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A review by erinstewart
The First Stone: Some Questions of Sex and Power by Helen Garner
4.0
I don't really agree with Garner but her points around women portraying themselves as victims rather than agents is as important today as ever. Solutions to the problems facing women are complex and the changes we demand of others mark only the start of women's empowerment. Good change, after all, is endogenous.
I also get Garner's frustration of not being able to talk to the central women and being locked out of the feminist crowd. Although she vilifies this group it is clear that her work is subjective and even imaginative when it comes to their characterisation. It is easy to place these musings as conjecture because Garner is so transparent with her limitations. This may not be reassuring for those she writes about but I don't feel like I 'know' the figures from the book, only how Garner saw them from afar.
Plus, you know, Garner is one of Australia's best writers so she could be arguing for more umbrellas up Swanston Street and I'd still attend to each word.
I also get Garner's frustration of not being able to talk to the central women and being locked out of the feminist crowd. Although she vilifies this group it is clear that her work is subjective and even imaginative when it comes to their characterisation. It is easy to place these musings as conjecture because Garner is so transparent with her limitations. This may not be reassuring for those she writes about but I don't feel like I 'know' the figures from the book, only how Garner saw them from afar.
Plus, you know, Garner is one of Australia's best writers so she could be arguing for more umbrellas up Swanston Street and I'd still attend to each word.