I do not despair about the tragedy of heterosexuality, because another way is possible.”
incredibly thought provoking regardless of how much you agree with Ward’s thesis. recommend reading alongside Carmen Maria Machado’s In The Dream House. an excellent introduction to the topic but fails in many areas to dig deeper.
informative
fast-paced
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced