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A review by sarah_richmond
The Geek Feminist Revolution by Kameron Hurley
3.0
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tor Books for the advanced copy given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Pre-reading : This better be intersectional feminism. Tired of being disappointed by whitewashing in femlit.
Post- reading : Well, I shouldn't have worried about the whitewashing, Hurley definitely tried to be inclusive. She was very vocal about acknowledging the need for diversity, and in her own shortcomings as a white writer who sometimes makes mistakes with representation in her fiction.
I didn't love this collection, however. And maybe it`s because I read it on the back of the phenomenal Bad Feminist, but the essays in here just didn't move or educate me. I actually feel like 2/3 of the book is falsely advertised - this isn't a collection with feminism at the core, it is more a collection of autobiographical tidbits with feminism as a strong undertone. If I had gone in expecting to mainly be reading about Hurley's life, and her process as a writer, maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed. If you are a young female writer penning SF stories, then this is for you. Hurley gives a lot of advice on how to write (although I often felt that the essays came across as an infomercial for her own books) and she shows how she has failed in the past, and how she persevered until she succeeded. This is all great, but when a book is sold as being about feminism, but is actually a how-to autobiography on becoming a successful SF writer in a male dominated world, it is a bit frustrating.
I did ADORE her final essay, We Have Always Fought, but it was written a few years before The Geek Feminist Revolution and is available for free online. I also loved her essay on what it was like to go from able bodied to chronically ill, and her first hand experiences with the mess that was the pre-Obama American health care system. I found both essays eye opening and extremely well written.
I think one of my main issues with the collection is how thin it all seemed. Hurley mentions a few things over and over- I know she won a Hugo award (because she mentioned it way too often for it to pass my notice), and I know she lived in South Africa (but as a South African, it was really disappointing to read another thin, stereotypical representation of the homeland), I know she is passionate about feminism and standing up for women on the internet and in the Geek sphere - but there was no meat to the bones of her experiences. The essays in this collection left me wanting so much more. Hurley is talented, and seems like someone I would love to have at the dinner table, if only to have the opportunity to get more out of her brain.
Pre-reading : This better be intersectional feminism. Tired of being disappointed by whitewashing in femlit.
Post- reading : Well, I shouldn't have worried about the whitewashing, Hurley definitely tried to be inclusive. She was very vocal about acknowledging the need for diversity, and in her own shortcomings as a white writer who sometimes makes mistakes with representation in her fiction.
I didn't love this collection, however. And maybe it`s because I read it on the back of the phenomenal Bad Feminist, but the essays in here just didn't move or educate me. I actually feel like 2/3 of the book is falsely advertised - this isn't a collection with feminism at the core, it is more a collection of autobiographical tidbits with feminism as a strong undertone. If I had gone in expecting to mainly be reading about Hurley's life, and her process as a writer, maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed. If you are a young female writer penning SF stories, then this is for you. Hurley gives a lot of advice on how to write (although I often felt that the essays came across as an infomercial for her own books) and she shows how she has failed in the past, and how she persevered until she succeeded. This is all great, but when a book is sold as being about feminism, but is actually a how-to autobiography on becoming a successful SF writer in a male dominated world, it is a bit frustrating.
I did ADORE her final essay, We Have Always Fought, but it was written a few years before The Geek Feminist Revolution and is available for free online. I also loved her essay on what it was like to go from able bodied to chronically ill, and her first hand experiences with the mess that was the pre-Obama American health care system. I found both essays eye opening and extremely well written.
I think one of my main issues with the collection is how thin it all seemed. Hurley mentions a few things over and over- I know she won a Hugo award (because she mentioned it way too often for it to pass my notice), and I know she lived in South Africa (but as a South African, it was really disappointing to read another thin, stereotypical representation of the homeland), I know she is passionate about feminism and standing up for women on the internet and in the Geek sphere - but there was no meat to the bones of her experiences. The essays in this collection left me wanting so much more. Hurley is talented, and seems like someone I would love to have at the dinner table, if only to have the opportunity to get more out of her brain.