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sabeanbooks 's review for:
The Female Persuasion
by Meg Wolitzer
The first chapter, 47 pages of my life that I will never get back, is the perfect example of first-world feminism, modern feminism, or what many like to call “white” feminism. I was attracted to this book by its powerful title and even the synopsis made me excited to read a story about a young woman on her journey to find her meaning and place in life, written with obvious undertones of women’s empowerment and the feminist movement. The problem with this book is that the story has SO much potential, except the concepts and “issues” the story is associated with were almost, for lack of a better term, insulting.
Within the first chapter the author introduced the topic of serial sexual assault that occurred on campus, resulting in the classic slap-on-the-wrist punishment for the assaulter. The “role model” that we’re introduced to, Faith Frank, a “great feminist figure” that the main character looks up to, advised blatantly against stirring the pot even more and to move on from the incident after Greer (fem. protagonist) expresses her desire to push for further justice but doesn’t know how to proceed. How ignorant is this thought expressed by such a prominent feminist figure in the story, especially when sexual assault/battery cases are hardly taken seriously in the real world today, especially on college campuses? YET, the characters very proudly express their disdain by the term “ladies” being written on a women’s restroom door.
Not only that, but the characters introduced in the story were all described with Caucasian physical characteristics and identifiably Caucasian names. How can a novel expect to make an impressionable commentary on misogyny and inequality between the sexes when they fail to include diverse characters to sample how the feminist movement affects different women from different ethnic and racial backgrounds? How much more important is being referred to as females or ladies rather than whatever term is preferred than native American women kidnappings and murders, hyper sexualization of Latina and black women since birth, the mistreatment of black women in clinical settings where their pain and discomfort is often underestimated or not taken seriously? And if we go across borders, what about the female infanticide that is still occurring in India and China today? What about spy cams placed in women’s restrooms in South Korea and uploaded to porn sites?
I could list more, but this is a book review—therefore I give this book 2 stars for its potential and I do not recommend it to anyone.
Within the first chapter the author introduced the topic of serial sexual assault that occurred on campus, resulting in the classic slap-on-the-wrist punishment for the assaulter. The “role model” that we’re introduced to, Faith Frank, a “great feminist figure” that the main character looks up to, advised blatantly against stirring the pot even more and to move on from the incident after Greer (fem. protagonist) expresses her desire to push for further justice but doesn’t know how to proceed. How ignorant is this thought expressed by such a prominent feminist figure in the story, especially when sexual assault/battery cases are hardly taken seriously in the real world today, especially on college campuses? YET, the characters very proudly express their disdain by the term “ladies” being written on a women’s restroom door.
Not only that, but the characters introduced in the story were all described with Caucasian physical characteristics and identifiably Caucasian names. How can a novel expect to make an impressionable commentary on misogyny and inequality between the sexes when they fail to include diverse characters to sample how the feminist movement affects different women from different ethnic and racial backgrounds? How much more important is being referred to as females or ladies rather than whatever term is preferred than native American women kidnappings and murders, hyper sexualization of Latina and black women since birth, the mistreatment of black women in clinical settings where their pain and discomfort is often underestimated or not taken seriously? And if we go across borders, what about the female infanticide that is still occurring in India and China today? What about spy cams placed in women’s restrooms in South Korea and uploaded to porn sites?
I could list more, but this is a book review—therefore I give this book 2 stars for its potential and I do not recommend it to anyone.