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A review by carise
On Violence and On Violence Against Women by Jacqueline Rose
3.0
My issues with this book have nothing to do with its content and everything to do with how it was composed. I feel like this book would have been better marketed as a loose collection of essays on feminism or cultural critique in general. I don’t really enjoy the journalistic style of Rose’s writing here, although some might. I admit I had to graze through certain parts because the writing was just… abrasive. I love that Rose dedicates two whole chapters to trans issues, but she uses some very outdated or problematic terminology in these discussions. For example:
“Despite much progress, transsexuality, or transsexualism as the preferred term, is still treated today as anomaly or exception” (89).
There are other examples that make me wonder whether she consulted any trans women in the process, with frequent uses of terms like “transgender-identified” or “male-to-female” (outside of clinical contexts).
It seems that most reviews of this book are accurate; that is, Rose’s technical choices detract from her argumentation. I would have preferred to read an entire work of her philosophical ideas regarding violence against women. For example:
“Case after collapsing case in the courts had shown that if you take as your starting point the idea of a pre-existing, God given difference between the sexes, then it becomes much more difficult to prove discrimination, even in cases of harassment. Because men are different, you will be told, they are just behaving as normal (they cannot help helping themselves)” (46).
This is the direction Kate Manne takes in The Logic of Misogyny; and while unlike Manne Rose takes an intersectional approach to violence against women, combining these two outlooks (as one suggestion) would make for a great book.
“Despite much progress, transsexuality, or transsexualism as the preferred term, is still treated today as anomaly or exception” (89).
There are other examples that make me wonder whether she consulted any trans women in the process, with frequent uses of terms like “transgender-identified” or “male-to-female” (outside of clinical contexts).
It seems that most reviews of this book are accurate; that is, Rose’s technical choices detract from her argumentation. I would have preferred to read an entire work of her philosophical ideas regarding violence against women. For example:
“Case after collapsing case in the courts had shown that if you take as your starting point the idea of a pre-existing, God given difference between the sexes, then it becomes much more difficult to prove discrimination, even in cases of harassment. Because men are different, you will be told, they are just behaving as normal (they cannot help helping themselves)” (46).
This is the direction Kate Manne takes in The Logic of Misogyny; and while unlike Manne Rose takes an intersectional approach to violence against women, combining these two outlooks (as one suggestion) would make for a great book.