B O O K S: 2022

 

Challenging, enlightening. Gave words to feelings I have not realized or acknowledged. 

Some of the reasons Chemaly gave for why women are angry: 

1) It is not socially acceptable for a woman to be angry. "Women live their lives trying to create bodies of deference. And anger is not compatible with deference (47)." 

2) Women are expected to be the primary caretakes in the family. Not just for children, but also elderly parents. "Global studies show that women, and girls, are consistently doing at least an average of two hours more unpaid domestic work a week (70)." This is true to my experience growing up in a family where the daughters did more chores than the sons. While living at home, I made dinner 1-2 times a week for my family from the time I was 12. I can't remember one time one of my brothers cooked for our family. 

3) Women are expected to provide men with sexual satisfaction. 80% of women fake orgasms (73). 

4) Persistent expectations of masculine entitlements put stress on women in marriages. "[Only] 8-10% of US women keep their names after marriage...There is no title for a man that identifies his marital status as the first and most important aspect of his identity (77-78)." 

5) Women are expected to be maternal and/or become mothers. There is no acknowledgment of the true cost of carrying life for 9 months and all the time/money it takes to raise a child. 

Does our culture conflate 'woman' with the word 'mother,' and 'mother' with 'sacrifice?' 

How Chemaly distinguished these terms: 

1) ANGER: a forward-looking emotion, rooted in the idea that there should be change 

2) RESENTMENT: locked in the past, generates no meaningful difference

3) ASSERTIVENESS: stating a position with confidence; direct, clear, and honest communication 

4) AGGRESSION: more directly confrontational, less civil, can be respectful 

Evans' imaginative understanding of the Bible's fantastical stories (especially the ones in the Old Testament) gave me space to hold the tensions these stories have always brought up in me. 

I don't usually go for a history book, but Bjarnason kept my attention with his quirky tales of Iceland's oft-surprising past. 

One of my favorite modern novels read to date. This one made me laugh out loud, gasp in surprise, and cry actual tears. I've been highly recommending this endearing story to all my friends.

Not my favorite modern novel. The plot was thin and predictable. But the author did manage to make me cry alligator tears. And I loved how she wove flower meanings throughout the story.