2013 books: 35 - 39
Oct. 19th, 2013 12:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_siobhanMore non-fiction
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism and Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy by Mary Daly.
I definitely picked these up at a sale somewhere. They still have the reduced price tags on the front.
I remember that when I first bought these I gave up reading them after the first chapters because I didn't understand them. At the time I thought I lacked the language of sociology texts. Now I realize it's because Daly makes up words. Here's a sample of some text from Pure Lust;
She kindly provides the definition of Archespheres as, "the Radiant Realm of Elemental/Female Origins". Unfortunately that doesn't help me in having the slightest clue as to what she's going on about.
So my understanding of the two books might be way off, but I think I got the gist of Gyn/Ecology. Basically she describes suttee, foot-binding, female genital mutilation and witch-burning and finds the common themes between these practices. And then applies those themes to the modern practices of gynecology and psychotherapy.
Well. Ok then.
Pure Lust on the other hand, I couldn't make head or tail of at all. TL;DR version appears to be that traditional religion is sadistic with women as the victims, modern society is based on that sadistic tradition, and the that the only solution is for women to sod off on our own and be joyful warriors. Oh and also BDSM is a sickness and cross-dressing is cannibalism. Or something.
Relegated to the giveaway pile due to an overwhelming case of the whatevers.
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Female Masculinity by Judith/Jack Halberstam I remember picking up this book because I was struck by the cover image. Then I put it on my "to-read" shelf and didn't look at it again for 15 years. Oops. Halberstam wrote this book as an attempt to isolate masculinity as an identity distinct from sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation. S/he looks at present-day presentations of masculinity by butch lesbians, FTM transexuals and drag kings and also discusses how how female masculinity is presented in books and films. Halberstam is an academic so the text is pretty dense going. It's a fascinating subject and I loved reading this, but it's not one I would recommend for casual light reading. |
 | Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem by Gloria Steinem Apparently this was written in 1992. I have a vague idea I may have picked this up at a sale or something? I'm not entirely sure. I have way too many books. Anyway. I only ended up making it about half-way through the book before I got bored and put it down. It's about self-esteem as the title suggests; and she writes in the first chapter that she wants to bridge the gap between self-help books, which focus completely on internal attitude change, and political books that describe existing inequalities. She does this by presenting case study after case study of people in dead-end circumstances who gained self-esteem by accomplishing small things, and then went on from there to accomplish even greater things. All great stories, but it's more a series of inspirational blog entries than a book. |
 | This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. I remember hunting this book down after it was recommended to me by a woman in one of my classes. A compilation of poetry, essays and rants by women of colour, discussing racism in the feminist movement, sexism in the civil rights movement, and homophobia from pretty much everybody. This is angry stuff and was pretty eye-opening for me when I was immersed in the very privileged middle-class white feminism that existed in University. This is the precursor to current-day bloggers like The Angry Black Woman and Womanist Musings. |
Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism and Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy by Mary Daly.
I definitely picked these up at a sale somewhere. They still have the reduced price tags on the front.
I remember that when I first bought these I gave up reading them after the first chapters because I didn't understand them. At the time I thought I lacked the language of sociology texts. Now I realize it's because Daly makes up words. Here's a sample of some text from Pure Lust;
Foreground to the First Realm: The Sadosociety and its Sadospiritual Legitimators.
Lusty Wanderers must face the foreground conditions that impede our entry into the Realm of of Archespheres, the Realm of Realizing our Archaic/Elemental powers. As a prelude to our analysis of Elemental Self-empowering, therefore, it is necessary that Nags know the prevailing and legitimating ideology of the society spawned by phallic lust - the sadosociety.
She kindly provides the definition of Archespheres as, "the Radiant Realm of Elemental/Female Origins". Unfortunately that doesn't help me in having the slightest clue as to what she's going on about.
So my understanding of the two books might be way off, but I think I got the gist of Gyn/Ecology. Basically she describes suttee, foot-binding, female genital mutilation and witch-burning and finds the common themes between these practices. And then applies those themes to the modern practices of gynecology and psychotherapy.
Well. Ok then.
Pure Lust on the other hand, I couldn't make head or tail of at all. TL;DR version appears to be that traditional religion is sadistic with women as the victims, modern society is based on that sadistic tradition, and the that the only solution is for women to sod off on our own and be joyful warriors. Oh and also BDSM is a sickness and cross-dressing is cannibalism. Or something.
Relegated to the giveaway pile due to an overwhelming case of the whatevers.