World Book Day

Thanks to my friend, Ania, for bringing this to my attention.
1 March 2012 is World Book Day!!!!
http://www.worldbookday.com/
Enjoy your books:)

Breaking Molds All Over The Place

Another post to break the mold.... I normally don’t read too much non-fiction, unless it’s for school or something. But while I was at the bookstore a few weeks back, I came across this book – Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, by Natasha Walter. This book is very good and it made me think a lot and also made me pretty irritated with the way things are for many women and men in the world today. I know I face sexism every day (hello, work), but not to the extent a lot of people do. I consider myself lucky because I can make my own decisions. This is a point, though, that is brought up in the book. Everyone has a choice. But it is important to consider the circumstances under which our ‘choices’ are made. In a society that, in general, largely expects certain behaviour from men and women, it’s no wonder we (men and women alike) make some of the choices we do.

One interesting topic that was brought up is the unfair objectification of women in politics. Men in politics are judged mainly on their merit and whether or not they are doing a ‘good’ job. Women in politics are often judged on whether or not they are hot. If they are not hot, then somehow, they are ‘unnatural’ and shouldn’t be trusted – regardless of how intelligent they are or if they are satisfactory politicians.

Another interesting topic was about the ‘choice’ that men make to go back to work very soon after their child is born. This is often seen as a choice, even though men are sometimes not given the same leave rights as women after childbirth. This reinforces stereotypes and gender roles.

A final topic I will mention is the very narrow view of masculinity and femininity that is projected on people even from birth. Men and women – boys and girls – are expected to behave differently – to behave in certain ways. Some people argue this is biologically instilled in humans, but Walter points out that in fact there is better scientific evidence that shows no biological basis to ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ behaviour. (I will note that I have not researched the topic or read the scientific papers she references myself, but I am more of a leaner towards social factors influencing different gender behaviour expectations.) I really hate being pigeon-holed into behaving and looking a certain way. I am not a wee dainty girl. I’m 6 feet tall, I’m never gonna be petite. And you know what, it often makes me feel bad about myself the way I see people (men and women) drooling over petite skinny girls as if they are the only ones who are beautiful. “Oh I’d destroy that”, I often hear at work. Thanks, co-worker, for objectifying that poor girl who is just out shopping and doesn’t really care if you’d like to have sex with her until she breaks in half. (Ugh, rant over.)

And finally, a quote from the book: “We will never challenge the ways that women’s freedom is still constrained if we simply acquiesce in the idea that women are biologically programmed to fit in with the most limited stereotype of femininity.” And I’d also like to say I feel the same way for men and masculinity as well.  

I recommend this book for everyone, women and men. It is important for everyone to be aware of these issues. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be sexist at all, these things are happening in our world everyday and could affect your loved ones. Hell, they probably affect you even if you don't realise it. Also recommended for parents who want their children to be free to choose who they are. Personally, I am glad I was given free rein to run around like a wild child, climb trees, ride bikes, smash rocks with a hammer to see what was inside (ok, parents might not know about that one), and explore the woods like a mad woman rather than sit inside and play with barbies and put on makeup all day dressed in pink. I probably wouldn’t be the awesome woman I am today otherwise.

Further recommended reading: 

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftogetherforjacksoncountykids.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F14314184651%2Fone-teachers-approach-to-preventing-gender-bullying-in&h=dAQEWyrUwAQFOqeX8elz14iUKZfVGduMeU4UYiBylKnaMEw.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6378897-living-dolls (see this page for some more in depth reviews of the book)

Sci Fi Reblog

I don’t usually do posts like this here – reblogging stuff from other sites – but since I did it last time too, maybe I’ll start doing it more often as a trend. Only when something is really cool though. This time I am reblogging http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/02/24/146817285/what-science-fiction-books-does-a-futurist-read. (NPR is cool and NPR Books rocks my world, especially that three books series http://www.npr.org/series/three-books/.)

Anyway...I thought this particular blog was worth sharing, a) because maybe you have never heard of NPR books, and b) because it makes me think about how my taste in books has changed over time. At this moment, I think this NPR books blog post is really cool. And I want to read a lot of those books listed. But as a young reader (I’d say even into my early adulthood), I was never into science fiction. Granted I did like Stephen King, and I would consider some of his writing to be science fiction (actually I think most of his books I’ve read can be considered science fiction while maybe belonging to other genres as well). But I was never into ‘mainstream’ science fiction or science fiction as a genre. (As an aside I would just like to note that I actually really hate classifying things into genres!! If you're wondering why, take for instance one guy I met online...he stopped talking to me when I disagreed with his definition of what the ‘genre’ of folk music actually is!! While I HATE genres, apparently I LOVE parentheses – I’ll try to reel them in from now on, promise.)

I am glad that my tastes have expanded over time and that I now love science fiction in addition to many of the other ‘genres’ that are out there. I’ll hopefully get to a lot of these books soon, but one I am really interested in is Little Brother. It seems like a right dystopia there. Take a pick from this science fiction list and see what inspires you.

I Want This

Love those books!

This is a picture I posted on another blog of mine,  http://findoutsomething.tumblr.com/, which usually doesn't talk about books.

P.S. for credit where credit is due, I reblogged that from  http://bookmania.me/post/17201125708/old-penguins-how-many-books-is-too-many-photo .

Happy Reading Everyone!!!!

Censorship and Other Psychotic Stuff

This post comes from two ideas in my brain, I suppose. First of all it relates to the most recent book in my ‘read’ (past tense) collection: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. I’ve wanted to read this book for a long time and, obviously, I finally have. A lot of people, I think, were a bit disturbed to hear about me reading this. And to be honest, even though it is a bit of social commentary, satire, and dark comedy, it’s not for the faint of heart. Although the book doesn’t get violent right away. It’s more of a gradual journey that you feel you’re slipping down. The main character, Patrick Bateman, does reveal past ‘indiscretions’ from earlier times in his life, but you (at least I) really get the feeling that his descent is gradual while getting more progressive as the book nears the end. As though his behaviour gets worse and worse the more he is enveloped in his own culture. The more his society gives to him, the more limiting these possessions and options actually become – and he totally loses touch with reality; he becomes increasingly psychotic.

Obviously the author is ‘saying’ something about 80s American culture – and it definitely still resonates. But, at the same time, I couldn’t help feel that the book was ‘saying’ something about me. Not in a psychotic way, like the book was actually talking to me so fear not. Naturally I felt a bit disturbed at some of the things Bateman does. But mostly, I felt desensitised to it all and even intrigued. Yeah, it made me cringe to imagine these things happening to me, or to anyone really. But I felt worse for the animals that were mutilated. Obviously, it’s just a book and it’s natural for me to detach myself from these events. But, I guess, I am wondering how most people feel when reading this book, what their reactions are....

I was recently talking with a friend of mine about it and he says he thinks, at the end, that Bateman never did any of it. Basically that it was all a delusion. I can see his point, especially when Harold Carnes claims to have had dinner with Paul Owen, one of Bateman’s ‘victims’. But, maybe Carnes just confused someone else for Owen, like everyone does to everyone else in the book. Still, the point is totally valid, and I can see it from that angle as well...even though I don’t necessarily believe it. I will just have to read the book again and see what I think a second time round. What are your thoughts?

Feel free to comment on the movie adaptation as well

The second idea in my brain is something I wanted to write about ages ago, but never did...The Banned Books exhibit at the National Library of Scotland, which I went to over the summer. The reason I think of this at the same time as American Psycho is because the exhibit talked about how in Australia, American Psycho is only sold shrink-wrapped to people over 18. How do you feel about such book censorship? I find it innately wrong, but then again I was reading Stephen King when I was like 10, and I’ve always read what I wanted to (thanks mom and dad for letting me!!). The exhibition was very cool, and although it is not on anymore, you can read about it here: http://www.nls.uk/exhibitions/banned-books. The exhibition included lots of other cool books, including A Clockwork Orange, one of my favourite books ever (even though I’ve only read the American version – lame I know). This finally (well, not finally...my thoughts keep going and going, but I realise this post is wearing on) brings to mind the new, censored version of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, in which all ‘n’ words are censored. If you haven’t heard of this, read about it here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/05/huckleberry-finn-edition-censors-n-word. This is ridiculous, and I think it needs its own future post, so stay tuned.