Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton

24 reviews

displacedcactus's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

I feel like most people already realize this, but just in case, I want to make something clear: Do NOT pick up Ducks expecting something as silly and witty as Hark! A Vagrant or Beaton's picture books. This is a very serious memoir about the author's time working in Alberta's oil sands, at job sites where the men sometimes outnumbered the women 50 to 1, people worked long hours, and were cut off from family and friends back home.

This is both a personal memoir, and a statement about the overall human toll of the oil sands -- not just the harassment that Beaton experienced, but what the other women on site experienced, the addiction and mental illness among the crews, the priority of profits over true safety, and of course, the environmental impact. The titular "ducks" are hundreds of birds who died in a tailing pond. The Indigenous population of the area has to contend with polluted water and air, among other issues.

Beaton approaches the subject with a certain amount of nuance, but this is still a difficult read. Make sure to check out the CWs before you read this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Racism and Suicidal thoughts

The SA/rape are not depicted on page, but the lead up to them is, and they are discussed often (not in detail of what happened, but the emotional impact).

raybudbury's review

challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Racism, and Racial slurs

maehwa's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, and Racism

jskreading's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Racism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Addiction

vixenreader's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.75

The great Canadian graphic novel, it is an exploration of what people will put up with when they need to take care of themselves, and how others will take advantage of those because of their lack of resources. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Colonisation, Racism, Drug use, Drug abuse, Animal death, Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia

Minor: Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Ableism

Be aware that the novel does explore workplace abuse, hardship, and harassment. If you got out of a bad job, please read with care.

nobirdtennis's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

This graphic novel was phenomenal. Really and truly bone-chilling. Beaton paints a vivid picture of the desolate landscape of oil camps in the Canadian plains. As someone who has had family in these big Canadian industries, it was an eerily familiar tale of corporations willing to feed bodies to the machine under the guise of providing economic vitality to an area and financial stability to local families. A devastating portrayal of masculinity under capitalism. Beaton’s full page spread illustrations of massive machinery evoked images of icebergs: towering, awe-inspiring, and yet somehow deeply unnerving.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death, and Drug abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Racism

isbees's review

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, Racism, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Stalking, and Drug abuse

wmcduff's review

dark emotional sad fast-paced

5.0

Grew up in a mining town with three sisters. I wish this book surprised me more. It doesn't though. I thank the artist for telling her story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction and Drug abuse

carlar's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

This was a really tough read due to the subject matter and the fact that it happened to one of my favorite webcomic artists back in high school. I already knew about her sister passing away when she published an article about how her sister's death could have been prevented, but to know that she also struggled with all this was heartbreaking, especially since her sister never got to read it. 

It took me longer than I expected to finish it because the casual misogyny, although interspersed with humor, was relentless and you end up feeling like this could have easily happened to you (if you're a woman and haven't already dealt with it before). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Sexism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death, Racism, and Genocide

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Animal death

lmy612's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

Honestly, a very upsetting recount of one woman’s experiences while working in the oil sands of Alberta. Having lived in Alberta myself, the sexism and objectification of women is prevalent everywhere. Even in town, where most of the women live with their young children, it’s there. It’s everywhere. Men get lonely and that is supposed to excuse disgusting and illegal behaviour. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Deadnaming, Infidelity, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Car accident, Colonisation, Alcohol, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Animal death