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A review by finesilkflower
Outdated: Why Dating Is Ruining Your Love Life by Samhita Mukhopadhyay
3.0
A critique of the modern dating narrative presented by pop culture (particularly self-help books, but also TV, movies, magazines, etc.) This is stuff I've ranted about for years, and it's precisely this widespread and infuriating sexist baggage that made me give up on dating straight people. (Luckily, I had other options.) In many places the book had me saying "Right on!!"
Here's the problem: this book has no audience, other than me. I'm ignorant enough about feminist theory that this was more or less new to me while being tenacious enough to keep reading a wall of text. Not a lot of people are in this position. This seems like it would be too basic for anyone who's actually interested in the topic, while it's not snappy and digestible enough for the average jo. I wish Mukhopadhyay had taken a page from the self-help books she criticizes (in style, not substance) and laid things out with eye-catching infographics, bullet points, how-to lists, meme-able soundbites, etc.
The writing isn't just dense, it's clunky, awkward, and sometimes betrays gaps in logic. I understood what the author meant most of the time, and I don't even think Mukhopadhyay is right for the wrong reasons--she's right for the right reasons, but she's not good at explaining what those reasons are. I think these are mostly failures of proofreading, but I'd worry about giving this to someone who did not already agree with the ideas, because valid points are sometimes explained confusingly or in a way that allows for nitpicking. This book can really only be used for "preaching to the choir" purposes, and not to try to convince anyone of anything they don't already know.
Here's the problem: this book has no audience, other than me. I'm ignorant enough about feminist theory that this was more or less new to me while being tenacious enough to keep reading a wall of text. Not a lot of people are in this position. This seems like it would be too basic for anyone who's actually interested in the topic, while it's not snappy and digestible enough for the average jo. I wish Mukhopadhyay had taken a page from the self-help books she criticizes (in style, not substance) and laid things out with eye-catching infographics, bullet points, how-to lists, meme-able soundbites, etc.
The writing isn't just dense, it's clunky, awkward, and sometimes betrays gaps in logic. I understood what the author meant most of the time, and I don't even think Mukhopadhyay is right for the wrong reasons--she's right for the right reasons, but she's not good at explaining what those reasons are. I think these are mostly failures of proofreading, but I'd worry about giving this to someone who did not already agree with the ideas, because valid points are sometimes explained confusingly or in a way that allows for nitpicking. This book can really only be used for "preaching to the choir" purposes, and not to try to convince anyone of anything they don't already know.