Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby

21 reviews

abbie_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

I finally picked up the autobiography of two-spirit lesbian Ojibwa-Cree elder, Ma-Nee Chacaby, who has lived an extraordinary life, overcoming countless traumas to live as her true self once she hit her 40s. In her 60s, Chacaby, together with Mary Louisa Plummer, took on the monumental task of putting not only her life, but the lives of her parents and grandparents, to paper. To say she’s not had an easy life would be a gross understatement. Chacaby has endured alcoholism, child abuse, racism, rape, child death, domestic abuse, deteriorating vision, homophobia and more, but she’s come out the other side of it determined to find the joy in life. Her mindset is admirable. 

Even through audio, I found myself struggling a bit with the style though. It’s very direct, no fanfare, and more a laying down of events in chronological order than a true reflection of everything. But it would be a very long book if that were the case, and I think the authors were more concerned with squeezing in every remarkable aspect of Chacaby’s 60 years. 

In the afterword, Mary Louisa Plummer draws comparisons to other told-to autobiographies of Indigenous women, pointing out that these lacked ‘emotional depth’, recounting only the facts and not engaging with any of their feelings around the events. She says that a Two Spirit Journey has tried to offer more emotional depth, and while it’s true that Chacaby does not hold back from baring the most traumatic times of her life, I personally did not find much introspection within the book. The emotions displayed felt a bit surface level. The memoirs I usually read (though I am aware of the difference between autobiographies and memoirs) dwell for pages on a singular event, a memory, the author plumbing their emotional depths. It’s just a difference in approach, and one of the reasons I’m not going to rate this otherwise remarkable book. A valuable read for the perspective Chacaby offers as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian elder!

Oh, and if you listen to the audiobook like I did, I’d recommend 1.8 or even 2 x speed - the narrator is decent but talks extremely slowly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Rape, Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Violence, Child death, and Sexual violence

kchin's review

challenging hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

An important voice we must listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Misogyny, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Child death, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Racism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Sexism, and Sexual assault

nmcannon's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

5.0

I first heard of Ma-Nee Chacaby’s autobiography on Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian’s blog, when she featured it as a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards. Since it’s a Canadian publication from a university press, I never expected to see it out in the wild. I suppose I should never doubt my local library! When I saw A Two-Spirit Journey on the shelf, I froze for a good second in shock before snatching it up.

Chronicling her life from childhood to ~2013, the autobiography isn’t light reading, but even the lowest of the low points are buoyed by Chacaby’s gentle, plain-speaking voice. She carries herself through truly harrowing experiences. Her indigenous lifeways are her lifeline. My heart bled and bloomed by turns. Once Chacaby reached adulthood, it was lovely to witness her happiness, though obviously recovery isn’t linear. What impressed me the most is how Chacaby, after escaping toxic situations, would dive right back in there to help others. Barely escaping with her kids from an extremely abusive marriage, she took on other people’s children via fostering and adoption. Working as a counselor returned her to the home insecure communities she was barely out of herself. For the historians in the crowd, I highly recommend A Two-Spirit Journey as a primary source for life in late 20thc. Canada, especially for people who share Chacaby’s identities.

In the back matter, Mary Louisa Plummer explains her methodology for the book. Her and Chacaby’s commitment to her voice and the stranger’s accessibility work together wonderfully. I felt honored to be able to listen to Chacaby’s story, like I was listening to a grandmother over tea. I want to read more autobiographies like Chacaby’s, and I’ve already had a promising start with Deborah A. Miranda’s Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir. Miranda’s experience sits comfortably side-by-side with Chacaby’s: the one informs the other. I also wish Chacaby a very pleasant All The Money. The shrinkage of social services over the course of the novel was awful. Despite how many lives she’d touched, despite how many people she’s helped, Chacaby lives on a pittance. But, importantly, she still lives.

Chacaby’s autobiography is very important reading for everyone, especially for anyone interested in learning about two-spirit indigenous lives. Chacaby and Plummer have given us a gift.

Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian’s blog post: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/the-seven-canadian-and-indigenous-lambda-finalists-im-most-excited-about/ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Grief, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Police brutality

Chacaby doesn't dwell on the horrible things that happened to her. She's very matter of fact. I would tag most of the content warnings as "Minor," but some occur with such frequency that I bumped them up to "Moderate" or "Graphic."

addiesbookshelf_'s review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Addiction, Sexual harassment, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Abandonment, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexism, Alcoholism, and Colonisation

egmamaril's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Homophobia, Child death, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism

woolfinbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Incest, Domestic abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction, Violence, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Colonisation, Bullying, Mental illness, Homophobia, Grief, Alcoholism, and Alcohol

trigger warning for residential schools

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Racism, Medical trauma, Medical content, Addiction, Child abuse, Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Grief, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Bullying, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Classism, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Child death, Alcoholism, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, and Drug use

bookishcori's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

This isn’t what I went in expecting, but I’m thankful to ma-nee for telling her journey. The audio narration was perfect - it felt like sitting around a campfire with an elder. 

I was also fascinated by the afterward and the writing process.

This book comes with so many content warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Racism, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Colonisation, Classism, Addiction, Child death, Sexual violence, and Alcoholism

lanid's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Child death, Pedophilia, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Toxic relationship

nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Sexual assault