shinychick's review
3.0
I read this because of its mention in the book, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Round Things. After reading just a few selections, I loved it. I especially loved "Klaus Barbie, and Other Dolls I'd Like to See", by Susan Jane Gilman, author of the above Kiss My Tiara.
bowienerd_82's review
3.0
There are some really excellent essays in this book, and there are some pretty mediocre ones, as well. The good ones make it worth it. I also appreciate just how many different voices appear here.
bookishheather's review
3.0
Think you're an outcast from society? This book is a series of essays from a vast array of women regarding body image and identity issues. They are transgendered and wheelchaired. They have big butts, big noses, and big mouths. Their skin is too light, too brown, or too pimply. They are inspirational writers, and people.
Nearly every essay had at least a few sentences that I thought were speaking directly to me.
Here's an excerpt from an essay about the author's lifelong hatred for Barbie dolls:
...I now clearly recognize what I only sensed as a child. This "pop artifact" is an icon of Aryanism. Introduced after the second world war, in the conservatism of the Eisenhower era (and rumored to be modeled after a German prostitute by a man who designed nuclear warheads), Barbies, in their "innocent," "apolitical" cutesiness, propagate the ideals of the Third Reich. They ultimately succeed where Hitler failed: they instill in legions of little girls a preference for whiteness, for blond hair, blue eyes and delicate features, for an impossible "überfigure, perched eternally and submissively in high heels. In the Cult of the Blond, Barbies are a cornerstone. They reach the young, and they reach them quickly...
Nearly every essay had at least a few sentences that I thought were speaking directly to me.
Here's an excerpt from an essay about the author's lifelong hatred for Barbie dolls:
...I now clearly recognize what I only sensed as a child. This "pop artifact" is an icon of Aryanism. Introduced after the second world war, in the conservatism of the Eisenhower era (and rumored to be modeled after a German prostitute by a man who designed nuclear warheads), Barbies, in their "innocent," "apolitical" cutesiness, propagate the ideals of the Third Reich. They ultimately succeed where Hitler failed: they instill in legions of little girls a preference for whiteness, for blond hair, blue eyes and delicate features, for an impossible "überfigure, perched eternally and submissively in high heels. In the Cult of the Blond, Barbies are a cornerstone. They reach the young, and they reach them quickly...
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