samratbasani's review
5.0
Liked how the series of essays continually emphasized the particular and historical contingent nature of not just how gender is treated across different periods of time but also what gender is understood as in the first place and how those understandings shape and legitimize other ideas.
The closing piece built on a previous piece on equality versus difference to examine perceived tensions between disadvantaged individuals demanding treatment as individuals and those demands being articulated by identifying with other similarly disadvantaged people. While the piece read as heartfelt and cogent, something made it feel strange, like it made sense specifically when written from the perspective of a society that has always seen itself as homogeneous and is only just now recognizing its heterogeneity.
The format led to quite a bit of repetition as later essays would retread ground established in earlier ones, but this had pedagogical advantages that significantly outweighed any loss in efficiency.
The closing piece built on a previous piece on equality versus difference to examine perceived tensions between disadvantaged individuals demanding treatment as individuals and those demands being articulated by identifying with other similarly disadvantaged people. While the piece read as heartfelt and cogent, something made it feel strange, like it made sense specifically when written from the perspective of a society that has always seen itself as homogeneous and is only just now recognizing its heterogeneity.
The format led to quite a bit of repetition as later essays would retread ground established in earlier ones, but this had pedagogical advantages that significantly outweighed any loss in efficiency.
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