Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger
Author:
Genres: History, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Hardcover
Author:
Genres: History, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Type: Hardcover
I've always considered myself to be a strong feminist, and I'm a political liberal. So Rebecca Traister's "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger" should have been right in my wheelhouse. The truth is, I had a terrible time finishing it, and after several days of grinding through this disorganized, one-note (okay, two-note) howl, my husband asked me "What is that book about?" And I couldn't answer him. Oh, I could: "Men are shits." But there's more than that, and less, in this 250-page screed arising largely from the upwelling of women's anger at the 2016 elections, given a second wind by the 2017 revival of the #MeToo movement, and fueled by a whole lot of stuff about race-based and class-based schisms within the movement.
See what I mean?
Traister wants to talk about the women's movement in America, going all the way back to First Lady Abigail Adams' cautionary advice that "if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation", skimming over the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments of 1848 and the fight for women's suffrage, but at the same time noting that women of color have often been excluded by the movement's upper-class white leaders who are themselves the recipients of many of the rights and privileges granted them by their affiliation with the very white patriarchal power structure that the movement wants to dismantle.
(And incidentally, that 124-word single-sentence paragraph above is mine, but could have been dropped anywhere into Traister's manuscript and been indistinguishable from her own prose.)
There's just too much going on here. Too many "yes, but" moments. Too much roll-calling of powerful men who have been revealed as guilty of everything from thoughtless sexism right up to criminal rape. Too many diatribes by women within the movement calling out others for not being angry enough, supportive enough, politically active enough. And not enough, really, of what to do with your anger beyond "vote, run, and knock on doors for your candidate".
I saw a review on Amazon.com that rated it "5 stars if you are mad; 1 star if you are tired of mad." I guess if you're tired of mad after reading this book but feel guilty about that, you'd have to split the difference. So -- 2.5 stars.
See what I mean?
Traister wants to talk about the women's movement in America, going all the way back to First Lady Abigail Adams' cautionary advice that "if particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice, or representation", skimming over the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments of 1848 and the fight for women's suffrage, but at the same time noting that women of color have often been excluded by the movement's upper-class white leaders who are themselves the recipients of many of the rights and privileges granted them by their affiliation with the very white patriarchal power structure that the movement wants to dismantle.
(And incidentally, that 124-word single-sentence paragraph above is mine, but could have been dropped anywhere into Traister's manuscript and been indistinguishable from her own prose.)
There's just too much going on here. Too many "yes, but" moments. Too much roll-calling of powerful men who have been revealed as guilty of everything from thoughtless sexism right up to criminal rape. Too many diatribes by women within the movement calling out others for not being angry enough, supportive enough, politically active enough. And not enough, really, of what to do with your anger beyond "vote, run, and knock on doors for your candidate".
I saw a review on Amazon.com that rated it "5 stars if you are mad; 1 star if you are tired of mad." I guess if you're tired of mad after reading this book but feel guilty about that, you'd have to split the difference. So -- 2.5 stars.
