Scan barcode
rebecca_arch_art's reviews
14 reviews
How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The Story of Art without Men by Katy Hessel
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
I think this has been my favourite read of 2023 so far. I’ve read a lot of feminist literature (fiction and non-fiction) this year, that throws a spotlight on what women have been denied, or has been missing from our lives, whereas this book has been a celebration of what can be added back into history and into my understanding of the world.
It’s been fascinating to discover how these artists have responded to world events over the last 1000 years, from war to revolution and developments in science, technology and the media. The obscuring of women from art history really does serve to explain the purpose of art itself. To make sense of the world and our place in it, as we all fight for understanding and significance in an ever increasing world that makes us feel confused and insignificant.
While not excusing, but potentially explaining why women have been actively minimised in the art world, I was struck by the realisation that space and attention are finite, and male artists pushed female artists aside in an attempt to hold that space for themselves.
There are several examples in this book of uncredited female inspiration for famous male works, and in some cases, downright theft of female art by male artists, that will have you questioning the very art history you thought you knew.
Wonderfully intersectional, Hessel ensures that the full gender spectrum away from male, is showcased, as well as art and contributions from across the globe. It feels like I’d been reading a history book with every other page torn out for the last few decades as I’ve started to explore my interest in art, and it has filled me with a renewed belief in my ability, the topics I care to represent, and the importance and talent of female artists since art began.
I recommend you read this book with a laptop/tablet/phone close to hand, as you will want to look up the pieces mentioned in the book that are not pictured. I found this really enhanced my experience, to add more images and visual stimuli. It’s also helpful to discuss the chapters as you go and explore your feelings (anger, sadness, disappointment, inspiration, enthusiasm) so I think this would suit a book club really well.
I have also found new paintings and installations I never knew existed and that I have fallen in love with, that I will be off to visit and potentially draw inspiration from when I next pick my own brushes up!
It’s been fascinating to discover how these artists have responded to world events over the last 1000 years, from war to revolution and developments in science, technology and the media. The obscuring of women from art history really does serve to explain the purpose of art itself. To make sense of the world and our place in it, as we all fight for understanding and significance in an ever increasing world that makes us feel confused and insignificant.
While not excusing, but potentially explaining why women have been actively minimised in the art world, I was struck by the realisation that space and attention are finite, and male artists pushed female artists aside in an attempt to hold that space for themselves.
There are several examples in this book of uncredited female inspiration for famous male works, and in some cases, downright theft of female art by male artists, that will have you questioning the very art history you thought you knew.
Wonderfully intersectional, Hessel ensures that the full gender spectrum away from male, is showcased, as well as art and contributions from across the globe. It feels like I’d been reading a history book with every other page torn out for the last few decades as I’ve started to explore my interest in art, and it has filled me with a renewed belief in my ability, the topics I care to represent, and the importance and talent of female artists since art began.
I recommend you read this book with a laptop/tablet/phone close to hand, as you will want to look up the pieces mentioned in the book that are not pictured. I found this really enhanced my experience, to add more images and visual stimuli. It’s also helpful to discuss the chapters as you go and explore your feelings (anger, sadness, disappointment, inspiration, enthusiasm) so I think this would suit a book club really well.
I have also found new paintings and installations I never knew existed and that I have fallen in love with, that I will be off to visit and potentially draw inspiration from when I next pick my own brushes up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Grief, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, and Slavery
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
5.0
I opened this book at about midday today on the train, and I’ve just finished it at 8:30pm. It’s a wonderfully intersectional exposé of undiagnosed autism and the profound impact of male-by-default understanding of the condition. It’s funny, relatable, sad and at times difficult to read, but ultimately engaging, with fascinating insights into the author’s own passion to understand herself. I thoroughly recommend and now have to scramble to find another book to read on the journey home in a few days.
And Away... by Bob Mortimer
3.0
Strangely melancholy in places, Bob is quite different to the person you see on WILTY and Taskmaster most recently. This book will make you want a pork pie. Tired of pie, tired of life I suppose.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
5.0
What starts as a gentle agitation of gender experiences, builds to an world-upending conclusion. The author captures a centuries old voice of women, spoken in a man’s voice, as they find themselves increasingly threatened and frightened by the emergence of women as the physically dominant gender. The absurdity of the situation somehow feels more real when transposed to a male-voice. What later becomes apparent is that no one gender is actually “right” or more suited to leadership; an imbalance of power corrupts all.
As an archaeologist, the subtle brilliance of the final challenges to male “warrior” burials, pre-cataclysm had me laughing despite the horrific events of the closing chapters. This book is and will be a very difficult read for anyone who has experienced sexual violence. I was left wondering how often this wheel has turned, with each sex repeatedly destroying their universe, in turn. There are too many sexist tropes, turned on their head, to mention but I was particularly stuck by the comments that the rape scenes in the book were just porn, in the way that too many programmes depict sexual violence against women for “historical accuracy” and sexposition. I found nothing but disgust and horror at the depiction, whoever the victim.
The book is a stark warning that it doesn’t really matter what body we are born into, we are all capable of cruelty and violence in the right/wrong circumstances. It very much underlined my feminism for me, that I want equity, not revenge or a wholly female-led society. We should look for the better human, the compassionate and empathetic among us, gender is irrelevant. There is no natural order that we should all be subscribing to, based on which sex is stronger or larger.
As an archaeologist, the subtle brilliance of the final challenges to male “warrior” burials, pre-cataclysm had me laughing despite the horrific events of the closing chapters. This book is and will be a very difficult read for anyone who has experienced sexual violence. I was left wondering how often this wheel has turned, with each sex repeatedly destroying their universe, in turn. There are too many sexist tropes, turned on their head, to mention but I was particularly stuck by the comments that the rape scenes in the book were just porn, in the way that too many programmes depict sexual violence against women for “historical accuracy” and sexposition. I found nothing but disgust and horror at the depiction, whoever the victim.
The book is a stark warning that it doesn’t really matter what body we are born into, we are all capable of cruelty and violence in the right/wrong circumstances. It very much underlined my feminism for me, that I want equity, not revenge or a wholly female-led society. We should look for the better human, the compassionate and empathetic among us, gender is irrelevant. There is no natural order that we should all be subscribing to, based on which sex is stronger or larger.
Jews Don't Count by David Baddiel
4.0
This is a great deconstruction of our outrage about the “isms and phobias” that exist in our society. Baddiel systematically steps through the common objections to the reality of anti-semitism. He confronts the challenges of intersectionality and “whataboutery” when it comes to racism towards Jews. I found the Schrödinger thought exercise about the white-ness of Jews, depending on the situation, the most enlightening, reminiscent of the high/low status of genders in the sexism debates. I knocked a star off, not for the topic, but rather the style of writing. The often convoluted sentences were hard to follow and I had to re-read several parts to grasp what was being said.
However, if you want to have your mind opened and your subconscious bias challenged, then read this book (just read it carefully!)
However, if you want to have your mind opened and your subconscious bias challenged, then read this book (just read it carefully!)
The Patriarchs: The Origins of Inequality by Angela Saini
4.0
Talk about a mind-opening opener - the first chapter of this book points out that in a fantastical, total reimagining of the world in Planet of the Apes, the society is still patriarchal. I had to put the book down, stare at the wall and mutter “I guess there are some limits to the human imagination after all… huh…”
This book aims to seek out the answer to one of the biggest arguments that support a patriarchy - that it is somehow the natural order of things, it was and always will be the structure we return to, despite the odd annoying feminist uprising.
The chapters take you through cases for the defence, such as the animal kingdom, soviet states, Indian matrilocality, Iranian politics, and gender politics. What emerges is this realisation that how we structure our societies is all made-up nonsense. We have a choice, rather than lazily relying on what apes did/do, or what the prevailing religious nonsense would have us do.
It all boils down to power. The haves and the have-nots. The slow, pervasive fog that creeps across a civilisation, slowly eroding the power of some and depositing it in the laps of others.
Patriarchy is not natural. Religion is not natural. Politics are not natural. Instead we should be structuring ourselves in a way that is logical and deliberate. It makes no sense to imprison half of the global population for any reason. It has been shown that with deliberate levelling tactics used on the parts of nature that ARE inescapable (women still are the only ones who give birth) that there is no need to hamstring women, and all can actively participate in life. It is incumbent upon us all to fight against the absurd just because it is historical. And to realise that our history has never got it “right” so why do we try so hard to emulate its flaws.
This book aims to seek out the answer to one of the biggest arguments that support a patriarchy - that it is somehow the natural order of things, it was and always will be the structure we return to, despite the odd annoying feminist uprising.
The chapters take you through cases for the defence, such as the animal kingdom, soviet states, Indian matrilocality, Iranian politics, and gender politics. What emerges is this realisation that how we structure our societies is all made-up nonsense. We have a choice, rather than lazily relying on what apes did/do, or what the prevailing religious nonsense would have us do.
It all boils down to power. The haves and the have-nots. The slow, pervasive fog that creeps across a civilisation, slowly eroding the power of some and depositing it in the laps of others.
Patriarchy is not natural. Religion is not natural. Politics are not natural. Instead we should be structuring ourselves in a way that is logical and deliberate. It makes no sense to imprison half of the global population for any reason. It has been shown that with deliberate levelling tactics used on the parts of nature that ARE inescapable (women still are the only ones who give birth) that there is no need to hamstring women, and all can actively participate in life. It is incumbent upon us all to fight against the absurd just because it is historical. And to realise that our history has never got it “right” so why do we try so hard to emulate its flaws.