About book Reading Women: How The Great Books Of Feminism Changed My Life (2011)
When I initially read the premise of "Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed my Life," I was estatic. I was estatic not only because the thesis for writing a book about feminist writing completely "rocked my socks," but also because my idea of an intellectual orgasm is to re-read the feminist prose I unearthed in my youth; the ones which gave me insight into the world and allowed me to interpret ideas of sex, love, and social, individual, political ideologies for myself. The genre as a whole contributed to my growth as a woman and a critical thinking human being. Although Ms. Staal contributes some real gems in her work (the idea of her returning to Barnard to re-take the same Fem Text class of her undergraduate years just warms my chest cavity), the book didn't leave me with a satisfied afterglow. I still felt hungry after reading the last word. Some things are missing. For instance, an entire section dedicated to desire lacks any deeply penetrating voice regarding female longing. Where is the engaging conversation regarding erotica? Why isn't Andrea Dworkin's "Intercourse" and its premise mentioned? Where is the personal account of the conflict between being seen as and feeling sexually gratifying and being viewed and respected as an intellectual and emotional equal? Where is the mention for want of knowledge, play, food even? And what about Biblical text? No Ruth. No Jezebel. No Esther. No Mary Magdalene. How does it happen that Augustine and Pagels get more face time in a book about reading women than, say, the portrayal of the Virgin Mary in Christianity? I understand the majority of the work is memoir, and I thank Ms. Staal for allowing us the opportunity to peek into her life. However, it would have been more filling for the work to have been a bit more dynamic. Great book - the premise is this: Staal goes back to Barnard, years and years after graduating, now herself a wife and mother, to retake Feminist Texts classes that she took as an undergrad. I really enjoyed reading this because I remembered reading some of these books myself as a 17/18/19 year old college student, and I know that I would read them differently now as a 31 year old - and perhaps gain things and lose things by doing so. This book made me think, made me angry, made me laugh and allowed me to examine my own thoughts on feminism as I've grown throughout my life.
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Totally readable, but I was expecting more analysis and less memoir.
—andro
