I am pretty open to all kinds of literature and Parade by Rachel Cusk was recently suggested by a book influencer I follow. Really interested to see if anyone else here read it. I was not a fan. I read some reviews to see if I missed anything, and several people seemed to have walked away with a similar position as I did. Really interested in seeing some other perspectives though.
On the other hand, Soldier Sailor which was also recommended by them was exceptional. It was an easy read, especially considering I had sandwiched it between two denser novels, but it was the most moving to me personally. I’d recommend it to anyone, even if they are not personally interested in having children.
I know we’re a small community, and it’s unlikely enough people have read either of the above since there’s so much out there, so please feel free to comment with your most recent reads that touch on feminism or women’s issues and what you thought about them. Or just comment with general book recommendations? If we can do female authors or female protagonists, or some kind of relationship to women that would be cool, but also open to whatever you wanna share.
I think I’ve already mentioned children of time here, but always happy to rerecommend it. It’s a book jam packed with commentary on sex, gender, and society.
is this fiction only, or does non-fiction count too? (I only ask because most of my feminist reads are non-fiction 😅)
Any and all!
In that case, I highly recommend Julia Serano’s Sexed Up for its analysis of gender.
I’ve also been trying to work my way through Down Girl by Kate Manne.
In terms of fiction, I was deeply moved by Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, which I read as a teenager.
If you like sci fi, I love The Lady Astronaut series by Mary Robinette Kowal. It takes place in the 1950s and centers women fighting to become astronauts.
Just checked it out, thank you for the suggestion! Will make a separate post if I have anything interesting to say about it.
I recently read the trilogy of When Women Were Warriors. The main character got a bit Mary Sue towards the end, but other than that it was a good read.
It pulls one away from some modern societal norms, and also has some parts that hinge on gender inequality. It’s also pretty gay.
Thank you for the recommendation! I keep seeing it online and I might have to just pick it up based on your comment and it leading me to read some reviews.
:-)
I’ve always been a fan of Camille Paglia’s earlier works. Note: “being a fan” doesn’t mean “agreeing with what she says”. I disagree with a lot of what she says (chiefly her arguments toward biological essentialism), but I loved her “enfant terrible” relationship with a feminism that was beginning to ossify in a middle class white woman ivory tower pronouncements from on high kind of way. She was a shake-up that second-wave feminism sorely needed, deserved, and got.
Her voice became less and less relevant as she continued doubling down on the factually incorrect components of her stance (chiefly, as I said, her biological essentialism), but you can’t deny the electric shock she sent into the community at just about the time that the ossification had started and caused, among other things, the failure of the National Action Committee in Canada because of the middle class white rejection of intersectionality which led to the downfall of that once-powerful voice for feminism in Canada.
Sexual Personae is still on my shelf, though its contents are increasingly less important in this day.
ContraPoints just did an excellent Tangents video on Sexual Personae and has a similar take away as you - what a coincidence! Paglia is a seething reactionary and that sucks, but I agree that the whole rebel feminist style she has going on is appealing.
Yeah, I think Paglia is wrong on many very, very, very important things. But she’s wrong in ways that are a) interesting, and b) important. And she’s great practice for debunkers because she’s not easy to attack. She has actual academic rigour paired with her blind spots.
I had not seen any of her tangents videos, but my goodness that was really interesting. It’s the kind of video I wish she did more of publicly instead of her more highly produced content. I understand that the audience for those might be smaller, but it felt so much dense and materially grounded. I know at the end of the day it’s all infotainment, but still. Thanks for adding this to the discussion.
I love her Tangents, and it worked - now I support her on Patreon so I can watch them as soon as they come out.
The Daddy Politics video she did as the one before last was really insightful.
This month she is too depressed to work, so she doesn’t take any Patreon money, she pauses it until she’s working again. She is so sensitive and ethical, it’s honestly inspiring.
Yes! She referenced it in that video so it’s also on my to watch list. I’m going to have to find the time to go through the backlog.
Thank you for sharing! Back in my less radical but more rebellious days I really enjoyed reading radical feminist works. I didn’t agree with most of their takes, but it was exciting to see the way they viewed the world. Now I’m less able to stomach revolutionary texts that aren’t firmly rooted in better politics, even as just fun thought exercises. I still think they were important to me while forming my own beliefs, but I doubt revisiting them would serve much purpose. Nice to see that’s not a wholly unique experience.
2nd Wave White Middle Class Feminism was an institution that needed being torn down. Paglia attacked that edifice from one side, but that’s because intersectionality and 3rd Wave Feminism hadn’t caught on yet. I loved that Paglia was doing this, even though I disagreed with a lot of her specifics.
I think there’s some value even today in reading her attacks and reasoning. On the one side a lot of her savage critiques of feminism still ring true. On the other side, it’s good to have a smart and capable deliverer of bad ideas for countering practice. (It’s why Sexual Personae is still on my shelf.)
And hey, at least she’s not Naomi Wolfe.
