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thesmashbotdiaries's review against another edition
5.0
There is so much personal feeling in this book wrapped up in statistics and realities that young women, but especially young queer women of color face everyday. I particularly found the chapters regarding love to be interesting. GREAT READ.
cara_lucia's review against another edition
5.0
For anyone interested in gender, sex, politics, power structures, queer issues and internet culture, I cannot recommend this highly enough.
misscatw's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.0
I've read several feminist texts now and I'm always trying to expand my bookshelf, but while reading this, I felt like I had already covered familiar ground in parts. The first half of the book was better than the second half, as it lost me in the second half.
annette_steyn's review against another edition
3.0
slightly repetitious, pedestrian style, of which I'm not a huge fan.
very 2014, but quite clear and unflinching.
nothing particularly revolutionary for a queer intersectional feminist such as myself, but an easy read nonetheless.
very 2014, but quite clear and unflinching.
nothing particularly revolutionary for a queer intersectional feminist such as myself, but an easy read nonetheless.
elisekatherine's review against another edition
3.0
I've seen a lot of people say that Laurie Penny's weakness in this book is her anger, and I respectfully disagree - I think Penny's writing is most potent when she is angry, and that was one of the things I enjoyed about this book. Sometimes a little anger can go a long way into giving a familiar message some rhetorical force. Reading this book at times took my breath away a little; the essay on cybersexism was particularly powerful to me, as a woman who has spent a great deal of time on the internet, watching the way it treats people based on their gender - or even just their perceived gender.
The weakness in Penny's writing that I noticed is a tendency toward unncessary flourish and an inclination, at times, toward overly elaborate phrasing when simplicity would do.
Overall, this collection of essays doesn't say much that's revolutionary to someone who reads essays on gender on the internet on a regular basis, though sometimes the way Penny says things gave me a new perspective that made me go "huh." Nonetheless, the book as a whole is still a solid primer on some of what contemporary feminism can look like, and Laurie Penny's zeal can be infectious.
The weakness in Penny's writing that I noticed is a tendency toward unncessary flourish and an inclination, at times, toward overly elaborate phrasing when simplicity would do.
Overall, this collection of essays doesn't say much that's revolutionary to someone who reads essays on gender on the internet on a regular basis, though sometimes the way Penny says things gave me a new perspective that made me go "huh." Nonetheless, the book as a whole is still a solid primer on some of what contemporary feminism can look like, and Laurie Penny's zeal can be infectious.
leighkhoopes's review against another edition
3.0
I wish I could say there was something I didn't already know in this book. This is the problem with reading most feminist texts these days is that they're often oriented towards complete neophytes or people who started identifying as feminists once Beyonce and Emma Watson told them it was okay to (not that I have anything against either of them and their efforts in advancing the cause).
I'd never heard of Laurie Penny before receiving a (very) advanced reader's copy as part of the GoodReads program, and I'm planning on checking out more of her journalistic work, but Unspeakable Things falls into that frustrating category of books that are glad to tell you everything that's wrong but offer next to no solutions or ideas for how to make things right.
"Revolution" is Penny's only real recommendation, which is correct, but for true systemic revolution to occur, people have to be compelled to act. Merely pointing out the obvious about gender inequality isn't cutting it anymore, although since the book has been published, there has been the start of an amazing groundswell and renewed efforts in advancing causes that affect women of all races, classes, and sexualities. It's a long, slow process, however, I think that's where Penny's book really loses steam.
Her section on online harassment, however, felt extremely timely and important, and I would have much rather read an entire book about that than the intermittent interludes with Penny's sexual past and her experiences with the Occupy movement that seems so long ago and far away. She also makes a point to include the importance of intersectionality in feminist movements, and I applaud her for that. It's obvious that she's an intelligent, passionate writer and I hope that her future long-form works are a little more focused and cohesive.
I'd never heard of Laurie Penny before receiving a (very) advanced reader's copy as part of the GoodReads program, and I'm planning on checking out more of her journalistic work, but Unspeakable Things falls into that frustrating category of books that are glad to tell you everything that's wrong but offer next to no solutions or ideas for how to make things right.
"Revolution" is Penny's only real recommendation, which is correct, but for true systemic revolution to occur, people have to be compelled to act. Merely pointing out the obvious about gender inequality isn't cutting it anymore, although since the book has been published, there has been the start of an amazing groundswell and renewed efforts in advancing causes that affect women of all races, classes, and sexualities. It's a long, slow process, however, I think that's where Penny's book really loses steam.
Her section on online harassment, however, felt extremely timely and important, and I would have much rather read an entire book about that than the intermittent interludes with Penny's sexual past and her experiences with the Occupy movement that seems so long ago and far away. She also makes a point to include the importance of intersectionality in feminist movements, and I applaud her for that. It's obvious that she's an intelligent, passionate writer and I hope that her future long-form works are a little more focused and cohesive.
jellybey's review against another edition
I found this book captivating but also disappointing. I don't know how to rate it, so I won't.
Laurie Penny admits upfront that her book is a polemic, and it's an accurate description: this book is angry shouting. It's angry shouting about important topics, and I often (though not always) agree with her; sometimes I felt like she had taken some of my own thoughts and was angrily shouting them on my behalf.
Angry shouting has value. In a world of negative and oppressive cultural messages, hearing other people like you shouting angrily can help the countless dissatisfied, restless people identify the source of their discontent, start to love themselves, and focus their rage on the systems that oppress them.
But angry shouting isn't informative. It isn't an argument. My preference in nonfiction is for an actual argument, for an "information dump": I want studies, statistics, and historical documents (which, strangely, Penny mentions but does not actually include). I want to feel like I'm learning something, that I have new information that I could use to argue my position and convince an opponent. That's not this book. It comes as no surprise that the passages I found most satisfying were the (rare) passages that included actual facts. Even when the facts were "merely" recountings of Penny's own experiences -- anecdata to be sure, but at least something to support the angry shouting.
I do disagree with the way Penny talks about rape and rape culture. There are things I do agree with (the important things): the victim of sexual assault or rape is never at fault. The perpetrator is 100% at fault. I resent victim-blaming. (Interestingly, studies show (y'know, actual studies, with data, that Penny consistently omits) that there is little-to-no correlation between the traits/behaviors we commonly think of as "inviting rape" and actual acts of sexual assault or rape. Not that this matters: even if someone is standing on a street corner shouting "RAPE ME NOW!!!", nobody should actually do that. Because we have responsibilities as as citizens to obey laws, and responsibilities as human beings not to harm each other.) Penny wants all rape/sexual assault prevention to focus on educating the potential perpetrators. Potential victims should be free to do whatever they want, whenever they want (as long as they're not hurting anyone else). The only relevant message, for Penny, is "DON'T RAPE." But this is a fantasy and it's dangerous.
We don't live in a perfect world. There are bad people, and mostly good people who do bad things sometimes. And sometimes you have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and one of those bad things is done to you -- not because you asked for it, but because that's just how the world works. Yes, it sucks. But it's the truth. So I don't think it's wrong to educate potential victims on steps they can take to *actually* protect themselves, as long as it's within a context that places blame squarely on the shoulders of the assailant and the focus of education is to teach potential rapists not to rape.
Laurie Penny admits upfront that her book is a polemic, and it's an accurate description: this book is angry shouting. It's angry shouting about important topics, and I often (though not always) agree with her; sometimes I felt like she had taken some of my own thoughts and was angrily shouting them on my behalf.
Angry shouting has value. In a world of negative and oppressive cultural messages, hearing other people like you shouting angrily can help the countless dissatisfied, restless people identify the source of their discontent, start to love themselves, and focus their rage on the systems that oppress them.
But angry shouting isn't informative. It isn't an argument. My preference in nonfiction is for an actual argument, for an "information dump": I want studies, statistics, and historical documents (which, strangely, Penny mentions but does not actually include). I want to feel like I'm learning something, that I have new information that I could use to argue my position and convince an opponent. That's not this book. It comes as no surprise that the passages I found most satisfying were the (rare) passages that included actual facts. Even when the facts were "merely" recountings of Penny's own experiences -- anecdata to be sure, but at least something to support the angry shouting.
I do disagree with the way Penny talks about rape and rape culture. There are things I do agree with (the important things): the victim of sexual assault or rape is never at fault. The perpetrator is 100% at fault. I resent victim-blaming. (Interestingly, studies show (y'know, actual studies, with data, that Penny consistently omits) that there is little-to-no correlation between the traits/behaviors we commonly think of as "inviting rape" and actual acts of sexual assault or rape. Not that this matters: even if someone is standing on a street corner shouting "RAPE ME NOW!!!", nobody should actually do that. Because we have responsibilities as as citizens to obey laws, and responsibilities as human beings not to harm each other.) Penny wants all rape/sexual assault prevention to focus on educating the potential perpetrators. Potential victims should be free to do whatever they want, whenever they want (as long as they're not hurting anyone else). The only relevant message, for Penny, is "DON'T RAPE." But this is a fantasy and it's dangerous.
We don't live in a perfect world. There are bad people, and mostly good people who do bad things sometimes. And sometimes you have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and one of those bad things is done to you -- not because you asked for it, but because that's just how the world works. Yes, it sucks. But it's the truth. So I don't think it's wrong to educate potential victims on steps they can take to *actually* protect themselves, as long as it's within a context that places blame squarely on the shoulders of the assailant and the focus of education is to teach potential rapists not to rape.
mariesalii's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
walkerct's review against another edition
5.0
This is just one of those books that makes you glad the author exists and is putting their thoughts out there. Laurie Penny is brilliant, equal parts insightful and cutting political and social commentary and extremely moving emotional resonance. I checked it out from the library, which is probably for the best, because otherwise I would have underlined almost every single word.