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A review by katie_is_dreaming
Men Explain Things to Me: And Other Essays by Rebecca Solnit
5.0
I really enjoyed Solnit's collection. She has a very accessible style, and I like the way she brings current events into discussions of wider themes.
She deals with some pretty bleak subjects here: racism and rape and other kinds of violence against women in particular. She draws attention to failings in society by using events such as the scandal surrounding Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, and the gang rape of a young woman, Jhoti Singh, on a bus in India. Some of her writing is stark in its descriptions, but what she says needs to be said.
While things seem bleak at times, Solnit also writes about potential. She writes about the difference between despair, optimism, and hope. Despair is the belief that things will never change. Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Both beliefs suggest certainty, which can be limiting. Solnit believes that hope can lead to things we never imagined happening: potential, surprise. People and movements based on hope can surprise us and take us to somewhere we never dreamed of.
"Men Explain Things To Me" is probably the most famous essay here. It inspired the term 'mansplaining', though Solnit doesn't use the term herself. I like that essay, but I think some of the others are more profound. I like how she frames the race and gender issues involved in the Strauss-Kahn case as colonial dominance. I also like her discussion of hope in the essay on Virginia Woolf. There's a lot to take from these essays, and they would benefit from another reading.
Her feminism is evident in most of the essays. She talks about equality in terms of marriage, but also in relation to men and women, suggesting, as other feminists do also, that feminism benefits everyone: we are all free or we are all slaves. She praises the 'threat' of equality as something that can create real change in the world.
Definitely a collection I'll read again. I think everyone should read it. Solnit captures the important issues in language that's a lot more straightforward than other things I've read on the same topic.
She deals with some pretty bleak subjects here: racism and rape and other kinds of violence against women in particular. She draws attention to failings in society by using events such as the scandal surrounding Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the IMF, and the gang rape of a young woman, Jhoti Singh, on a bus in India. Some of her writing is stark in its descriptions, but what she says needs to be said.
While things seem bleak at times, Solnit also writes about potential. She writes about the difference between despair, optimism, and hope. Despair is the belief that things will never change. Optimism is the belief that things will get better. Both beliefs suggest certainty, which can be limiting. Solnit believes that hope can lead to things we never imagined happening: potential, surprise. People and movements based on hope can surprise us and take us to somewhere we never dreamed of.
"Men Explain Things To Me" is probably the most famous essay here. It inspired the term 'mansplaining', though Solnit doesn't use the term herself. I like that essay, but I think some of the others are more profound. I like how she frames the race and gender issues involved in the Strauss-Kahn case as colonial dominance. I also like her discussion of hope in the essay on Virginia Woolf. There's a lot to take from these essays, and they would benefit from another reading.
Her feminism is evident in most of the essays. She talks about equality in terms of marriage, but also in relation to men and women, suggesting, as other feminists do also, that feminism benefits everyone: we are all free or we are all slaves. She praises the 'threat' of equality as something that can create real change in the world.
Definitely a collection I'll read again. I think everyone should read it. Solnit captures the important issues in language that's a lot more straightforward than other things I've read on the same topic.