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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
17 years from the earliest essay written in this book and 11 years from publication and almost nothing has changed
A very insightful book. When I first picked up the book, I thought it would just be about bemoaning instances of "mansplaining" and other forms of dismissiveness towards women. In other words, I thought this would be a book that merely explains what I've already experienced (and will likely continue to experience). However, I did not expect the conversations to go beyond women's experience in the United States. I liked reading the anecdotes and references to situations in other countries. Honestly, I was surprised that the conversation moved to rape, abuse, and other forms of violence; but I'm glad Solnit took the conversation there. Even though this book was only 154 pages, it took days for me to finish. I know I needed time to let what she articulates sink in. Overall, this book has given me a lot to think about and I would highly recommend it.
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Whilst I found 90% of this boring and unfathomably slow, here is what I did pick up and highlight from it:
“The battle with Men Who Explain Things has trampled down many women—of my generation, of the up-and-coming generation we need so badly, here and in Pakistan and Bolivia and Java, not to speak of the countless women who came before me and were not allowed into the laboratory, or the library, or the conversation, or the revolution, or even the category called human.”
“Having the right to show up and speak are basic to survival, to dignity, and to liberty. I’m grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless.”
^ This is how I feel when it comes to minority groups, in my case bigger people, queer people and trans people.
About SA training for women:
“the usual guidelines in such situations put the full burden of prevention on potential victims, treating the violence as a given.“
“Women’s liberation has often been portrayed as a movement intent on encroaching upon or taking power and privilege away from men, as though in some dismal zero-sum game, only one gender at a time could be free and powerful. But we are free together or slaves together. Surely the mindset of those who think they need to win, to dominate, to punish, to reign supreme must be terrible and far from free, and giving up this unachievable pursuit would be liberatory.”
About the idea that women who sue rapists endanger the man’s careers:
“What matters, in the end, is that a poor immigrant woman upended the career of one of the most powerful men in the world, or rather exposed behavior that should have ended it far earlier. ”
“The battle with Men Who Explain Things has trampled down many women—of my generation, of the up-and-coming generation we need so badly, here and in Pakistan and Bolivia and Java, not to speak of the countless women who came before me and were not allowed into the laboratory, or the library, or the conversation, or the revolution, or even the category called human.”
“Having the right to show up and speak are basic to survival, to dignity, and to liberty. I’m grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless.”
^ This is how I feel when it comes to minority groups, in my case bigger people, queer people and trans people.
About SA training for women:
“the usual guidelines in such situations put the full burden of prevention on potential victims, treating the violence as a given.“
“Women’s liberation has often been portrayed as a movement intent on encroaching upon or taking power and privilege away from men, as though in some dismal zero-sum game, only one gender at a time could be free and powerful. But we are free together or slaves together. Surely the mindset of those who think they need to win, to dominate, to punish, to reign supreme must be terrible and far from free, and giving up this unachievable pursuit would be liberatory.”
About the idea that women who sue rapists endanger the man’s careers:
“What matters, in the end, is that a poor immigrant woman upended the career of one of the most powerful men in the world, or rather exposed behavior that should have ended it far earlier. ”
informative
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
DNF 68%.
I can't take this anymore. I CAN'T. This is such a load of boring poppycock.
I can't take this anymore. I CAN'T. This is such a load of boring poppycock.
Quick read, all ideas I agree with. A little outdated and definitely lacking intersectionality. I also found her writing style hard to unpack - a lot of long sentences with a lot of detail.
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
My favourites were Men Explain Things to me and Cassandra Among the Creeps