Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

5 reviews

streberkatze's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I'm so glad I finally got around to reading this essay collection. The essays are profoundly insightful and have lost nothing of their relevance since the time of their writing in the 1970s and 1980s. Especially "Learning from the 60s" really struck a chord with me. Audre Lorde truly is one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Violence, and Racism

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Like any kind of collection, there are always some parts that you like better than other ones but, overall, there is an awful lot to appreciate here and many interesting, challenging and complex reflections to ponder over.

There were a couple of chapters that I didn't much care about and, in places, were also a bit of a struggle to get through (for example "Notes from a Trip to Russia"; "An Interview: Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich", which was way too long, too much focused on their personal relationship, and also I do not like Adrienne Rich).

I have to admit that some sections were a bit difficult to understand, but that has more to do with me lacking in similar personal experiences and knowledge, than to any fault of the author. 

A lot of what Audre Lorde reflected on and wrote about back then still resonates deeply today. I think it will be worth it to read more from the author and then revisit these essays.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Hate crime

Moderate: Police brutality, Murder, Colonisation, Death, Violence, Gun violence, Child death, Homophobia, War, Cancer, Racial slurs, Lesbophobia, and Bullying

Minor: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Rape, Medical trauma, Ableism, Sexual assault, and Torture

meganpbell's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Published nearly 40 years ago, this iconic collection of essays, interviews, and speeches by the self-described "black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet" Audre Lorde remains as powerful, impactful, and relevant as ever. Here, in these brilliantly intersectional writings, Lorde confronts sexism, racism, and homophobia, all while inviting us to see the potential for political change in social difference and revelation in the erotic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Racism, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Murder and Racial slurs

Minor: War, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Cancer, Sexual violence, Child death, and Death

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Very very very good. My copy is full of annotations for quotes I liked, inspiration I found, facts and stories I wanted to look up further, facts I wanted to pull for reference when speaking with others. 

Definitely not a book to just read and put away without Audre's words tying themselves into your brain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Sexism, Colonisation, Medical content, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual harassment, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Racism, Infertility, Police brutality, and Sexual content

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

a work much deserving of its classic status, sister outsider is raw, incisive, deep, and searing; its soul-searching, reclaiming of self and space, and examination into the sinister nooks and crevices of american society in all its -isms and complex intersectionality are cloaked w/ righteous (and relatable) rage, all succinctly yet effectivively articulated in a mix of prose, poems, and interviews, among others, though the last chapter kinda throws me off in its placement and seeming detour from content presented earlier in the book.

not only does lorde get me nodding my head off in vigorous agreement, she also leaves me awed and astounded at times at how insightful and revealing her observations and truth-telling are, and her call to self-awareness and action are inspiring. she's also light years ahead of many others in her understanding and communication of the seemingly seamless blending of race, sex, sexual orientation, class, and other aspects of complex intersectionality, as well as her awareness of her own positionality, resulting in a startlingly non-western-centric work. this is def a book to keep and read then reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

Minor: Cancer, Death, Medical trauma, Child death, Infertility, and Rape