well that’s capitalism for you, im of the same opinion as you and i wish that while we still live under capitalism and ergo a sexist and racist regime, we can find a way to celebrate the power of community minorities experience because that’s truly what can move the needle i believe
yeah I agree there’s a delicate balance between listening/reading minorities experience without the expectation that they owe us all their honesty/vulnerabilities. I think positive experiences balance that out and we should detail those as much as we detail negative experiences
Would reccomend Love Marriage by Monica Ali & Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (especially the latter — all about reclaiming pleasure as a woman). Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrot is about painful periods but the protagonist still lives life freely & fully (especially impressive given the book was originally published in 1929)! Xx
thank you so much for the recommendations! i’ve read melissa broder’s most recent book about the cactus and loved it so her entire list is on my tbr already
I love this!! Just hopped on here after reading a few of your other pieces (quite literally binge reading them all on a Sunday night). Womanhood needs to be championed more in books!!
Loved this!! As for book recommendations go, I remember really enjoying “Really good, actually” by Monica Heisey. The main character is going through a divorce in her mid twenties - very messy and sometimes silly, but it has a happy ending (not a happily ever after ending, but a happier ending in my view)
i love reading about the alienation of womanhood but sometimes it can be so community based and i haven't found any recently published book about that and i'm concerned
“It seems to me that there’s a hierarchy to reading; Carrie Soto is a beach read the literary hot girls are looking down on, and Normal People is the book you carry with you on the metro with your Gucci glasses and color-coordinated sticky notes.”
Small pushback: I’ve found that being a woman in publishing these days involves the exact opposite dynamic, at least on the industry side. For the most part, even Lit Girls are expected to perform (or just unironically possess) a love of chick lit/romance/“upmarket” fiction, especially given the recent romance boom. Taste for “lowbrow” commercial fiction serves as a social/professional signal — one doesn’t take oneself too seriously — and a result of the decline of literary fiction and “difficult reads” in general. The same thing is also happening with horror, which is very fashionable with the literati for (I suspect) similar reasons.
The critical establishment skews older, so that may account for the lack of attention paid to stuff that’s marketed as chick lit/beach reads. There’s an intriguing book I mean to read called The Prestige of Violence, which makes the claim that starting at midcentury, violence and “the unspeakable” became signals of literary depth and merit.
Such a brilliant point, I hate that female pain has to be exploited for success. Why do we have to make our suffering commercial and consumable?
well that’s capitalism for you, im of the same opinion as you and i wish that while we still live under capitalism and ergo a sexist and racist regime, we can find a way to celebrate the power of community minorities experience because that’s truly what can move the needle i believe
yeah I agree there’s a delicate balance between listening/reading minorities experience without the expectation that they owe us all their honesty/vulnerabilities. I think positive experiences balance that out and we should detail those as much as we detail negative experiences
Would reccomend Love Marriage by Monica Ali & Milk Fed by Melissa Broder (especially the latter — all about reclaiming pleasure as a woman). Ex-Wife by Ursula Parrot is about painful periods but the protagonist still lives life freely & fully (especially impressive given the book was originally published in 1929)! Xx
thank you so much for the recommendations! i’ve read melissa broder’s most recent book about the cactus and loved it so her entire list is on my tbr already
Brilliantly written!!♥️✨
I haven’t read Carrie Soto yet, added to my wish list. ♥️
This was such an important post about the portrayal of women and their feelings in books.
Unfortunately, people love women in pain. But this shift towards celebrating a woman’s life is crucial for the society!!!
😊✨♥️
thank you so much for reading Ritwik!
I love this!! Just hopped on here after reading a few of your other pieces (quite literally binge reading them all on a Sunday night). Womanhood needs to be championed more in books!!
i noticed your likes Immy and hope you enjoy your sunday night! and YES TO MORE WOMENHOOD BOOKS!!
Loved this!! As for book recommendations go, I remember really enjoying “Really good, actually” by Monica Heisey. The main character is going through a divorce in her mid twenties - very messy and sometimes silly, but it has a happy ending (not a happily ever after ending, but a happier ending in my view)
oh that book is on my list now thank you so much!
Right?! This is so accurate. It's always the woes of being a woman when there's so much to celebrate about just being a human!
i love reading about the alienation of womanhood but sometimes it can be so community based and i haven't found any recently published book about that and i'm concerned
100%!
THIS IS SO TRUE OMG!!! you are completely right, love this <3
thank you so much
“It seems to me that there’s a hierarchy to reading; Carrie Soto is a beach read the literary hot girls are looking down on, and Normal People is the book you carry with you on the metro with your Gucci glasses and color-coordinated sticky notes.”
Small pushback: I’ve found that being a woman in publishing these days involves the exact opposite dynamic, at least on the industry side. For the most part, even Lit Girls are expected to perform (or just unironically possess) a love of chick lit/romance/“upmarket” fiction, especially given the recent romance boom. Taste for “lowbrow” commercial fiction serves as a social/professional signal — one doesn’t take oneself too seriously — and a result of the decline of literary fiction and “difficult reads” in general. The same thing is also happening with horror, which is very fashionable with the literati for (I suspect) similar reasons.
The critical establishment skews older, so that may account for the lack of attention paid to stuff that’s marketed as chick lit/beach reads. There’s an intriguing book I mean to read called The Prestige of Violence, which makes the claim that starting at midcentury, violence and “the unspeakable” became signals of literary depth and merit.
What an excellent read! I loved Carrie Soto Is Back. You should check out The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue, my favourite book this year!