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frances_frances's reviews
295 reviews
The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister by Anne Lister
4.0
Anne Lister's writing is an important queer and historical artifact. It provides insight into the lives of wealthy white women in 19th century England as well as how queerness was conceived of and experienced in that specific time and place in history.
Lister herself was a fascinating person who in many ways was ahead of her time. But I find it strange that so many reviewers wholeheartedly praise her. Lister was complex and had many problematic traits. Her masculinity was very much in line with the norms of her time, which is to say rather toxic. She belittles most women and sees herself as socially and intellectually superior to them. Basically, she's kind of misogynistic. Her own sense of self relies on putting other women down (perhaps the original "I'm not like other girls"). Her wealth was acquired through being a landlord (charging poorer people for shelter) and through coal mining (horrible for the environment and for workers). Lister did many things that could be viewed as progressive for the time. It's important to understand that she was able to educate herself, succeed in business, and engage in relationships with women largely because of her wealth and social status. Poorer women wouldn't be able to financially make it without a male breadwinner. And also, is it really progressive to emulate wealthy white men?
Lister's diaries are important and informative but also limited by her socioeconomic class. I thinks it's important to hold multiple truths at once. Like any human, Lister was complicated, contradictory, and flawed.
Lister herself was a fascinating person who in many ways was ahead of her time. But I find it strange that so many reviewers wholeheartedly praise her. Lister was complex and had many problematic traits. Her masculinity was very much in line with the norms of her time, which is to say rather toxic. She belittles most women and sees herself as socially and intellectually superior to them. Basically, she's kind of misogynistic. Her own sense of self relies on putting other women down (perhaps the original "I'm not like other girls"). Her wealth was acquired through being a landlord (charging poorer people for shelter) and through coal mining (horrible for the environment and for workers). Lister did many things that could be viewed as progressive for the time. It's important to understand that she was able to educate herself, succeed in business, and engage in relationships with women largely because of her wealth and social status. Poorer women wouldn't be able to financially make it without a male breadwinner. And also, is it really progressive to emulate wealthy white men?
Lister's diaries are important and informative but also limited by her socioeconomic class. I thinks it's important to hold multiple truths at once. Like any human, Lister was complicated, contradictory, and flawed.
When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins
1.0
Neoliberal white feminist point of view
It's totally fine for someone to write a book about feminism that centers white/straight/cis women's stories and perspectives, but the author should make that explicit. Saying you're writing about "women" when you're really writing about a very specific group of women is a form of erasure.
I do not think that women occupying the types of powerful positions that white men have historically held is necessarily progressive or positive. Representation in politics is useless if the powerful positions themselves require its occupants to favor profit over people, and performative displays of respect over meaningful acts of solidarity.
In the words of bell hooks: "As long as [...] any group defines liberations as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others".
It's totally fine for someone to write a book about feminism that centers white/straight/cis women's stories and perspectives, but the author should make that explicit. Saying you're writing about "women" when you're really writing about a very specific group of women is a form of erasure.
I do not think that women occupying the types of powerful positions that white men have historically held is necessarily progressive or positive. Representation in politics is useless if the powerful positions themselves require its occupants to favor profit over people, and performative displays of respect over meaningful acts of solidarity.
In the words of bell hooks: "As long as [...] any group defines liberations as gaining social equality with ruling class white men, they have a vested interest in the continued exploitation and oppression of others".
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
1.0
It's hard for me to not finish a book once I've started but The It Girl was an exception. I got about 1/3 into the book and then scanned the rest of it. Similar to The Lying Game, this book had zero characters I really cared about and was way longer than it needed to be. Slow, boring, and lacking in tension/suspense.