Back to the books
Aug. 5th, 2011 12:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalIt's been SO QUIET in work this week, so I figured it was a good time to knock out a couple of book reviews before I get embarrassingly behind.
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
One of the things I enjoyed about my class is that we read a mixture of books - some were more self-helpy in nature, others were analytical, and a few were simply biographies meant to inspire us. Sirleaf, who was sworn in as President of Liberia in 2006, has a fascinating story to tell. Her personal history dovetails with the worst era of violence and oppression in her country, and she played a crucial role in the revolution that ultimately brought democracy to Liberia. The book taught me a lot about the history of class and colonialism in West Africa and provides a unique perspective on the challenges of governing as a woman.
In our class discussion, it was brought up that war-torn countries are often more receptive to female leadership, and how that relates to our gender stereotypes. After decades of bloodshed and brutal violence, the country is looking for someone who will heal them and nurture them. They want their leader to help the country rebuild, to focus on traditionally "feminine" issues like education and health care. All those combative men led them into war, but a woman's more cooperative leadership style promotes peace. And Sirleaf readily acknowledges that in her campaign, appealing to her gender and her roles as wife and mother in order to persuade voters. It raises the question of whether we need a coup or a war or some other crisis in order for women's leadership qualities to be recognized.
No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power by Gloria Feldt
This was probably my least favorite of all the books we read for class. It's VERY self-helpy and yet, weirdly, kind of takes a "blame the victim" approach to feminism. Feldt posits that it is women's own fault that the feminist movement hasn't made more progress, because we are afraid to use the power we have. Granted, it's certainly important to redefine power as "power to" - a means for positive change - rather than "power over" others, and she offers suggestions and encouragement for women to get involved. But she dismisses the institutional and social barriers that still exist, and ignores that a lack of privilege - class in particular, given the importance of money in politics - makes it much more difficult to take the steps she recommends. It's one thing to say, "These are the challenges, we need to overcome them," and quite another to say, "Pfft, those challenges aren't so tough. You're just not trying hard enough."
I did, however, enjoy the section where she skewered Twilight for being "abstinence porn" and gave Buffy a shout-out as someone who's doing it right, being active and demanding power rather than waiting passively for a man to give her life meaning. That was fun. She also writes, "Women always need to be alert to the underlying implications and underlying values of the narratives we consume." It's important to look at pop culture through the feminist lens and evaluate the messages we're receiving. (Or, in other words, yay Gabs!)
The Studio by John Gregory Dunne
Okay, switching gears, this one was for my film class. It is basically a year in the life of Twentieth Century Fox, the result of Dunne's being granted unlimited access to the studio in order to write about the inner workings of Hollywood. It's somewhat dated (the year was 1967), but still provides amusing anecdotes while walking the reader through the studio's film development process. It's not particularly useful as a "how-to" guide if you wanted to get into the movie business (I'll review that book next time), but it's interesting and entertaining if you're intrigued by old-school Hollywood.
This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa's First Woman President by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
One of the things I enjoyed about my class is that we read a mixture of books - some were more self-helpy in nature, others were analytical, and a few were simply biographies meant to inspire us. Sirleaf, who was sworn in as President of Liberia in 2006, has a fascinating story to tell. Her personal history dovetails with the worst era of violence and oppression in her country, and she played a crucial role in the revolution that ultimately brought democracy to Liberia. The book taught me a lot about the history of class and colonialism in West Africa and provides a unique perspective on the challenges of governing as a woman.
In our class discussion, it was brought up that war-torn countries are often more receptive to female leadership, and how that relates to our gender stereotypes. After decades of bloodshed and brutal violence, the country is looking for someone who will heal them and nurture them. They want their leader to help the country rebuild, to focus on traditionally "feminine" issues like education and health care. All those combative men led them into war, but a woman's more cooperative leadership style promotes peace. And Sirleaf readily acknowledges that in her campaign, appealing to her gender and her roles as wife and mother in order to persuade voters. It raises the question of whether we need a coup or a war or some other crisis in order for women's leadership qualities to be recognized.
No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power by Gloria Feldt
This was probably my least favorite of all the books we read for class. It's VERY self-helpy and yet, weirdly, kind of takes a "blame the victim" approach to feminism. Feldt posits that it is women's own fault that the feminist movement hasn't made more progress, because we are afraid to use the power we have. Granted, it's certainly important to redefine power as "power to" - a means for positive change - rather than "power over" others, and she offers suggestions and encouragement for women to get involved. But she dismisses the institutional and social barriers that still exist, and ignores that a lack of privilege - class in particular, given the importance of money in politics - makes it much more difficult to take the steps she recommends. It's one thing to say, "These are the challenges, we need to overcome them," and quite another to say, "Pfft, those challenges aren't so tough. You're just not trying hard enough."
I did, however, enjoy the section where she skewered Twilight for being "abstinence porn" and gave Buffy a shout-out as someone who's doing it right, being active and demanding power rather than waiting passively for a man to give her life meaning. That was fun. She also writes, "Women always need to be alert to the underlying implications and underlying values of the narratives we consume." It's important to look at pop culture through the feminist lens and evaluate the messages we're receiving. (Or, in other words, yay Gabs!)
The Studio by John Gregory Dunne
Okay, switching gears, this one was for my film class. It is basically a year in the life of Twentieth Century Fox, the result of Dunne's being granted unlimited access to the studio in order to write about the inner workings of Hollywood. It's somewhat dated (the year was 1967), but still provides amusing anecdotes while walking the reader through the studio's film development process. It's not particularly useful as a "how-to" guide if you wanted to get into the movie business (I'll review that book next time), but it's interesting and entertaining if you're intrigued by old-school Hollywood.
no subject
Date: Aug. 6th, 2011 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 7th, 2011 04:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 6th, 2011 03:29 am (UTC)Ha. Yay?
That's really weird that the book overall takes a victim-blaming approach though. THOSE CHALLENGES ARE PRETTY TOUGH, YOU KNOW.
no subject
Date: Aug. 7th, 2011 04:52 pm (UTC)I don't know, optimism's great, but I think ignoring the impact institutional barriers still have is prematurely declaring victory. The battle hasn't been won. And it won't be won until we change the culture that devalues housework and puts most of the burden on women. It won't be won as long as capitalism promotes the existence of an underclass, populated almost exclusively by women. Socialization and women just "stepping up" isn't enough; we need to address the systemic issues.
And, frankly, that's an unbelievably daunting task. Are we going to overthrow capitalism? Dismantle our system of government, which makes it harder for women to gain leadership positions? The point of reading Sirleaf's memoir was to recognize that female leadership often grows out of extreme circumstances, the complete destruction and rebuilding of a nation, which we (in the US, particularly, but in most Western countries) have never experienced. I can understand why Feldt wouldn't want to tackle all that in a simple how-to book, but it does readers a disservice, IMO, to ignore it completely.
no subject
Date: Aug. 8th, 2011 12:04 am (UTC):|
Yeah, obviously, ITA with everything you're saying. The system is broken. But, I mean, SHOULD we overthrow capitalism? Ha. Who even knows which way is out? You know? So. Ehhh.
no subject
Date: Aug. 8th, 2011 12:28 am (UTC)Absolutely!
But then again, I am over here on Dreamwidth, so obviously I support the communists.In seriousness, do we need to overthrow capitalism? Probably not, and it's sort of a moot point since we're certainly not going to. But capitalism thrives on oppression, so efforts to combat oppression generally entail anti-capitalist policies. IMO, it wouldn't kill the US to become a little more socialist (universal health care, for instance), but any politician who says that out loud would get flattened by the Tea Party.
But that's rather beyond the scope of the book. And I'm not saying that Feldt necessarily should've addressed big-picture issues like "should we overthrow capitalism?" I do think, however, that a book on empowering women should recognize that the reason more women don't "step up" isn't simply lack of initiative, but that government and corporate policies on health care, child care, family leave, poverty, discrimination, etc. are a legitimate barrier.
tl;dr - This is very much a "middle class white feminist" book.
no subject
Date: Aug. 9th, 2011 06:53 am (UTC)HAHAHA!IMO, it wouldn't kill the US to become a little more socialist (universal health care, for instance), but any politician who says that out loud would get flattened by the Tea Party.
Ha, right.
Your tl;dr--yep. Sounds like. *sigh* Nothing to add. I will probably give it a miss.
no subject
Date: Aug. 6th, 2011 03:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Aug. 7th, 2011 04:54 pm (UTC)