Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life
"Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life" Bargain Kindle Books
Brief of "Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life" Kindle Book :
When Stephanie Staal first read The Feminine Mystique in college, she found it “a mildly interesting relic from another era.” But more than a decade later, as a married stay-at-home mom in the suburbs, Staal rediscovered Betty Friedan’s classic work—and was surprised how much she identified with the laments and misgivings of 1950s housewives. She set out on a quest: to reenroll at Barnard and re-read the great books she had first encountered as an undergrad.
From the banishment of Eve to Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Staal explores the significance of each of these classic tales by and of women, highlighting the relevance these ideas still have today. This process leads Staal to find the self she thought she had lost—curious and ambitious, zany and critical—and inspires new understandings of her relationships with her husband, her mother, and her daughter.
From the banishment of Eve to Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble, Staal explores the significance of each of these classic tales by and of women, highlighting the relevance these ideas still have today. This process leads Staal to find the self she thought she had lost—curious and ambitious, zany and critical—and inspires new understandings of her relationships with her husband, her mother, and her daughter.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
enjoyed so much; great to revisit feminist theory and get a novel/memoir at the same timeBy Shannon B Davis
This kindle book is both a memoir and a review of feminist literature. Personally, I loved it. Like the author, I went to a women's college. Like the author, I was exposed to feminist writings when I was young. And, like the author, I am now a mother of a young child. While it hasn't changed my life or perspectives as much as the author's, I understand many of her feelings.
There were several points in this kindle book where I laughed out loud. There were ALSO several points where I just went "whoa, whoa, my mind is exploding with this amazing realization." As an 18-22 year old, I may not have been able to fully grasp some of the feminist theory; and revisiting it with all of my adult experiences makes the point all more clear.
I really appreciate that this kindle book reminded me of feminist concepts again. I don't agree with all feminist writings, but I am definitely a feminist - of the same generation as the author. Being out of the academic environment, I hadn't been questioning or being critical (in the analytical sense) of what I experience and see in this world. The kindle book got that academic-style thinking going again.
Overall, I loved it! It's neither an academic text, nor purely a novel - it's both and neither at the same.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful.
FeminismBy A. Luciano
The author of this memoir, Stephanie Staal, is a decade out of her Barnard education, where she left ready to take on the world as a super career woman. She achieved the career of her dreams, was living in New York City, and married to a great guy. It was the feminist's dream. Somewhere along the way, though, she had a child and found it wasn't as easy to balance motherhood with having a career as she had been led to believe. She was doing more than her fair share of the housework, the childcare, and being shoved backwards into a role she had been certain she would not take on.
Floundering in her life, Staal decides to go back to Barnard to audit a single class--Feminist Texts. As she re-reads the kindle books that spoke so clearly to her when she was an undergraduate, Staal finds that she has a new complicated relationship with what she is reading. Now that she is a wife and a mother as well as an author and journalist, it is harder to accept the feminist writing as a surefire answer to the questions of life.
However, taking the class does allow the author to get back in touch with her younger self and take steps toward feeling as though she has not been lost in the progression of her life.
I suppose I've never identified as a feminist in the way this author has, so it was harder for me to understand her point of view. It was interesting to read her summaries of the feminist texts, some of which I have read and many of which I have not, but I felt like at the end of it, Staal really hadn't resolved most of the issues she started with at the beginning of class. She still was stuck between motherhood and her career, and it seems there is no good way out of that trap for someone who feels ensnared. I didn't feel like there was a whole lot of conflict resolution in this memoir.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Someday this won't be an issue, but it still is today.By atmj
Having grown up in the 70s and having a non-traditional female occupation (engineer) for the last 30 years, this kindle book piqued my interest. Quite frankly, I felt the feminist movement had lost it's steam many years ago and wondered what this younger author thought.
One thing I do have to say first is; this writer is exceptional. I found this kindle book very easy to read and approachable. This was written with today's woman in mind and did not cloak itself in philosophical jargon. She tells the story of why she pursued this topic and melds the story of her going back to school to retake courses she took before becoming a wife and a mother, while also dealing with some issues in her life and marriage. This is very important as without this perspective, this kindle book would not have quite the voice it does.
The author was very analytical and well researched and touched on many of the issues woman deal with each day in our "real" lives. While she had grown up in a very non-traditional home, her married life, actually was much more traditional. However, any one who has shared a home with another, can understand these issues as they ranged from laundry to housework. What triggered her recent issues, being a new mother, she suddenly felt, her role as a mother had more expectations than her husband's role as a father. But, the big question was, was she enforcing these responsibilities, was he or was it their collective expectation, having been been indoctrinated into doing so?
In the course the author took on Feminist Texts you can see that feminist writings vary from tip-toeing around the prevailing dogma, just to be heard while others are pretty radical in male bashing or trying to rewrite the family structure. From the discussions in her classes, the author realizes, she is a different person, than she was years ago, when she first took these courses. Having become a wife and a mother, these issues were no longer black and white. She finds her classmates and professors have even different insights. Also, she was unsure of the changes in society being in the right direction. Young women seem to be embracing objectification as showing how they can be "one of the guys". This is far from, what would be expected as a step in the right direction for equality. Objectification serves no one well. Especially the objects.
I thought the author did a great job pointing out, that being a feminist, is not being anti-male, though some of the early texts are truly male bashing. I'm also glad she pointed out the "inequality" of the civil rights movement, where the rights of woman, were not addressed, but in fact considered laughable. This was appalling to me.
One interesting point, that was brought up, that I in fact discussed with some men in my life, was the concept of feeling selfish for taking time out for yourself. This is a female issue. None of the men I brought this up with once considered feeling guilty about taking time from the family for themselves. Ladies it would appear that we are part of the problem. A very good point.
At the end of the kindle book, the author provides her reading list and it spans from very early authors to current day, as well as issues for women in third world countries. I'm certainly planning to pick some of these up.
This was an eye-opening kindle book.
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Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life
4.5 out of 5 from 17 user reviews.
4.5 out of 5 from 17 user reviews.
