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A review by jackiehorne
Push The Button by Feminista Jones
2.0
Was excited to read this, given the author's pen name. But it turned out to be a portrait of a black woman who is a submissive both in her sexual life and in her everyday interactions with her boyfriend/fiancé David, which did not appeal to me at all. I'm having a hard time thinking about such a relationship as feminist.
Nicole/Star is a social worker, but we see very little of her work life; most of what we are shown is David telling her what to do, in the guise of catering to her need to submit and to experience physical pain: "She, of course, was His to use as He needed" (50). We hear about Nicole's former boyfriend, who committed an heinous act of physical abuse on her without her consent, and I guess we're meant to appreciate David in contrast, because he cares about Nicole's career and wants her to thrive. But I found their relationship rather disturbing, nonetheless. As Nicole seems to have no personality at all, besides a desire to serve David, I had difficulty understanding her motives or relating to her wants and needs.
There's not much in the way of plot until Nicole's abusive former boyfriend shows up at a holiday party at David's mother's house (son of mom's new boyfriend), and he and David get into a fight, during which Nicole. The story takes a major turn toward melodrama here, complete with amnesia, paternity confusion, and an ending.
Must be extra difficult being a sexually-submissive African-American woman, given our country's history of enslaving Africans. We get little hint of this in this book, though.
(FYI, the characters' race is not mentioned directly, just implied via cultural cues)
Nicole/Star is a social worker, but we see very little of her work life; most of what we are shown is David telling her what to do, in the guise of catering to her need to submit and to experience physical pain: "She, of course, was His to use as He needed" (50). We hear about Nicole's former boyfriend, who committed an heinous act of physical abuse on her without her consent, and I guess we're meant to appreciate David in contrast, because he cares about Nicole's career and wants her to thrive. But I found their relationship rather disturbing, nonetheless. As Nicole seems to have no personality at all, besides a desire to serve David, I had difficulty understanding her motives or relating to her wants and needs.
There's not much in the way of plot until Nicole's abusive former boyfriend shows up at a holiday party at David's mother's house (son of mom's new boyfriend), and he and David get into a fight, during which Nicole
Spoiler
falls off the porch and ends up in a comaSpoiler
"it was all a dream"Must be extra difficult being a sexually-submissive African-American woman, given our country's history of enslaving Africans. We get little hint of this in this book, though.
(FYI, the characters' race is not mentioned directly, just implied via cultural cues)