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A review by jessrock
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture--And What We Can Do about It by Kate Harding
5.0
Asking for It is a really well researched and well written book about rape culture - our contemporary culture, where men can generally feel safer than women, where men's words are given more credibility than women's, where jokes about raping people are still told and still sometimes get laughs in response.
I waffled on giving this four or five stars, because I'm very glad I read it but there's not really a lot of new information here; I don't feel like I learned a lot or had my eyes opened to things I hadn't already thought about. I settled on five because I'm really glad this book exists, and I can see it being incredibly powerful for a younger reader who's figuring things out for the first time, or for men who are willing to take some time to examine their privilege. I think for most adult female readers, Asking for It will be compelling and get the blood boiling a bit about this world we live in, but it isn't saying much we don't already know.
Harding does a fabulous job of striking a balance between being academic and humorous in her writing. She backs up everything she says with research; she examines how rape affects people across gender, race, class, and sexual orientation; and she knows the power of laughter in letting off some steam. I appreciated her moments of levity and thought her personality in the writing really helps keep this book from going too far into dry academic-writing territory.
Definitely recommended, especially for high school and college age readers, but it's a pretty compelling read even if you're already fully on board with everything Harding has to say.
I waffled on giving this four or five stars, because I'm very glad I read it but there's not really a lot of new information here; I don't feel like I learned a lot or had my eyes opened to things I hadn't already thought about. I settled on five because I'm really glad this book exists, and I can see it being incredibly powerful for a younger reader who's figuring things out for the first time, or for men who are willing to take some time to examine their privilege. I think for most adult female readers, Asking for It will be compelling and get the blood boiling a bit about this world we live in, but it isn't saying much we don't already know.
Harding does a fabulous job of striking a balance between being academic and humorous in her writing. She backs up everything she says with research; she examines how rape affects people across gender, race, class, and sexual orientation; and she knows the power of laughter in letting off some steam. I appreciated her moments of levity and thought her personality in the writing really helps keep this book from going too far into dry academic-writing territory.
Definitely recommended, especially for high school and college age readers, but it's a pretty compelling read even if you're already fully on board with everything Harding has to say.