This book is a collection of “Men Explain Things to Me” and six other essays written by Rebecca Solnit between 2008 and 2014. She guides readers through history, current events, statistics, and anecdotes, all of which are grounded in feminism. She specifically addresses the danger of our habits, from the personal to the political and beyond, of silencing women, and of discrediting women. She explains her urgency by writing, “Having the right to show up and speak are basic to survival, to dignity, and to liberty” (p. 15). There are difficult portions to get through, such as when she focuses on violence against women, but Solnit’s own passion for addressing and righting these wrongs is felt deeply, and this mission drives the essays forward.
One of my favorites is “In Praise of the Threat: What Marriage Equality Really Means.” Solnit agrees with conservatives who argue that same-sex marriage is a threat to traditional marriage, and in fact celebrates this very threat. Traditional marriage, if that is to mean marriage between one man and one woman, is historically an unequal partnership. Feminists fought to reject the hierarchal structure of traditional marriage, and now we are seeing even further progressive changes in the definition of marriage equality. In “Worlds Collide in a Luxury Suite,” Solnit briefly discusses the impact of Western economic ideology on the rest of the world, and the devastation it has caused. The essays are varied in topic but ultimately address a single issue, feminism, “the radical notion that women are people” (p. 152). The variety demonstrates the complexity of feminism, how everything is interconnected, and why the good fight must be addressed on so many fronts. This is the first I’ve read anything by Rebecca Solnit but I’m now in. A reader has recommended The Faraway Nearby, which I plan to pick up very soon.
One of my favorites is “In Praise of the Threat: What Marriage Equality Really Means.” Solnit agrees with conservatives who argue that same-sex marriage is a threat to traditional marriage, and in fact celebrates this very threat. Traditional marriage, if that is to mean marriage between one man and one woman, is historically an unequal partnership. Feminists fought to reject the hierarchal structure of traditional marriage, and now we are seeing even further progressive changes in the definition of marriage equality. In “Worlds Collide in a Luxury Suite,” Solnit briefly discusses the impact of Western economic ideology on the rest of the world, and the devastation it has caused. The essays are varied in topic but ultimately address a single issue, feminism, “the radical notion that women are people” (p. 152). The variety demonstrates the complexity of feminism, how everything is interconnected, and why the good fight must be addressed on so many fronts. This is the first I’ve read anything by Rebecca Solnit but I’m now in. A reader has recommended The Faraway Nearby, which I plan to pick up very soon.
This sounds like such a good read… I need to add this to my list!
Also, do you know who the photo in the book is by?? Maybe Herb Ritts?
Wow, I love that guess! They are by Ana Teresa Fernandez.
Ooo thank you!! I’m going to research her now đŸ™‚
Just finished reading this book with my book club and talked about it today over brunch. In her first essay Solnit explains “mansplaining” a term made up on the internet defining when men have the tendency to explain things they don’t know very much about in a very confident manner to women, often condescendingly. It was the first time I had heard the term. A women in my book club told us all today that she explained Mansplaining to a few of her co-workers over lunch one day as she was reading the book. The next day one of the men she had explained it to came back to the lunch group and said “I actually think you explained mansplaining wrong” to which she just answered “are you really going explain mansplaining to me?”
I just think it is a little hilarious, It was too ironic and I had to share with someone who had also read the book and would appreciate.