tanzipanzi's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I picked up this book scouring the feminist section of the library and was very glad I did. It was so refreshing to hear from such a diverse set of voices in the Australia community. The breadth of experiences and responses to the #MeToo movement captured so many perspectives that were often all too relatable. This anthology captures Australia at such a pivotal moment in 2017 at a time when all women were questioning their sense of safety and protection in the world.
I loved seeing the variety of ways the authors expressed themselves and their stories, from poems to essays to comics. Like everything in this topic, these experiences are challenging but it’s so important that these voices are listened to and these conversations encouraged.
I read this slowly over a month on my way to/from work and found that providing myself space for some stories and building upon the momentum of others helped get through it.
I loved seeing the variety of ways the authors expressed themselves and their stories, from poems to essays to comics. Like everything in this topic, these experiences are challenging but it’s so important that these voices are listened to and these conversations encouraged.
I read this slowly over a month on my way to/from work and found that providing myself space for some stories and building upon the momentum of others helped get through it.
whatcourtneyreads's review
4.0
I’ll admit it, I bought this book because it was on the bargain table and I’m a sucker for the 1970s vibe of the cover. But I’m also a feminist and therefore was interested in the content. This ended up being such a fantastic anthology, with a great mix of stories, comics, essays, and poetry written by Australian writers from various walks of life, about their experiences of sexual harassment and violence.
I was pleased to see some diversity here as well, as I’m very much aware that while the hashtag # MeToo was started by African American woman Tarana Burke, it has primarily been co-opted by cis, white, wealthy, non-disabled women in Hollywood. The stories here include those written by LGBTQ+, POC, and disabled people, who provide such crucial input to the discussion when we’re talking about this topic, due to the much higher rates of violence perpetrated against marginalised groups.
This was a great book to read a bit at a time as the content can be quite heavy, but often I found myself just burning through chapter after chapter, so absorbed was I in the power of peoples’ writing, stories and perspectives. One of the last chapters in particular, ‘The Lucky Ones’ by Jenna Guillaume, gave me actual goosebumps.
Although this book was published a couple of years ago, I really can’t believe I haven’t seen it around more and that it only has 90 ratings on Goodreads. If you see it around and feel like you’re in a place to read this, I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
I was pleased to see some diversity here as well, as I’m very much aware that while the hashtag # MeToo was started by African American woman Tarana Burke, it has primarily been co-opted by cis, white, wealthy, non-disabled women in Hollywood. The stories here include those written by LGBTQ+, POC, and disabled people, who provide such crucial input to the discussion when we’re talking about this topic, due to the much higher rates of violence perpetrated against marginalised groups.
This was a great book to read a bit at a time as the content can be quite heavy, but often I found myself just burning through chapter after chapter, so absorbed was I in the power of peoples’ writing, stories and perspectives. One of the last chapters in particular, ‘The Lucky Ones’ by Jenna Guillaume, gave me actual goosebumps.
Although this book was published a couple of years ago, I really can’t believe I haven’t seen it around more and that it only has 90 ratings on Goodreads. If you see it around and feel like you’re in a place to read this, I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
ellahart's review against another edition
4.0
Although a hard truth telling, this book was extremely insightful. It allowed all different Australian women or people that previously identified as women express their experiences of sexual assault, misogyny and sexism. Their reflections of the #MeToo movement were all independently powerful. The freedom of each contributor to express their thoughts in the way they wanted gave real weight to each story. There were also often considerations of the #MeToo movement I never contemplated so in-depth. Sometimes, it did leave me a little bit hopeless rather than inspired of the progress of treatment of women. Nonetheless, to know the devil is to move forward.
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