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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Author fails to apply some of her own tools to her own writing, especially when it comes to acknowledging her relative privilege over lesbians as a bisexual woman. (I think calling people “queer” is also at odds with her ideas about how language serves to normalize ways of being which should just be seen as one way of being, rather than the dominant or default. Basically, calling people “queer”, which means abnormal/odd/strange, reinforces heteronormativity.)
I think a radical feminist lesbian reader may have been an example of one of Castillo’s “unexpected readers”. There were many moments where I felt that she came off as oddly male-aligned for someone committed to liberation from oppressive social structures, but the passage about feeling a connection with a bisexual movie character who leaves her girlfriend for a man being “unsensationalized” (in a positive way) made that stand out for me in particular. I doubt it was unsensational to the (ostensibly) lesbian partner who was left for a man.
This was a good primer before I start to read more decolonial works, though.
Oh, also — her criticisms of Joan Didion got a little misogynistic. She contrasts Didion’s thinness with the “ungovernable” bodies of WOC, but implies that this (oft-fetishized by her male contemporaries) thinness is a privilege Didion enjoys. I would argue that having a body that appears “governable” and is easily sexualized by men is not a privilege, but the price you pay for a seat at men’s table. If Didion has to be “governable” and “frail” to be heard, then there’s a bigger fish to fry than Didion: the men creating that culture where thinness and physical beauty is required of women.
I think a radical feminist lesbian reader may have been an example of one of Castillo’s “unexpected readers”. There were many moments where I felt that she came off as oddly male-aligned for someone committed to liberation from oppressive social structures, but the passage about feeling a connection with a bisexual movie character who leaves her girlfriend for a man being “unsensationalized” (in a positive way) made that stand out for me in particular. I doubt it was unsensational to the (ostensibly) lesbian partner who was left for a man.
This was a good primer before I start to read more decolonial works, though.
Oh, also — her criticisms of Joan Didion got a little misogynistic. She contrasts Didion’s thinness with the “ungovernable” bodies of WOC, but implies that this (oft-fetishized by her male contemporaries) thinness is a privilege Didion enjoys. I would argue that having a body that appears “governable” and is easily sexualized by men is not a privilege, but the price you pay for a seat at men’s table. If Didion has to be “governable” and “frail” to be heard, then there’s a bigger fish to fry than Didion: the men creating that culture where thinness and physical beauty is required of women.
Brilliant. So much to think about, reread. Following Castillo’s mind is exhilarating. Also hard as fuck.
I think this book is too smart for me. I would like to be able to understand the subtleties of Castillo’s arguments in a way that would allow me to explain it to the racist white guy living in my head who thinks he’s just telling it like it is. I don’t think I’m on that level yet and would like to reread this.
Some of Castillo’s ideas that will stick with me are: the gift/challenge of being an ‘unexpected reader,’ the problem with “representation,” and her generally expansive view of reading as something we do to the world, not just to books. I didn’t eat up every one of her arguments but generally enjoyed her self-described combative energy and my eyes were opened by her takedowns of Joan Didion, John Wayne, and many more. Not sure it fulfilled the promise of its title but it’s certainly worth a read.
Some of Castillo’s ideas that will stick with me are: the gift/challenge of being an ‘unexpected reader,’ the problem with “representation,” and her generally expansive view of reading as something we do to the world, not just to books. I didn’t eat up every one of her arguments but generally enjoyed her self-described combative energy and my eyes were opened by her takedowns of Joan Didion, John Wayne, and many more. Not sure it fulfilled the promise of its title but it’s certainly worth a read.
funny
informative
reflective
What a thought provoking collection of essays! Yes, Elaine's anger shines through in a few of them, but (imo) that anger is justified. Her disdain for Joan Didion shines through in a hilarious way as well.
I've long struggled with the idea of "representation" in art, who gets to tell what stories, how to read with the lens of "who wrote this/for who/why" and these essays hit some of those struggles on the head.
I've also never highlighted as many passages in an e-book as I have in this - both text that Elaine quotes, and her subsequent commentary. Some highlights:
-The mainstream idea of a POCs struggle as the "only one" is probably because those "only ones" are white-adjacent enough to have their stories told
- You can love Jane Austen while acknowledging that the slave trade was alive and well and funding her heroine's exploits
- Environemental justice is racial justice. Willful misreading is violence.
- "Cultures are formed, reformed, and destroyed in the process of story telling"
- None of this is easy. None of this is solitary.
I've long struggled with the idea of "representation" in art, who gets to tell what stories, how to read with the lens of "who wrote this/for who/why" and these essays hit some of those struggles on the head.
I've also never highlighted as many passages in an e-book as I have in this - both text that Elaine quotes, and her subsequent commentary. Some highlights:
-The mainstream idea of a POCs struggle as the "only one" is probably because those "only ones" are white-adjacent enough to have their stories told
- You can love Jane Austen while acknowledging that the slave trade was alive and well and funding her heroine's exploits
- Environemental justice is racial justice. Willful misreading is violence.
- "Cultures are formed, reformed, and destroyed in the process of story telling"
- None of this is easy. None of this is solitary.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I think I got this b/c of the Watchmen essay, which turned out to be one of its best. The idea of going beyond the empathy trope into an attempt to actually reckon with history (vis a vis the episode in which Angela takes her grandfather’s Nostalgia pills and experiences his past) is so, like, yes. Feel like Edward P. Jones’ writing project is so so so much about this. I’m surprised it didn’t get a mention.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced