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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
In the first section of essays, I did not entirely like Kameron Hurley. But as her writing built momentum in this collection, so did my regard for her viewpoint.
Part One: Level Up
Her first essay "Persistence, and the Long Con of Being a Successful Writer" struck me as incredibly honest. Persistence is her measure of success. Not money. Not numbers of book sold. Not fame. Persistence.
She very much internalizes this truth, which explains how she can come back to the keyboard even after tumultuous relationships, poverty, chronic illness, and years of rejection and publishing problems.
Her next essay "I'll Make the Pancakes: On Opting In — And Out — Of the Writing Game" is short, but her message appeals to me. I could completely identify with her penchant for wanting to play Indy as a kid. Not Willie.
She describes attending a baby shower where one of the guests assumes that since she introduces herself as a writer, she must be a children's writer. Ugh. I know the feeling. I try to avoid telling people I meet that I'm a teacher. So many gender stereotypes associated with my "girl job"!
Hurley even endeared me with her calling out the prattling culture of "lean in" that's been sold to women. While I have not read Sheryl Sandburg's book, I've read enough criticism of her out-of-touch elitism to make me cringe and appreciate Hurley's point of view.
The third essay "What Marketing and Advertising Taught Me About the Value of Failure" is where Hurley starts to lose me. While she praises some truly positive examples of advertising doing good by convincing people to wear seat belts and stop drinking and driving, I can't help but feel that these examples are the exception and not the rule.
Hurley works in advertising, possibly one of the fields I loathe the most. But she likes analyzing the data from various campaigns and tweaking her writing to see how to elicit the desired response. My thinking? "So you like the Jedi Mind Trick, do you?" Meh. I'm not impressed by your cunning use of words to manipulate others.
And my meh was further emblazoned after reading the last two essays in this section. In "Taking Responsibility for Writing Problematic Stories", Hurley advocates that writers need to consider what kind of world they're willing to build. Will you, as a writer, sleep well if you're creating characters that reinforce negative stereotypes?
Interesting point. But then she follows up this essay with "Unpacking the 'Real Writers Have Talent' Myth" and my meh flew into full on vexed. She lists the career options she felt she could manage as she pursued her writing career. Teaching. Waiting tables. Doing administrative work. Or advertising.
The most lucrative option is advertising and she writes, "It turns out that selling stuff with words is actually a skill our nutty consumerist culture really, really values."
And my stomach turns even reading these words again. She wants writers to take responsibility for the worlds they create as an author, but she uses words to sell lots of crap to people just because she wants a job that pays better?
Build a fantasy world with strong morals and ethics that you believe in, but dupe real people into buying what they don't need? She wants a certain paycheck so she's willing to contribute to the slimy industry of advertising which directly affects our real world?
And there's one of my pet peeves. People who spout moral indignity with the conviction of Atticus Finch, but are not willing to back up their beliefs with actions. Is Hurley another example?
Part Two: Geek
After finishing the first section of this book, I put it down for a bit. I really wanted to like these essays and that last one definitely had me irritated.
I made the right decision because from Part Two onward, her perspective on various issues made much better impressions. In this section, Hurley analyzes a variety of pop culture entertainment like True Detective and Mad Max, and the role of women in various stories.
In her essay about Mad Max, she writes, "There's a lot of whining about 'message fiction' these days, which is bizarre because every story is a 'message' story or it wouldn't be a story. Asking for 'stories without messages' makes me think this is code for a steady diet of inane reality TV shows. Reality TV does actually have a message, folks. That message is selling and reinforcing capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo."
When I read these words, I thought about the role Hurley plays in reinforcing capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo as someone who writes copy that promotes capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo. I was a little bothered. How dedicated is she to her message about good storytelling?
In another essay on the hero archetype, she writes, "We build our heroes, too often, on terrible things done to women, instead of creating, simply, heroes who do things, who persevere in the face of overwhelming odds because it's the right thing to do."
Yes! I love this idea, so how does she go to work everyday? At this point in my reading process, I began wondering more about her personal life and I wanted details about the dramatic relationships and health crises that she hinted at in her opening section.
Part Three: Let's Get Personal
And here is where I learned many details about her struggles with type 1 diabetes and keeping health insurance. She's candid about her weight and self-image. She offers a stark look at times of poverty she endured while also acknowledging that as a white woman she did have more privilege than many others.
One of my favorite essays is the powerful piece: "Let It Go: On Responding (Or Not) to Online Criticism". She writes, "The game of online hate is rigged against you as a woman and as a creator." Women may ignore or mute the harassers and attempt to allow their words to speak for them.
But the strongest piece of advice Hurley offered is, "Your haters are not here for a conversation. They are here to keep you from doing your work." Don't let them win. Keep speaking out.
And within "When the Rebel Becomes Queen: Changing Broken Systems from the Inside" she shares how much she struggles with the question of how best to affect change in a corrupt system. Is she helping to promote change in her storytelling craft or has she become part of the problem? I wonder how much of that question relates to her day job that keeps her insured. And on that note, I can completely relate. By being a teacher in a broken public education system am I actually helping society or just helping to delay the inevitable collapse of the system?
Within this section, Hurley offers a glimpse into her life that allows me to understand why having a better paycheck with reliable health insurance would be so critical to her. And I am more convinced that the conviction of her words is true. She's fighting the good fight.
Part Four: Revolution
In these last essays, Hurley covers her point of view on the challenges of writing science-fiction and fantasy as a woman, Gamergate, the hijacking of the Hugo Awards in 2015, and much more. These essays were, by far, my favorites.
She asks some pointed questions.
Like why is it political for a female author to ask to be included within the genre, but somehow her invisibility up to then was not political?
Or regarding Gamergate: What do men do to make this world a better place?
Normally, I don't have a preference for how I read a book, but for this section in particular I was glad I had the e-book. Throughout these essays, Hurley cites various sources in her notes. With the e-book, the majority of the notes are hyperlinks to tweets, blog posts, and online articles that help shape background for various ridiculous events occurring in the science-fiction and fantasy genre for the past few years.
At the very least, if you're someone who wants to know what you may have missed in regards to the Sad Puppies or the "Ethics in Gaming" sham, then these essays offer her perspective and the context of other voices as well.
I'm certainly glad I read this collection of essays. Hurley definitely had me thinking about what science-fiction and fantasy I consume.
On a side note, she is liberal with her cursing. If swear words offend you, then her writing is not for you.
Part One: Level Up
Her first essay "Persistence, and the Long Con of Being a Successful Writer" struck me as incredibly honest. Persistence is her measure of success. Not money. Not numbers of book sold. Not fame. Persistence.
She very much internalizes this truth, which explains how she can come back to the keyboard even after tumultuous relationships, poverty, chronic illness, and years of rejection and publishing problems.
Her next essay "I'll Make the Pancakes: On Opting In — And Out — Of the Writing Game" is short, but her message appeals to me. I could completely identify with her penchant for wanting to play Indy as a kid. Not Willie.
She describes attending a baby shower where one of the guests assumes that since she introduces herself as a writer, she must be a children's writer. Ugh. I know the feeling. I try to avoid telling people I meet that I'm a teacher. So many gender stereotypes associated with my "girl job"!
Hurley even endeared me with her calling out the prattling culture of "lean in" that's been sold to women. While I have not read Sheryl Sandburg's book, I've read enough criticism of her out-of-touch elitism to make me cringe and appreciate Hurley's point of view.
The third essay "What Marketing and Advertising Taught Me About the Value of Failure" is where Hurley starts to lose me. While she praises some truly positive examples of advertising doing good by convincing people to wear seat belts and stop drinking and driving, I can't help but feel that these examples are the exception and not the rule.
Hurley works in advertising, possibly one of the fields I loathe the most. But she likes analyzing the data from various campaigns and tweaking her writing to see how to elicit the desired response. My thinking? "So you like the Jedi Mind Trick, do you?" Meh. I'm not impressed by your cunning use of words to manipulate others.
And my meh was further emblazoned after reading the last two essays in this section. In "Taking Responsibility for Writing Problematic Stories", Hurley advocates that writers need to consider what kind of world they're willing to build. Will you, as a writer, sleep well if you're creating characters that reinforce negative stereotypes?
Interesting point. But then she follows up this essay with "Unpacking the 'Real Writers Have Talent' Myth" and my meh flew into full on vexed. She lists the career options she felt she could manage as she pursued her writing career. Teaching. Waiting tables. Doing administrative work. Or advertising.
The most lucrative option is advertising and she writes, "It turns out that selling stuff with words is actually a skill our nutty consumerist culture really, really values."
And my stomach turns even reading these words again. She wants writers to take responsibility for the worlds they create as an author, but she uses words to sell lots of crap to people just because she wants a job that pays better?
Build a fantasy world with strong morals and ethics that you believe in, but dupe real people into buying what they don't need? She wants a certain paycheck so she's willing to contribute to the slimy industry of advertising which directly affects our real world?
And there's one of my pet peeves. People who spout moral indignity with the conviction of Atticus Finch, but are not willing to back up their beliefs with actions. Is Hurley another example?
Part Two: Geek
After finishing the first section of this book, I put it down for a bit. I really wanted to like these essays and that last one definitely had me irritated.
I made the right decision because from Part Two onward, her perspective on various issues made much better impressions. In this section, Hurley analyzes a variety of pop culture entertainment like True Detective and Mad Max, and the role of women in various stories.
In her essay about Mad Max, she writes, "There's a lot of whining about 'message fiction' these days, which is bizarre because every story is a 'message' story or it wouldn't be a story. Asking for 'stories without messages' makes me think this is code for a steady diet of inane reality TV shows. Reality TV does actually have a message, folks. That message is selling and reinforcing capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo."
When I read these words, I thought about the role Hurley plays in reinforcing capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo as someone who writes copy that promotes capitalism, ignorance, and the status quo. I was a little bothered. How dedicated is she to her message about good storytelling?
In another essay on the hero archetype, she writes, "We build our heroes, too often, on terrible things done to women, instead of creating, simply, heroes who do things, who persevere in the face of overwhelming odds because it's the right thing to do."
Yes! I love this idea, so how does she go to work everyday? At this point in my reading process, I began wondering more about her personal life and I wanted details about the dramatic relationships and health crises that she hinted at in her opening section.
Part Three: Let's Get Personal
And here is where I learned many details about her struggles with type 1 diabetes and keeping health insurance. She's candid about her weight and self-image. She offers a stark look at times of poverty she endured while also acknowledging that as a white woman she did have more privilege than many others.
One of my favorite essays is the powerful piece: "Let It Go: On Responding (Or Not) to Online Criticism". She writes, "The game of online hate is rigged against you as a woman and as a creator." Women may ignore or mute the harassers and attempt to allow their words to speak for them.
But the strongest piece of advice Hurley offered is, "Your haters are not here for a conversation. They are here to keep you from doing your work." Don't let them win. Keep speaking out.
And within "When the Rebel Becomes Queen: Changing Broken Systems from the Inside" she shares how much she struggles with the question of how best to affect change in a corrupt system. Is she helping to promote change in her storytelling craft or has she become part of the problem? I wonder how much of that question relates to her day job that keeps her insured. And on that note, I can completely relate. By being a teacher in a broken public education system am I actually helping society or just helping to delay the inevitable collapse of the system?
Within this section, Hurley offers a glimpse into her life that allows me to understand why having a better paycheck with reliable health insurance would be so critical to her. And I am more convinced that the conviction of her words is true. She's fighting the good fight.
Part Four: Revolution
In these last essays, Hurley covers her point of view on the challenges of writing science-fiction and fantasy as a woman, Gamergate, the hijacking of the Hugo Awards in 2015, and much more. These essays were, by far, my favorites.
She asks some pointed questions.
Like why is it political for a female author to ask to be included within the genre, but somehow her invisibility up to then was not political?
Or regarding Gamergate: What do men do to make this world a better place?
Normally, I don't have a preference for how I read a book, but for this section in particular I was glad I had the e-book. Throughout these essays, Hurley cites various sources in her notes. With the e-book, the majority of the notes are hyperlinks to tweets, blog posts, and online articles that help shape background for various ridiculous events occurring in the science-fiction and fantasy genre for the past few years.
At the very least, if you're someone who wants to know what you may have missed in regards to the Sad Puppies or the "Ethics in Gaming" sham, then these essays offer her perspective and the context of other voices as well.
I'm certainly glad I read this collection of essays. Hurley definitely had me thinking about what science-fiction and fantasy I consume.
On a side note, she is liberal with her cursing. If swear words offend you, then her writing is not for you.
Reviewed on Books Cats Tea
The Geek Feminist Revolution is a collection of essays that revolve around the author as a female creator of science fiction, but it also covers the broader topics of women in geek culture. Writing and the nature of Hurley's particular geekery give way to the overall topics centered around women's experience in their own zones of geekery.
Whether or not you are a geek for video games, books, pop culture, or cult classics, and whether or not you are female, this book and the essays within shed light on the other 50% of the consumer world and how these people (and other marginalized groups) are treated if they try to rise up and ask (or demand) change, seek to have themselves represented in their entertainment and the world, and simply to express their right to voice their opinions without hate, harassment, and barriers.
The first part of the book follows Hurley's experiences as a burgeoning writer. She discusses her struggles, anxieties, and the issues women face in trying to legitimize themselves within their profession. What I really love about Hurley's essays is that they move from being about her own experiences to being inclusive of others, including those of her readers. She engages you to see her path and join her in comradery.
These words really spoke to me. They also are the heart of what The Geek Feminist Revolution is all about. Hurley later points out that with the deluge that the internet and access to multiple media publishing platforms, comes a plethora of choices. We don't have to stick to the big name books, movies, video games, etc. that do not suit our tastes or preferences. "Freeing up the story platforms--video, publishing, gaming--so that more people can play has indeed given us a glut of shit. But it's given us a glut of choice, too, and we can choose media that doesn't insult us a lot more easily now than before (p 127).
Into the second half of The Geek Feminist Revolution, Hurley's essays revolve around her personal and professional interests in writing science fiction (as well as other hobbies and interests). She writes about her personal experiences as a woman in the internet age and the experiences of women both in her writing profession as well as larger events in recent news. Despite my own limited exposure to the sci-fi genre, her experiences present both a focused look into the treatment of women and minority science fiction writers as well as the overall issues women and minorities face in expressing themselves in general. This reminded me of Sheree Renée Thomas' introduction in the Dark Matter and the perspectives the stories and essays offered from black speculative and science fiction writers. She repeats some of her points and at times it feels a little repetitive, but conversely, I think we need to read it again and again. So that we may reforge our way of thinking and doing in order to create a better world.
We can and should seek to understand and empathize with the situations of others. That's the essence of what reading a book does to you. It allows you to step into the shoes of others, experience their story, and learn from their trials and challenges, successes and failures. It's the reason I love reading. It is also the reason that representation and visibility in all works matters so much. The more we see and can experience other's lives, in fiction or reality, the more we broaden our minds and welcome new realities into our worldview. We can break cycles of oppression. We don't have to only accept scaly, cannibal llamas.
The Geek Feminist Revolution is a collection of essays that revolve around the author as a female creator of science fiction, but it also covers the broader topics of women in geek culture. Writing and the nature of Hurley's particular geekery give way to the overall topics centered around women's experience in their own zones of geekery.
Whether or not you are a geek for video games, books, pop culture, or cult classics, and whether or not you are female, this book and the essays within shed light on the other 50% of the consumer world and how these people (and other marginalized groups) are treated if they try to rise up and ask (or demand) change, seek to have themselves represented in their entertainment and the world, and simply to express their right to voice their opinions without hate, harassment, and barriers.
The first part of the book follows Hurley's experiences as a burgeoning writer. She discusses her struggles, anxieties, and the issues women face in trying to legitimize themselves within their profession. What I really love about Hurley's essays is that they move from being about her own experiences to being inclusive of others, including those of her readers. She engages you to see her path and join her in comradery.
There are some days where I feel like I'm screaming alone in an island, the way a lot of young women writers might feel every time they read the latest bullshit about how they'll be reviewed less, stocked less, and passed over for more awards than their dude colleagues.
But the fact is I'm not alone. And they're not either. There's a huge, angry, passionate group of people who aren't happy with the status quo, and actively speak out against it, [...]. There are massive communities of feminist writers, and no-bullshit writers, women and men and everybody along and outside the continuum who are speaking out.
[...] And just as I take comfort in their voices, sometimes, I realize, it's my voice that needs to be the comforting one, too. When I can afford the risk, it's my responsibility to step up. Because if enough people pass the buck, and pretend this is somebody else's problem, then suddenly it becomes no one's problem, and we slide backward, and we go back those ten steps, and we go back to square one.
Sometimes they take the risk; sometimes I do. We do it together. We support each other. We argue with each other. Whats important is that we realize we're not in this alone (p 41-42).
These words really spoke to me. They also are the heart of what The Geek Feminist Revolution is all about. Hurley later points out that with the deluge that the internet and access to multiple media publishing platforms, comes a plethora of choices. We don't have to stick to the big name books, movies, video games, etc. that do not suit our tastes or preferences. "Freeing up the story platforms--video, publishing, gaming--so that more people can play has indeed given us a glut of shit. But it's given us a glut of choice, too, and we can choose media that doesn't insult us a lot more easily now than before (p 127).
Into the second half of The Geek Feminist Revolution, Hurley's essays revolve around her personal and professional interests in writing science fiction (as well as other hobbies and interests). She writes about her personal experiences as a woman in the internet age and the experiences of women both in her writing profession as well as larger events in recent news. Despite my own limited exposure to the sci-fi genre, her experiences present both a focused look into the treatment of women and minority science fiction writers as well as the overall issues women and minorities face in expressing themselves in general. This reminded me of Sheree Renée Thomas' introduction in the Dark Matter and the perspectives the stories and essays offered from black speculative and science fiction writers. She repeats some of her points and at times it feels a little repetitive, but conversely, I think we need to read it again and again. So that we may reforge our way of thinking and doing in order to create a better world.
We can and should seek to understand and empathize with the situations of others. That's the essence of what reading a book does to you. It allows you to step into the shoes of others, experience their story, and learn from their trials and challenges, successes and failures. It's the reason I love reading. It is also the reason that representation and visibility in all works matters so much. The more we see and can experience other's lives, in fiction or reality, the more we broaden our minds and welcome new realities into our worldview. We can break cycles of oppression. We don't have to only accept scaly, cannibal llamas.
"[...] we are the heroes of our own lives, and we can be the masters of our own stories" (p 274).
I didn't really like this book, though it is an important issue that needs to be addressed. I just found it boring.
I really wanted to love this book, but I couldn't muster up much enthusiasm for it by the end. This book isn't actually about feminism or revolution; it's more Hurley's memoir, telling about how she ended up as a writer. Which is fine, but I wouldn't have picked up this book if I'd known that was what it was going to be. I salute her determination and her belief in writing unlikable female characters, but I felt a bit let down by this book.
reflective
medium-paced
More like 3.75 stars based on a simple average of all the essays in the collection but this is par for the course so I am rounding this up.
This book is a collection of essays from Ms. Hurley, which have been compiled into this book. Most of the essays here have been published before and as a result, there is overlap and repetition in this collection. This is important because some anectode and biographical details crop up a number of times to illustrate the points Ms. Hurley is making. This is not a weakness in the collection but something that did crop up if I read a number of the essays back to back.
The strongest essays in this collection was the biographical ones for me - when Ms. Hurley is deeply personal and directly pulling from her own experience. Her more general takes on pop culture and media are less successful for me, mostly because those essays are too short to cogently argue her point. They are less essays and more blog posts - and in most cases, reflect views I am familiar with and have read around before. In these, the writing style doesn't work for me because it relies on anectodes and not as much on wider arguments.
However, the bulk of the collection are more personal and there is authenticity and passion in her writing which is quite moving. Overall, I walked away liking quite a bit of what she had to say and appreciated her bluntness in saying it. Not as deep as I would have liked as a manifesto or as a study but still worth reading - especially, if you are not as familiar with the topic.
This book is a collection of essays from Ms. Hurley, which have been compiled into this book. Most of the essays here have been published before and as a result, there is overlap and repetition in this collection. This is important because some anectode and biographical details crop up a number of times to illustrate the points Ms. Hurley is making. This is not a weakness in the collection but something that did crop up if I read a number of the essays back to back.
The strongest essays in this collection was the biographical ones for me - when Ms. Hurley is deeply personal and directly pulling from her own experience. Her more general takes on pop culture and media are less successful for me, mostly because those essays are too short to cogently argue her point. They are less essays and more blog posts - and in most cases, reflect views I am familiar with and have read around before. In these, the writing style doesn't work for me because it relies on anectodes and not as much on wider arguments.
However, the bulk of the collection are more personal and there is authenticity and passion in her writing which is quite moving. Overall, I walked away liking quite a bit of what she had to say and appreciated her bluntness in saying it. Not as deep as I would have liked as a manifesto or as a study but still worth reading - especially, if you are not as familiar with the topic.
La autora utiliza con maestría sus conocimientos de copywriting y hace que este libro ( que más que libro es una sucesión de posts) sea ameno a la lectura. Tiene algunas ideas interesantes aunque llueve mucho sobre mojado. No es exactamente lo que esperaba leer, es menos revolucionario, feminista y geek de lo que se podía esperar en un principio.
Essential reading for anyone living in today's outrage-obsessed internet and especially for all women struggling to make a space for themselves in the geek world.
I thought she was gonna write about lots of female authors who defied the system, instead I just learned the whole life story of the author which i wasn't really asking for. Maybe my bad for having different expectations.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced