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Sisters’ Entrance
Warnings: Violence, Racism, Islamophobia, Trauma My Thoughts I’ve struggled to gather my thoughts on this collection, I was just so blown away and overwhelmed by the emotions elicited by this book. The poetry collected here comes from a very personal place for the author, who is a Sudanese refugee that survived the war and genocide in Darfur. Some poems were heavy and spoke of her traumatic experiences such as in People Like Us and The Bride. Others, like Why I Haven’t Told You Yet, were more light-hearted but still carry a strong message. All of these poems pulled together shape the author, her family, her experiences, and her outlook on…
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Nasty Women
My Thoughts This book seems to have been published as a direct reaction to the 2016 election, and I read it years ago as an ARC. It is an anthology that covers the intersections of race, sexuality, and feminism. It was really cool to get to see the world through the eyes of women coming from walks of life entirely removed from my own. There were many whose struggles I couldn’t even begin to imagine dealing with, while others I found comfort that I wasn’t alone in the issues that I have faced. Nasty Women covers a wide range of topics by authors from drastically different backgrounds. “Being able to…
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Women & Power: A Manifesto
My Thoughts Women & Power is a pair of essays by classicist Mary Beard and it is a great example of how history can provide context for the present day. The author does a phenomenal job linking Greek and Roman mythology to present-day attitudes toward women in power. She dissects the tradition of viewing public speech as a defining male trait. Beard offers a compelling argument about the way that public speech has been tied to power and by extension masculinity since ancient times. It’s an interesting idea to consider and her essays are well researched, using examples from a multitude of famous phrases, mythology, and plays to back up…
