Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Beautiful Country by Qian Julie Wang

4 reviews

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Racism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Stalking, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infidelity and Cancer

parasolcrafter's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

it always feels so odd to me, in some way, to talk about and rate memoirs because its somebodys life that youre, in essence, putting a number value on, so rather than try and do that ill just say that i loved the way Qian spoke about her life in the most intimate way that somebody can do; giving us the bad times, the good times, the scary times, and the times that maybe didnt paint her in the best light.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Deportation, Infidelity, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Violence, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Racism, Sexism, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Pedophilia, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Excrement

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I really don't know if I would have been able to manage this memoire without listening to the Audiobook, deftly narrated by the author. Being self-narrated it dodged a lot of messy casting issues such as having a reader who could not pronounce Chinese. I'm thankful for that.

Beautiful Country is a direct translation of the Chinese term for USA  美国 - Mĕiguó . Whenever I hear " Mĕiguó " spoken, I picture the characters in my mind. A year working at a Chinese Newspaper will do that to a nerdy lass who likes languages. I have always been struck by how ironic the name is. The memoire written is an awakening from a childhood where the author needs to protect herself over and again, from the perils of being an "illegal" migrant. When any false word could get you deported, you learn to say what people want to hear. 

From sweat shops, and bigoted teachers, buying the cheapest food possible, and making do with forgaed treasures, this is a candid story of poverty, Racism, and survival. I found the descriptions reminded me of many things that have been part of my life, and drew stark contrast between some of my own experiences as a White New Zealander ( Pākeha ) living in a country with social security. 

I expect that some of this recounting may be affronting to those who are unaware of the type of life that oppressed people can easily fall into. The story is that of someone who has survived, but doesn't really feel as saccharine as a lot of inspiration stories can be. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Vomit, and Sexism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Body shaming, Bullying, Deportation, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Pedophilia, Abortion, and Gun violence

megkwheeler's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Racism