Well-informed, insightful, and, sadly, timely.
How to fight patriarchy.
In her debut book, legal scholar and lawyer Rosenfeld, founding director of Harvard Law School’s Gender and Violence Program, paints a dark and dispiriting picture of a patriarchal society that subjects women to abuse and coercion, denying them recourse to protection under the law. In contrast, she celebrates the female alliances demonstrated by bonobos, humans’ close cousins, who successfully thwart male sexual aggression. By emulating what she calls a Bonobo Sisterhood, Rosenfeld argues, women can undermine patriarchy. Drawing on myriad legal cases, testimony, and anecdotes, the author identifies the male temper syndrome and assumption of male entitlement as primary causes of women’s victimization. Men rarely face consequences for domestic violence, while women must surmount considerable obstacles even to get an order of protection, which abusers easily evade. “Under US law,” she points out, “you have no right to enforcement of your order of protection, even if you live in a state that has a specific law mandating such enforcement.” Too often, a woman cannot find a way to hide from her aggressor; battered women’s shelters, even when available, are inadequate and disruptive. “When a woman leaves her abuser,” the author writes, “we know that he will stalk her, reassault her, and do everything in his power to bring her back under his control.” Rosenfeld examines the history of marriage and rape laws, crafted by and favoring men. For centuries, women could not bring charges of marital rape because wives were deemed the property of their husbands. The author also considers the consequences of hook-up culture, which normalizes compliance sex, “in which verbal and nonverbal cues go ignored and the woman acquiesces” and which often follow sexual scripts—including choking—that men have gleaned from pornography. Self-defense training, Rosenfeld asserts, should be part of an inclusive, empowering sisterhood in which women will stand up for and with one another.
Well-informed, insightful, and, sadly, timely.Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308507-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harper Wave
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.
Two bestselling authors engage in an enlightening back-and-forth about Jewishness and antisemitism.
Acho, author of Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, and Tishby, author of Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth, discuss many of the searing issues for Jews today, delving into whether Jewishness is a religion, culture, ethnicity, or community—or all of the above. As Tishby points out, unlike in Christianity, one can be comfortably atheist and still be considered a Jew. She defines Judaism as a “big tent” religion with four main elements: religion, peoplehood, nationhood, and the idea of tikkun olam (“repairing the world through our actions”). She addresses candidly the hurtful stereotypes about Jews (that they are rich and powerful) that Acho grew up with in Dallas and how Jews internalize these antisemitic judgments. Moreover, Tishby notes, “it is literally impossible to be Jewish and not have any connection with Israel, and I’m not talking about borders or a dot on the map. Judaism…is an indigenous religion.” Acho wonders if one can legitimately criticize “Jewish people and their ideologies” without being antisemitic, and Tishby offers ways to check whether one’s criticism of Jews or Zionism is antisemitic or factually straightforward. The authors also touch on the deteriorating relationship between Black and Jewish Americans, despite their historically close alliance during the civil rights era. “As long as Jewish people get to benefit from appearing white while Black people have to suffer for being Black, there will always be resentment,” notes Acho. “Because the same thing that grants you all access—your skin color—is what grants us pain and punishment in perpetuity.” Finally, the authors underscore the importance of being mutual allies, and they conclude with helpful indexes on vernacular terms and customs.
An important dialogue at a fraught time, emphasizing mutual candor, curiosity, and respect.Pub Date: April 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781668057858
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon Element
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
