Ranging from personal essays to calls to action, The Geek Feminist Revolution speaks to the hardships and wonders of feminist politics in practice, and the challenges and pitfalls that come along the way. I particularly found the part where it discussed how it can sometimes feel very isolating and exhausting in doing so, and how an individual is not at fault when they need to take a step back - either temporarily or permanently. This made me think of how important solidarity across different communities is critical to systemic change.

The essay collection also speaks to the sexism and misogyny in pop culture, and how the skills and trade of storytelling can reinforce and challenge that issue. Hence, the value and importance of storytelling across all media. With that comes the tension between creative labour and industries, which gave me a glimpse into the publishing world. Her essays on creative writing and the craft really highlights the amount of thought that goes into world building in fantasy fiction, especially when building fictional worlds that are meant to juxtapose against systemic issues in reality.

I think what I was most pleasantly surprised by was the essay on hypermasculinity, especially on how it is damaging to everyone. At one point, I tried writing a paper on how the application of (hyper)masculinity on female characters in film was not as progressive as Hollywood pitched it as. I struggled with articulating my thoughts and criticism. So I really admired Hurley’s essay on the topic, and how difficult it is to confront internalized sexism. Lots of food for thought there.

Hurley isn’t writing these essays as a cultural critic but some of the arguments are relevant in this regard. She’s writing based on her lived experiences, which is at the intersection of gender and class. And so these essays reflect self-awareness of how this body of work is limited in scope. Hence the essays that speak to the importance and value of advocating for diversity, inclusion and equality in publishing and media production.

It should be noted that this essay collection was published in 2016 so some of the pop culture examples may not be as relevant any more. But Hurley’s arguments are still poignant, especially regarding the socio-cultural hostility that targets women and people of marginalized genders. Of course, if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, give it a read! But if this sounds like something outside of your comfort zone, both in terms of reading taste and/or politics, I’d still encourage you to give this a try. Either way, there likely will be some parts in this collection that make you question yourself, and I think that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to sit with our thoughts and ask, “why do I agree or disagree with this point?” or “why does that point bother me?”.

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

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