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iymain 's review for:
Ophelia Speaks: Adolescent Girls Write about Their Search for Self
by Sara Shandler
This one was a little hard to categorize. I put it in the "parenting" section because the idea of reading adolescent girls' first hand perspective is valuable to parents, especially at a time when they may become less open with their parents. I put it in "psychology" because there are so many psychological issues that come up: depression, eating disorders, dealing with death, self image... And "feminist" because it is primarily about young women.
That being said, the very things that make this book interesting make it hard to read. When these young authors take an unedited stab at metaphor, I find myself wincing. I suppose that is part of their limbo-like status, not yet adult, but experimenting. If figurative language were the extent of their forays into the unknown, we'd all be a lot happier...
So! That brings us to the content of the book. If you based your understanding of the generation of women who were teenagers in the late 1990's, you'd think that they were all victims of abuse and mental illness. I know that Shandler went out of her way to represent as many varied demographics as possible in her book. Still, the majority seem to come from affluent and educated households. "The Academic Squeeze" really drives that one home. It makes sense since that she would find academic-types since she put her request for writing submissions out through schools. But her sample consists of writers, or aspiring writers, and as we all know, they are a group unto themselves.
The moodiness and self centeredness of adolescence is compounded by people who choose to write and be published. There's a reason that the stereotypical writer is a black clad, beret wearing, isolated, idea focused person. (They can be male or female.)
I dunno. So much of this book is time specific. The issues of beauty and sexuality that she writes about are evolving all the time. In our post "Will & Grace," "Glee," and "Ellen" generation, homosexuality is in our living rooms as well as in our closets. With covered Muslim women getting exposure as our country becomes increasingly involved in Middle Eastern affairs, the idea of hair, makeup and clothing defining who we are has a host of new implications.
The strongest essays were probably the ones about racism and feminism. I found that sometimes the contributions were somewhat shallow. But maybe that's because these girls are too young to be introspective? Shandler's introductions were a little annoying, too. Her rah-rah! it's us against the world attitude was trying. We are part of the world. She insists that young women are "complicated" but she denies that the world surrounding women is complicated, too. She fails to acknowledge that change is possible, even inevitable, and that in some ways a lot of the writing in the book is just a temporary temper tantrum of a frustrated, confused, developing person. In fact, she includes anecdotes about young men in her life who are sensitive, confused and just as determined to grow up to be enlightened as she is. Yet disproportionately the stories are of isolated, troubled, angry girls who have been ground up by societal expectations. To what extent are those societal and to what extent are they the specific demands of their nuclear families? (Though, yes, you could argue that those families are microcosms of society at large, I guess.)
As I recall, and it's been a while, Pipher wrote (among other things) about run-aways. A chapter about that would have been useful. And maybe some writing from girls who were actually "well adjusted" but still struggling to make sense of their world would have been nice. Just because a girl is confused as she wrestles with her changing identity from girl to woman doesn't mean she has to be anorexic, an incest survivor or an orphan...
I dunno. This book left me cold. I didn't feel that the voices were speaking to me. I felt they were ranting and posing. But then, I guess that's part of being a teenage girl in the late 90's. Or that's my perception after finishing this book. Kinda sad to think that whether they have long blond hair, or shave their heads bald, these girls don't really have all that much to say to us, just blame to hurl at the world at large.
That being said, the very things that make this book interesting make it hard to read. When these young authors take an unedited stab at metaphor, I find myself wincing. I suppose that is part of their limbo-like status, not yet adult, but experimenting. If figurative language were the extent of their forays into the unknown, we'd all be a lot happier...
So! That brings us to the content of the book. If you based your understanding of the generation of women who were teenagers in the late 1990's, you'd think that they were all victims of abuse and mental illness. I know that Shandler went out of her way to represent as many varied demographics as possible in her book. Still, the majority seem to come from affluent and educated households. "The Academic Squeeze" really drives that one home. It makes sense since that she would find academic-types since she put her request for writing submissions out through schools. But her sample consists of writers, or aspiring writers, and as we all know, they are a group unto themselves.
The moodiness and self centeredness of adolescence is compounded by people who choose to write and be published. There's a reason that the stereotypical writer is a black clad, beret wearing, isolated, idea focused person. (They can be male or female.)
I dunno. So much of this book is time specific. The issues of beauty and sexuality that she writes about are evolving all the time. In our post "Will & Grace," "Glee," and "Ellen" generation, homosexuality is in our living rooms as well as in our closets. With covered Muslim women getting exposure as our country becomes increasingly involved in Middle Eastern affairs, the idea of hair, makeup and clothing defining who we are has a host of new implications.
The strongest essays were probably the ones about racism and feminism. I found that sometimes the contributions were somewhat shallow. But maybe that's because these girls are too young to be introspective? Shandler's introductions were a little annoying, too. Her rah-rah! it's us against the world attitude was trying. We are part of the world. She insists that young women are "complicated" but she denies that the world surrounding women is complicated, too. She fails to acknowledge that change is possible, even inevitable, and that in some ways a lot of the writing in the book is just a temporary temper tantrum of a frustrated, confused, developing person. In fact, she includes anecdotes about young men in her life who are sensitive, confused and just as determined to grow up to be enlightened as she is. Yet disproportionately the stories are of isolated, troubled, angry girls who have been ground up by societal expectations. To what extent are those societal and to what extent are they the specific demands of their nuclear families? (Though, yes, you could argue that those families are microcosms of society at large, I guess.)
As I recall, and it's been a while, Pipher wrote (among other things) about run-aways. A chapter about that would have been useful. And maybe some writing from girls who were actually "well adjusted" but still struggling to make sense of their world would have been nice. Just because a girl is confused as she wrestles with her changing identity from girl to woman doesn't mean she has to be anorexic, an incest survivor or an orphan...
I dunno. This book left me cold. I didn't feel that the voices were speaking to me. I felt they were ranting and posing. But then, I guess that's part of being a teenage girl in the late 90's. Or that's my perception after finishing this book. Kinda sad to think that whether they have long blond hair, or shave their heads bald, these girls don't really have all that much to say to us, just blame to hurl at the world at large.