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A review by sadiesargar
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
5.0
I appreciate Rebecca Solnit for a number of reasons, and one of the many things that I appreciate about this book is that it treats the goals of progressivism in general and feminism in particular the same way she treats history (both personal and otherwise), identity, and culture in her other books. For her, the unknown is just that — unknown — which means that it might well be good.
History, as she implies throughout Men Explain Things to Me, argues for precisely that: Women, LGBTQIA people, and minorities of all still subject to all manner of atrocities, but there have been vast improvements in society over the past couple of centuries, and it's therefore just as intellectually dishonest to assume the worst as it is to assume the best. She positions both "pessimism" and "optimism" as robbing us of our freedom to act (since they essentially breed complacency), and she calls that freedom "hope." That, to me, is as powerful a message as you're likely to hear in times like these, and, as with everything, it's as personal as it is political.
History, as she implies throughout Men Explain Things to Me, argues for precisely that: Women, LGBTQIA people, and minorities of all still subject to all manner of atrocities, but there have been vast improvements in society over the past couple of centuries, and it's therefore just as intellectually dishonest to assume the worst as it is to assume the best. She positions both "pessimism" and "optimism" as robbing us of our freedom to act (since they essentially breed complacency), and she calls that freedom "hope." That, to me, is as powerful a message as you're likely to hear in times like these, and, as with everything, it's as personal as it is political.