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A review by angelayoung
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
4.0
I've never read a book like Three Women before. I read much more fiction than non-fiction but the courage of the women who told their stories to Lisa Taddeo is extraordinary. As is the courage of her writing.
As Taddeo says, here, https://www.goodreads.com/notes/44019692-three-women/37551638-lisa-taddeo?ref=bsfknh
I did recognise some aspects of myself: I recognised what Taddeo never explicitly writes (although she documents the facts) that women with strong sexual drives are, quite often, subject to manipulation by those who hold the balance of power. All three women, I felt, were manipulated by their sexual partners whether it was because he (and they are all male in these accounts) used his power to disown a woman after she made claims about or against him which he decided not to remember or take responsibility for; whether it was by strictly dictating the times when he and she could meet to have sex; or whether it was by requiring the woman to have sex with other partners.
Three Women is a courageously honest account of the sexual lives of three women whose courage in telling their stories to Taddeo and subsequently in agreeing to allow them to be printed should not be as surprising as it is. Three Women might help open all human minds to the idea that sex is just as natural and desirable and necessary for many many women as it has always been accepted to be for men, and that sexual encounters should be equal, in terms of the power each partner holds.
As Taddeo says, here, https://www.goodreads.com/notes/44019692-three-women/37551638-lisa-taddeo?ref=bsfknh
While writing Three Women —and indeed speaking to hundreds of women across the country—the clearest message I heard was the way that women most fear the judgment of other women. We fear telling our sisters and mothers and friends what we want. Especially if what we want is the “wrong” man or the wrong woman or the wrong career or the wrong food. It’s not for me, or anyone, to draw conclusions about another’s life. But I do believe it is our responsibility, as readers and as human beings, to listen. I wanted to tell stories of real people, from their perspectives, and my grandest hope was that readers of my book might recognize some aspect of themselves or their friends in these women.It is our responsibility to listen. That's so very important. And to listen, as Taddeo says above and writes in Three Women without judgement.
I did recognise some aspects of myself: I recognised what Taddeo never explicitly writes (although she documents the facts) that women with strong sexual drives are, quite often, subject to manipulation by those who hold the balance of power. All three women, I felt, were manipulated by their sexual partners whether it was because he (and they are all male in these accounts) used his power to disown a woman after she made claims about or against him which he decided not to remember or take responsibility for; whether it was by strictly dictating the times when he and she could meet to have sex; or whether it was by requiring the woman to have sex with other partners.
Three Women is a courageously honest account of the sexual lives of three women whose courage in telling their stories to Taddeo and subsequently in agreeing to allow them to be printed should not be as surprising as it is. Three Women might help open all human minds to the idea that sex is just as natural and desirable and necessary for many many women as it has always been accepted to be for men, and that sexual encounters should be equal, in terms of the power each partner holds.