My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Um, wow.
The takeaway? That oppression is grounded in fear: The fear the oppressor has of the oppressed.
Imagine if you will, a world where women have a power that renders them not only supremely able to defend themselves against the oppression of the patriarchy, but able to flip said patriarchy on its head.
And imagine the world they will create when it becomes men who fear being assaulted and raped, who cannot walk alone in the dark, who have to toe certain lines to keep their jobs and their social standing.
Power has her ways. She acts on people, and people act on her.
This is a very uncomfortable book, even if you do embrace feminism, and thought-provoking in all the right ways. I myself go into burn-it-all-down mode whenever I remember that rape is the only crime where the victim’s story is routinely not accepted and the victim herself is put on trial. And if you don’t believe that’s inequality, then… ~shrug~ Those who do not want to know cannot be taught.
I am happy to learn this book is being taught in college curricula. Highly recommended.
Bookshelves: women, patriarchy, controversial, current-social-issues, literary-fiction, social-commentary
Someday, women are going to burn it all down
99 Monkeys 