146. The Christian Homemaker's Handbook by Pat Ennis and Dorothy Kelley Patterson

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Ennis, Pat, & Kelley Patterson, Dorothy. TheChristian Homemaker’s Handbook. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013. Print.

 522 pages

 Reviewed by Jess d'Artagnan Love

The Christian Homemaker’s Handbook is a collection of essays exploring homemaking from a Christian perspective. The book is broken up into sections: design for the home, the value of children, foundations for parenting, the practical aspects of establishing a home, meal prep, and clothing. Each section is framed from a Christian perspective using Biblical references. The writers take a holistic approach to homemaking seeing the home as more than just a physical space but as a place to nurture ourselves spiritually. While men can also be homemakers, this book seems to target just women.

I found most of this book really interesting. I identify as a Christian, but did not always agree with some of the perspectives in the chapters. I liked exploring the home as a foundation for one’s mental and spiritual health. I also found the practical advice in the book helpful because they’re things that I was never taught and I’m having to learn on my own as I grow in my own housekeeping and homemaking skills. Some chapters were just not relevant to me being one who doesn’t have children, but I can see how those parts could be useful for new or expecting mothers.

This book will stay on my bookshelf and I will refer to it frequently. Not only does it have good information, but it gives me such food for thought that I enjoy revisiting the essays as I continue to build my little homestead.  

Would I read it again? 

Yes

Recommended for

Christians looking to learn how to maintain a home physically, socially, and spiritually.

Not Recommended for

Non-Christian readers may find this irrelevant to their lives.

3 stars out of 5

To purchase this book from my bookstore: https://bookshop.org/a/11656/9781433528385

 

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137. My Gender Workbook by Kate Bornstein

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Bornstein, Kate. My Gender Workbook. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. Print.

292 pages

Reviewed by Jess d'Artagnan Love

In Kate Bornstein’s My Gender Workbook, the author’s goal is to help readers discover their own gender identity. The book includes journal prompts along with an in-depth discussion of what gender is, and what it means in a larger societal context. Bornstein provides several different models of gender that address the intersecting concepts of gender, power, and sexuality.

I thought the more academic part of the workbook was well done. It was thorough, thoughtful, and based on sound academic research on gender and what it means to have a gender identity.

The workbook part of the book was clearly biased toward readers choosing to not identify as any gender at all. The journal prompts and questions in the quizzes were leading and lead readers toward agender or non-binary identity. They almost make someone feel guilty for choosing a more stereotypical gender identity and make the claim that those who want to maintain a more common cultural construct of gender is misinformed and naive about gender. I don’t agree with that position. I hold the position that all gender identities are good identities whether they are non-traditional or not.

Aside from the obvious bias toward agender/nonbinary identity, the book was an interesting and though-provoking read and I enjoyed it.

Would I read it again? 

Yes, I think this is a book that I will continue to learn and be inspired from the more I read it.

Recommended for

Those interested in gender identity politics and gender studies.

Not Recommended for

Readers under the age of 15, mostly because some of the content may be hard for them to comprehend.

Word Bank

·         None

3 stars out of 5

Kate Bronstein’s Website: http://katebornstein.com/

Kate Bornstein on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5854.Kate_Bornstein

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118. "The Power" by Naomi Alderman

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Alderman, Naomi. The Power. New York: Little Brown and Company, 2017.

341 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

The Power is a response to Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale wherein Alderman tries to answer the question: what would happen if women controlled men's bodies? Presented as a novelized work of historical nonfiction, the story starts when young girls develop the power to electrify things with their hands. This was a result of poisoned water during WWII that caused a genetic mutation passed on through generations. With this power, women are no longer controlled by men. 

The characters in the novel are interesting and believable. Alderman does a nice job of making each character's experience with the power unique and individualized. The story is nicely timed; it doesn't drag but it also doesn't move so fast your head spins. There is a nice gradual build up to the climax. Much of what Alderman speculates about what might happen in this scenario are pretty close to what I think might happen. 

There is one ugly, glaring problem with this novel that I can't move past to award a full five stars. Alderman fails to discuss race or ethnicity in any way, shape, or form. This is a big, big problem for this kind of world-changing shift in gender roles. You can't address changes in gender and power without also acknowledging the intricacies of gender, power, and race. I just will not let that slide. The only thought I had thought could potentially defend her position is that, if this is a response to The Handmaid's Tale, The Handmaid's Tale also fails to address issues of race and ethnicity. So they are at least parallel, but I just don't feel like that is a good excuse. I really don't. 

Overall, it was an interesting read and a good response to Atwood's work, but falls flat in using any third wave feminist thought. 

Recommended for: Readers who enjoy dystopian fiction, readers who enjoyed The Handmaid's Tale.

Not Recommended for: Readers sensitive to sexual violence or looking for a study on gender that includes intersectional identity. 

4 darts out of 5

Click here to read my review of The Handmaid's Tale.

109. "Hunger" by Roxane Gay

Gay, Roxane. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body. New York: Harper Collins, 2017.

304 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artangnan Love

SYNOPSIS: Hunger is about Gay's experience with her fat body. Fat is used here not as an expletive but merely a descriptive word like "tall," and "short" are descriptive words. Gay explains her experience with food and fatness that, for her, stem from being raped as a child and not dealing with the trauma in a healthy way.

WHAT I LIKED: Roxane is incredibly brave to put herself out there in a memoir. It is clear that this book outlines the most vulnerable parts of herself. This is something not many people can do, and I certainly applaud her for this.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I wanted to love this book. As a fat, disabled feminist myself, I REALLY wanted to love this book....but I didn't. I found the style to be unorganized, almost like a series of blog posts mushed together to form a book. Some of the themes also felt forced rather than occurring organically. I also feel like, maybe, she wasn't ready to write the book as she reacts VERY sensitively to any criticism of the work. Please note, I'm not criticizing her experience so much as her writing which was repetitive, clunky, and unorganized.

RECOMMEND FOR: I could see this being a great read for people with no experience reading memoirs. It could also be beneficial for people who don't mind the blog-style of chapters rather than unified work.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Honestly, if you want an honest, well-written look at living in a fat body, there are better memoirs out there.

3 starts out of 5

107. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

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Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1985.

311 pages.

Reviewed by J. d'Artagnan Love

SYNOPSIS: This first person narrative tells the story of Offred after the U.S. government has been overthrown by a group of religious zealots called the Sons of Jacob. In this dystopia, humans are struggling to reproduce so women who have successfully had children prior to the overthrow are forced to become "handmaids" used for breeding purposes. Each handmaid us assigned to a commander and is expected to birth his child. The story follows Offred and her experience with her commander and life in the new world order.

WHAT I LIKED: This is an important book to read. Atwood paints a harrowing picture of where we may end up if women become complacent and if Marshall law is enacted. The story is terrifying and I didn't enjoy it, but I don't think it is a book that is mean to be enjoyed. The book is warning much in the same way that Animal Farm is a warning. The writing is good--skilled, artful, absorbing.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: When I read a piece like this that goes beyond being a novel for entertainment's sake and becomes a piece of art, I want that art to provide me hope and some kind of solution to the problem it's attempting to tackle. That is why I love art--it helps me conceptualize new ways of approaching old problems. The Handmaid's Tale falls flat for me in this regard. There is no solution. There is no hope. There is no clear step that can be taken to get end the dystopia that Offred lives in. We don't even get the closure in the end when historians analyze how she escaped. They're answer was "we don't know. haha." We also don't know how the historians gained freedom to study this period in American history from the place of intellectual freedom in which they currently reside. They just do. They're just there. In this way, The Handmaid's Tale is the same as the hanging wall depicted in the story. It's warning, nothing more.

RECOMMEND FOR: Anyone who plans on watching the Hulu adaptation needs to read this. I don't plan to watch the series, but from what I've heard the Hulu series has some major differences from the original novel.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Anyone who may be triggered by sexual violence or hopeless dystopian themes.

4 darts out of 5

57. "The Absolutist" by John Boyne

Boyne, John. The Absolutist. New York: Doubleday, 2012.

320 pages

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

John Boyne is an Irish writer most known for his novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas has sold over 5 million copies and was recently made into a major motion picture. His work has been published in over forty different languages and The Absolutist is his most recent novel.

Set during the first World War, The Absolutist follows seventeen-year-old Tristan Sadler as he lies about his age, enlists in a British regiment, and is sent to the trenches. During basic training at Aldershot, Tristan meets Will, a curious and moral soldier who swiftly entrances Tristan with his depth and physical beauty. Their relationship is not a simple story. It is fraught with confusion, anger, pain, passion, and questioning.

In the trenches they must wrestle with big questions. What is a human life worth? Tristan often thinks about the humanity of the enemy soldiers pondering, “I crawl forward on my belly, holding my rifle before, my left eye firmly closed as I look down the viewfinder for anyone advancing in my direction. I picture myself locking eyes with a boy of my own age, both of us terrified, in the instant before we shoot each other dead” (Boyne). For Tristan, the Germans he is fighting and killing are people, young men just like him.

Will is the son of a vicar and has high moral standards, standards that are too high for the rest of his regiment. He follows in the footsteps of the conscientious objectors that came before him which causes the greatest divide between Will and Tristan. Is an idea or principle worth dying for? What is courage and how does one display it? These are all questions this novel explores in heartbreaking and sobering ways. Boyne does not beat around the bush when it comes to the harsh realities of love and war in 20th century England. By the end of the novel I was in tears.

The Absolutist is captivating. The nonlinear plot kept me riveted and wanting more. The characters possess depth and flaws and are extraordinarily human. Reminiscent of All Quiet on the Western Front, The Absolutist will take you into a world where simple pleasures are “the result of inhuman deprivations” and unconditional love is the greatest form of courage (Boyne).

 4.5 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: KEEP

54. "Red Nails, Black Skates" by Erica Rand

Rand, Erica. Red Nails, Black Skates: Gender Cash and Pleasure on and off the Ice. Duke University Press, 2012

264 pages

In her study on figure skating, gender, class, race and risk, Erica Rand writes, “Do you know what can happen when you put knives on your feet and hurl yourself around backward into the air to land on the mere tip of just one of those blades? It’s called perilous, baby, and it’s a risk I choose every day” This is an apt way of exemplifying how Rand breaks stereotypes that envelope figure-skating in gender-based constructs. 

These constructs don’t fit into simple or stable categories. As Rand writes, “Nor do apparently simple categories always have simple criteria. What exactly, for instance, is that crazy combination of balletic aristocrat and child-beauty-pageant trampiness that characterizes many figure skating costumes for girls and women?” Rand’s exploration of skating outfits transcends just fashion talk and hits on tough topics like transgender identity and socially reinforced norms within the field of skating.

In Red Nails, Black Skates, Rand explores the intricate and interwoven roles of class, race, and gender among other hot topics such as sexuality, pleasure and risk. She goes beyond the figure skating world to also explore issues of gender and class in women’s hockey and the growing sport of roller derby.  At one point she spends time practicing with the women’s hockey team, noting her discomfort at the masculine uniforms that other hockey players thrived in.

Written in clear and accessible prose, Rand clearly outlines her purpose of the field research she participates in. The stories are exciting and enjoyable to read in themselves and Rand’s accompanying critical analysis sheds light on a corner of gender and sport ripe for further exploration.  

Rand explores her own transformation through skating writing, “It transformed my athletic life, my work life, my social life, and, less directly, my erotic life. It increasingly determined my longrange plans as well as my daily and weekly schedules, which I came to arrange around available ice time and other physical activities…” This personal disclosure helps readers connect with Rand beyond social criticism at a level that is both vulnerable and human. This well-rounded text is a fantastic read for anyone interested in gender and sports.

4 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: KEEP

36. "Written on the Body" by Jeanette Winterson

Winterson, Jeanette. Written on the Body. New York: Vintage International, 1992. Print

190 pages

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

Written on the Body is an erotic tale of love, desire and loss. The protagonist moves from woman to woman, never really falling in love until she meets Louise. Louise has a secret that drives the protagonist to misery. Truthfully though, the protagonist causes her own misery. She is selfish to the end and by the time she learns her lesson, it is too late.

I love Jeanette Winterson’s writing style. It is fluid and abstract. The issue I had with this book, was I did not like the protagonist. This made it hard for me to like the book. I identified with Louise and ached for her. I related all too well with Jacqueline, one of the protagonist's many betrayed girlfriends, when she says to her, “You mean we’ll talk about it and you’ll do what you want anyway” (Winterson 58).

As hard as I tried, I could not sympathize with the main character and I could not, despite the beautiful, lyrical writing, enjoy the book very much.

2 darts out of 5

Bookshelf Project Status: Given as gift.

22. "The Gender Knot" by Allan G. Johnson

Johnson, Allan G. The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 2005. Print.
243 Pages
Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

The Gender Knot was required reading for one of my classes when I was an undergraduate. I remember not liking it then but thought I would give it another try. This time around, I disliked it even more than I did the first time.

When contemplating where the world “is” in terms of gender equality, Johnson writes, “Where we are is stuck. Where we are is lost. Where we are is deep inside an oppressive gender legacy, faced with the knowledge that what gender is about is tied to a great deal of suffering and injustice. But we don’t know what to do with the knowledge, and it binds us in a knot of fear, anger, and pain , of blame, defensiveness, guilt and denial” (4). Most of this text is riddled with empty claims that lack research or evidence to support those claims. This would be one of those claims. Here he fails to acknowledge the many strides feminists have made in educating the public about gender issues, the wide range of policies and laws that have been written to create a more gender neutral society, and the integrative work being done by third wave feminists. We are neither “stuck,” nor “lost.”

Johnson defines patriarchy as “a kind of society, and a society is more than a collection of people. As such, ‘patriarchy’ doesn’t refer to me or any other man or collection of men, but to a kind of society in which men and women participate. . . . A society is patriarchal to the degree that it promotes male privilege by being male dominated, male identified, and male centered. It is also organized around an obsession with control and involves as one of its key aspects the oppression of women” (5). This might possibly be a decent definition that I could work with as an instructor, but Johnson fails to acknowledge any other possible definition of the term, limiting the scope of his argument. He makes no mention of the root of the term (pater—meaning “rule of the father”) and makes defining patriarchy seem more cut and dry than it really is.

In the first chapter, Johnson works to break down these three parts of patriarchy, and in his section on male identification he writes about the traditional marriage in which the husband goes to work and the wife stays home and does the domestic work. Despite his inability to recognize changing marital structures among heterosexuals (things have changed since 1950!) he goes on to write, “Since women generally don’t have wives, they find it harder to identify with and prosper within this male-identified model” (7). Hold up! Say that again, please: “Since women generally don’t have wives…” (7). This was the point where I started to believe this book was utter crap. Yes, on page seven. Johnson’s text is exclusively for heterosexuals stuck in 1950’s American culture. It fails to acknowledge the work being done by third wave feminists on intersecting and fluid identities, on the instability of gender identity, and on the ways we can restructure relationships. When working to contextualize his work in the first chapter, he fails to recognize the way lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, and transsexual individuals are affected by patriarchy. He sets up femininity and masculinity in a very strict, stable binary: Masculinity is this and only this; femininity is that and only that.

Johnson writes that women in power are automatically at risk of being raped: “To a rapist, the most powerful woman in the land is first and foremost a woman—and this more than anything else culturally marks her as a potential victim” (23). I am absolutely offended by this statement for SO MANY REASONS. I feel like I could write a book just debunking this ill-informed perspective. First, ALL women are at risk to become potential victims no matter how much power they supposedly have and so are men. Second, this sort of logic works to dissuade women from wanting any kind of power and recognition on the basis of fear thus further oppressing them. Third, this claim is fear-based and not evidence-based. He presents no statistics or research to support what he’s writing.

In conclusion, I would never use this book in the classroom, EVER.

I can’t decide what I want to do with it: trash or compost fodder? To the compost it goes. *rip*

0 darts out of 5
Bookshelf Project Status: TRASHED

3. "Full Frontal Feminism" by Jessica Valenti

Valenti, Jessica. Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman’s Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Berkeley: Seal Press, 2007.

Reviewed by J. d’Artagnan Love

In Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti wants us to believe that feminism is one of the greatest things to ever happen, and I believe her. Valenti outlines how women of the twenty first century are faced with many obstacles and the important role that feminism will play in overcoming these obstacles. In chapters like “If These Uterine Walls Could Talk” and “You’re a Hardcore Feminist, I Swear” Valenti exposes the dangers of misogynist attitudes and encourages women to find their own form of feminism. Valenti writes, “Besides, at the end of the day, feminism is really something you define for yourself” (14).

The title suggests that the book is for “young” women but Valenti fails to define exactly who these “young women” are. It seems, based on some deductions I’ve made on the amount of time she spends writing towards a particular type of woman, that the young woman she is writing to is attractive, white (ahem, the cover of the book is a skinny, naked white woman), heterosexual, and between the age of 18 and 25 years old. This choice limits the scope of the book putting Valenti in danger of contradicting herself.

Valenti has, nonetheless done decent research and the writing, although gritty and full of f-bombs, keeps a steady pace. The book, despite its faults, is a good starting point for newbies to feminist theory. It is loaded with awesome resources and great bibliographic info. The language is accessible and the message is clear and well-supported: feminism effing rocks.

3 darts out of 5