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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
A series of essays with a heavy focus on being a (feminist) sci-fi writer and intentionally writing about women, genderqueer people, people of color, societies that aren't full of white, cis-male privilege. I was thrown off by the term "geek" in the title, thinking the essays would be broader, but the majority really do focus on the constructed worlds of sci-fi writers, being a writer today with the interactions the internet provides, and recent drama within the sci-fi writing community.
At times Hurley gets rather repetitive, probably because many (all?) of these essays were originally written as stand-alone blog posts, not specifically FOR this collection.
She does talk a lot about privilege though, from her niche point of view. Overall, I found the essays interesting, even though I am not part of the sci-fi community she primarily writes about.
At times Hurley gets rather repetitive, probably because many (all?) of these essays were originally written as stand-alone blog posts, not specifically FOR this collection.
She does talk a lot about privilege though, from her niche point of view. Overall, I found the essays interesting, even though I am not part of the sci-fi community she primarily writes about.
I absolutely love Hurley's voice. AND I have to say I LOVE how frequently she uses the word "fuck." You could write a feminist dissertation on how her language itself is feminism; how she's refusing to fall into how society tells women to talk and how often society polices our language, particularly when angry or when falling outside of "lady-like."
Anyway.
This is a great read for any feminist (Hurley is intersectional, no fear), and especially for sci-fi feminist writers. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a sci-fi feminist writer exactly, this book still resonates. Everyone is surrounded by media and by stories. We translate what the stories tell us into truths, especially when we see the same story in different forms.
For instance, this is a common trope in the stories the media tells us, particularly in popular films:
"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."
Or all the white washed stories.
"...there is no legitimate reason the stories we create, the stories we read, cannot include a true representation of the makeup of the actual world around us."
These popular story tropes are because of lazy writing and frankly, sexism/racism,etc. Even women, as Hurley explains, have adopted the male gaze. We're forced to see it every day, even in advertisements or billboards. Which is why artists can't get lazy. Which is why we have to be awake every moment to realize what we're seeing and what we're producing.
"Why do we celebrate “girl power” but sneer at “women power”? I’d argue this is because women can be and are incredibly scary, and even if that’s something powerful that we’d like to read about, we have to dress it up as something else. Something more relatable. Safer. Something that doesn’t offend our loved ones and ensures that we are still loved and respected and not beaten up or harassed or made fun of."
I could quote this book all day long. Hurley makes a lot of poignant points and while many of them are familiar, she adds her perceptions on the why society favors women only in certain molds or likes to uphold a double standard.
"Let’s be real: if women were “naturally” anything, societies wouldn’t spend so much time trying to police every aspect of their lives."
Anyway.
This is a great read for any feminist (Hurley is intersectional, no fear), and especially for sci-fi feminist writers. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a sci-fi feminist writer exactly, this book still resonates. Everyone is surrounded by media and by stories. We translate what the stories tell us into truths, especially when we see the same story in different forms.
For instance, this is a common trope in the stories the media tells us, particularly in popular films:
"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."
Or all the white washed stories.
"...there is no legitimate reason the stories we create, the stories we read, cannot include a true representation of the makeup of the actual world around us."
These popular story tropes are because of lazy writing and frankly, sexism/racism,etc. Even women, as Hurley explains, have adopted the male gaze. We're forced to see it every day, even in advertisements or billboards. Which is why artists can't get lazy. Which is why we have to be awake every moment to realize what we're seeing and what we're producing.
"Why do we celebrate “girl power” but sneer at “women power”? I’d argue this is because women can be and are incredibly scary, and even if that’s something powerful that we’d like to read about, we have to dress it up as something else. Something more relatable. Safer. Something that doesn’t offend our loved ones and ensures that we are still loved and respected and not beaten up or harassed or made fun of."
I could quote this book all day long. Hurley makes a lot of poignant points and while many of them are familiar, she adds her perceptions on the why society favors women only in certain molds or likes to uphold a double standard.
"Let’s be real: if women were “naturally” anything, societies wouldn’t spend so much time trying to police every aspect of their lives."
Kameron Hurley's essay collection showcases previous blog posts along with some pieces specifically written for this book. No editing seems to be done on the older essays, so they come across as overly angry and repetitive rants. Let me clarify. I am a feminist. Sexism makes me angry, but at a certain point, constant displays of anger hurt your cause rather than support it.
I agree with many of Hurley's points, but I struggle with her critique of popular female tropes in science fiction writing because I find part of her reasoning hypocritical. She calls this lazy writing, yet she fails to summarize events properly for unaware readers (e.g. True Detective and GamerGate). She does include some sources at the end of the collection, which is great for readers who take charge. However, this places the burden of research on the reader and excludes a whole group of people who are unfamiliar with what she is writing about.
More evidence of Hurley's laziness can be found in the amount of curse words throughout her writing. Cursing serves a purpose, but I can't understand why any writer would use them unless they were the only option. In some instances, they come across as filler. In others, it seems like Hurley cannot come up with the word she really wants to use. It's not that she lacks skills as a writer, so I attribute this to her level of emotion or an inability to revisit and revise first drafts.
The other major issue in this collection is that Hurley establishes herself as a source of credibility by means of self-promotion. An example of a formula she tends to use would be the following: action readers should be taking, action she has already taken. She's a social justice warrior, but she wants the masses to know what she's done. Equality is a constant everyday struggle, and speaking out against the patriarchy is necessary and encouraged. Telling someone you spoke out is not the same as speaking out. Painting yourself as a hero does not make you heroic; it makes you arrogant. It is also not an effective method of getting readers interested in activism.
I agree with many of Hurley's points, but I struggle with her critique of popular female tropes in science fiction writing because I find part of her reasoning hypocritical. She calls this lazy writing, yet she fails to summarize events properly for unaware readers (e.g. True Detective and GamerGate). She does include some sources at the end of the collection, which is great for readers who take charge. However, this places the burden of research on the reader and excludes a whole group of people who are unfamiliar with what she is writing about.
More evidence of Hurley's laziness can be found in the amount of curse words throughout her writing. Cursing serves a purpose, but I can't understand why any writer would use them unless they were the only option. In some instances, they come across as filler. In others, it seems like Hurley cannot come up with the word she really wants to use. It's not that she lacks skills as a writer, so I attribute this to her level of emotion or an inability to revisit and revise first drafts.
The other major issue in this collection is that Hurley establishes herself as a source of credibility by means of self-promotion. An example of a formula she tends to use would be the following: action readers should be taking, action she has already taken. She's a social justice warrior, but she wants the masses to know what she's done. Equality is a constant everyday struggle, and speaking out against the patriarchy is necessary and encouraged. Telling someone you spoke out is not the same as speaking out. Painting yourself as a hero does not make you heroic; it makes you arrogant. It is also not an effective method of getting readers interested in activism.
Although redundant at times, this collection of essays was exactly what I needed to read as an emerging writer. I encourage anyone interested in being a professional writer (especially but not exclusively in spec fic) to read this book.
This is a seriously powerful work from an amazing, multifaceted woman I've admired for years now. I can easily see this becoming required reading in university coursework in the near future. Woman, feminist, geek, WHATEVER you consider yourself, you need to read this and feel empowered.
Is this a writing book dressed up as a revolutionary, or as I'd like to think, a free writers guide with a modern (not just feminist) agenda. The author emphasizes is that storytelling is a powerful tool for change and a writer should make conscious choices to smash the old tropes. Like [a:John Scalzi|4763|John Scalzi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1407277112p2/4763.jpg], Hurley is an ad copywriter in addition to her literary work. Several of the essays in this collection deal with how writing copy improved her storytelling. It's possible that stepping out of the usual English major classes and diving into journalism or the like will up your writing game. She also explains about her writing characters outside the comfort zone and various pitfalls and tropes, very useful unless you're writing The Adventures of Captain Anglo. She also charts the seas of her publishing career, which was a stormy one for certain, on her personal ship Persistence. One reason why I confine my writing to GR and a few hobbyist non-fiction bits is I'm too damn lazy to be a real author. Hurley's voyage seems to be typical for many writers and I'm not up for it. I've too many books to read!
Other topics cover the Gamergate and Hugo's fiasco's and assorted other stories of abusive men. Some good advice about the care and feeding of these trolls is included. Overall the tone of this book is one of cynical optimism, we have come a long way from Tom Swift and Buck Rogers, and while it will be a struggle I'm hoping things will continue to improve. If you write extensively for public consumption who should give it a read.
The only reason I don't give it a 5 is I probably won't reread it and I'm hoping a brighter future makes it obsolete.
Other topics cover the Gamergate and Hugo's fiasco's and assorted other stories of abusive men. Some good advice about the care and feeding of these trolls is included. Overall the tone of this book is one of cynical optimism, we have come a long way from Tom Swift and Buck Rogers, and while it will be a struggle I'm hoping things will continue to improve. If you write extensively for public consumption who should give it a read.
The only reason I don't give it a 5 is I probably won't reread it and I'm hoping a brighter future makes it obsolete.
Recomendadísimo: este libro habla de feminismo, de movimientos sociales, de lo que supone escribir, de cómo enfrentarse a las críticas, de cómo escribir cosas diversas, de lo que supone vivir en EEUU sin seguro... es una joya de ensayo tras otra, si os gusta escribir por favor leedlo. Y si no también.
Mención especial a We Have Always Fought, The Horror Story You'll Never Have To Live, Public Speaking While Fat y... y yo qué sé, todos. Para una persona que escribe tan grimdark, tiene un punto de vista muy es-lo-que-hay-pero-podemos-cambiarlo-poco-a-poco que a mí, al menos me da optimismo.
"The trolls aren't there to have a conversation, they're there to keep you from doing your work"
Mención especial a We Have Always Fought, The Horror Story You'll Never Have To Live, Public Speaking While Fat y... y yo qué sé, todos. Para una persona que escribe tan grimdark, tiene un punto de vista muy es-lo-que-hay-pero-podemos-cambiarlo-poco-a-poco que a mí, al menos me da optimismo.
"The trolls aren't there to have a conversation, they're there to keep you from doing your work"
An essay collection written a Hugo award winning science fiction writer Kameron Hurley, dealing unflinchingly with big issues dealing with harassment and bullying, but also personal stories of how to keep going when odds are against you. It's a kick in the teeth I needed to read at the right time.
