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A review by limeykiss
See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
1.0
This book was published in 2003. 2003 might have been a long time ago, but I’m of the opinion that however far back in history we go, toxic masculinity, the derogatory use of the word “pussy” and the phrase “like a girl”, jokes about sexual harassment, blaming men’s inappropriate actions on women’s clothing choices, and the categorisation of women as either “smart” OR “pretty” are never okay.
This book had it all going for it: Jane is a journalist (who also writes erotica!!) who gets assigned to cover the local Seattle hockey team, and despite the team’s collective attempts to box her out because, in their opinion, she has no place in their crew, she manages to not only win them over, but she also excels at covering their games. Luc is the hot, aloof team goalie that initially treats Jane with malice, but the more time Jane spends with the team, the more Luc grows to like her.
Smart women who write erotica! Hot goalies! Seattle! I’m all for this! But this book crashed and burned, fellow feminist friends, and it made me want to light my iPad on fire with my rage.
Let’s start out with the way Luc and his teammates talk about Jane’s appearance. The men on the team tell her she looks like a lesbian in her glasses, which Luc describes as “in style with militant women’s groups” (what does that even mean!?); Luc thinks she’s “plain”, with breasts too small to be attractive, since he’s into “Barbie Doll women” (oh, I could write an essay alone on how messed up that phrase is); and he calls her onesie “The-I-don’t-ever-want-to-get-laid-again-look”. That alone was enough reason to put down the book, but for you, our dedicated readers, I prevailed. But oh, how I wish I hadn’t.
Because it turns out that Luc isn’t the only asshole in this book. Jane describes the women who hang around with the team, the “Rink Bunnies” (again, so messed up), as having “man-eater” eyes; she makes a joke about Luc sexually harassing her; and when offered dessert, she actually says the phrase, “Sorry, I don’t eat dessert. It makes me fat.” So slut-shaming, sexual harassment jokes, and a character who woefully restricts her diet– those were also enough to put this book down.
The cherry on top of this fucked up sundae, however, was Luc’s conversation with his younger sister, Marie. Marie is wearing a padded bra that makes Luc uncomfortable. Fine, fine, we all find it weird to see physical evidence of our siblings growing up, but they’re just boobs, dude, so have some chill. But Luc has no chill. He shames his sister about her bra, telling her that it’s her fault that all the boys are “staring at your hooters” and not “thinking very nice things about you”. In what world is that supposed to make her feel more comfortable with 1. her body 2. her peers or 3. her brother? Luc then goes on to tell his 16-year-old sister that if she’s going to walk around in a bra like that, she can just assume that guys will think she’s “smutty”, because “you can’t walk around in a bra that turns boys on”. So he’s slut-shaming his sister, and telling her that any unwanted male attention she’s getting is her fault for wearing a water bra. Please excuse me while I go scream forever about this assclown.
To read my full review, visit http://loveinatimeoffeminism.com/reviews/review-see-jane-score-by-rachel-gibson/
This book had it all going for it: Jane is a journalist (who also writes erotica!!) who gets assigned to cover the local Seattle hockey team, and despite the team’s collective attempts to box her out because, in their opinion, she has no place in their crew, she manages to not only win them over, but she also excels at covering their games. Luc is the hot, aloof team goalie that initially treats Jane with malice, but the more time Jane spends with the team, the more Luc grows to like her.
Smart women who write erotica! Hot goalies! Seattle! I’m all for this! But this book crashed and burned, fellow feminist friends, and it made me want to light my iPad on fire with my rage.
Let’s start out with the way Luc and his teammates talk about Jane’s appearance. The men on the team tell her she looks like a lesbian in her glasses, which Luc describes as “in style with militant women’s groups” (what does that even mean!?); Luc thinks she’s “plain”, with breasts too small to be attractive, since he’s into “Barbie Doll women” (oh, I could write an essay alone on how messed up that phrase is); and he calls her onesie “The-I-don’t-ever-want-to-get-laid-again-look”. That alone was enough reason to put down the book, but for you, our dedicated readers, I prevailed. But oh, how I wish I hadn’t.
Because it turns out that Luc isn’t the only asshole in this book. Jane describes the women who hang around with the team, the “Rink Bunnies” (again, so messed up), as having “man-eater” eyes; she makes a joke about Luc sexually harassing her; and when offered dessert, she actually says the phrase, “Sorry, I don’t eat dessert. It makes me fat.” So slut-shaming, sexual harassment jokes, and a character who woefully restricts her diet– those were also enough to put this book down.
The cherry on top of this fucked up sundae, however, was Luc’s conversation with his younger sister, Marie. Marie is wearing a padded bra that makes Luc uncomfortable. Fine, fine, we all find it weird to see physical evidence of our siblings growing up, but they’re just boobs, dude, so have some chill. But Luc has no chill. He shames his sister about her bra, telling her that it’s her fault that all the boys are “staring at your hooters” and not “thinking very nice things about you”. In what world is that supposed to make her feel more comfortable with 1. her body 2. her peers or 3. her brother? Luc then goes on to tell his 16-year-old sister that if she’s going to walk around in a bra like that, she can just assume that guys will think she’s “smutty”, because “you can’t walk around in a bra that turns boys on”. So he’s slut-shaming his sister, and telling her that any unwanted male attention she’s getting is her fault for wearing a water bra. Please excuse me while I go scream forever about this assclown.
To read my full review, visit http://loveinatimeoffeminism.com/reviews/review-see-jane-score-by-rachel-gibson/