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A review by balladofreadingqueer
Tomboyland: Essays by Melissa Faliveno
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I enjoyed this essay collection. The autobiographical essays explore a white Midwesterner, masc-of-centre bisexual woman.
The essays have a very particular perspective but I found points of connection and comparison with my own experiences throughout.
Many of the essays centre the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, and the ways that she both belongs and does not belong, the landscape, tornados and gun ownership.
I particularly appreciated the essays that examine and probe her difficult relationship to the lgbtq community as a ‘visibly queer’ woman in a relationship with a man, as she seems to feel disconnected from queerness and queer community. The essays also discuss bdsm, self-harm, academia, moths, gun ownership, polyamory, gender identity, motherhood and more.
I wish that there had been more acknowledgement of her ‘social location’ in some essays and I found some of the essays repetitive as they discussed similar feelings or scenarios. But I did find it interesting and useful to consider white midwestern queerness from her perspective.
The essays have a very particular perspective but I found points of connection and comparison with my own experiences throughout.
Many of the essays centre the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, and the ways that she both belongs and does not belong, the landscape, tornados and gun ownership.
I particularly appreciated the essays that examine and probe her difficult relationship to the lgbtq community as a ‘visibly queer’ woman in a relationship with a man, as she seems to feel disconnected from queerness and queer community. The essays also discuss bdsm, self-harm, academia, moths, gun ownership, polyamory, gender identity, motherhood and more.
I wish that there had been more acknowledgement of her ‘social location’ in some essays and I found some of the essays repetitive as they discussed similar feelings or scenarios. But I did find it interesting and useful to consider white midwestern queerness from her perspective.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Self harm