book reviews
Must-read books for and about women, including thought-provoking novels, business books, memoirs and feminist histories.
The Rhetorical Analysis of Peggy Orenstein's 'Just Between You, Me, and My 622 Bffs'
When I first got into Facebook and Twitter, I got bullied because of my weight and looks. I would have people comment on my pictures "You're fat," "You are a cunt," "You need to lose weight," "It looks like your face got ran over a bus six times," and the worst one, "You're too ugly to be alive." This, of course, killed me inside. I stayed home for days at a time thinking to myself, "Am I really that ugly?" When I would go to school, I'd ignore everybody because I was afraid that they would start telling me all of those things to my face. But then I met my friend Adrianna in seventh grade. Adrianna always stuck up for me when people would start to call me names. Adrianna and my cousin Brittany were the two that made me feel good about myself. They made it so I wouldn't care what people would think, but then the bullying started to get worse. I went to my principal and tried talking to him about what was going on.
Kristina BratschPublished 7 years ago in VivaIn Defense Of Minor Characters
We have seen what’s on the road. We’ve seen the drug hazed, beautiful rot that followed a generation of lost boys, straight out of Peter Pan, as they searched a postwar concealer-soaked country for an example–or even just an explanation–of masculinity and what it means to be a man. We’ve seen this trauma, but it would be foolish and a tad bit pig-headed to think that the trauma of the lost boys was the only one out there. Minor Characters is not only important, but it’s essential, because it shows us the generation of lost girls. The girls under glass and in the bell jar.
Destiny SmithPublished 7 years ago in VivaReasons Anne of Green Gables is the Best Female Character Ever
In case you don't know, Anne of Green Gables is an 8 book series written by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery. The first book, Anne of Green Gables was published in 1908.
Thea YoungPublished 7 years ago in VivaGender Criticism of Junot Diaz's 'The Cheater's Guide to Love'
In today's society, gender plays an important role in almost every aspect of our lives. Much like racism, and religious intolerance, sexism is a learned behavior. It is prevalent in many cultures, including our own. For example, in our last presidential election, the objectification of women became a key narrative. At that time, candidate Donald Trump was secretly recorded speaking vulgarly about touching women’s body parts with Entertainment Tonight's correspondent Billy Bush. He later justified it, by saying it was only “locker room” talk. Despite this, Donald Trump still became president. What does that say about our culture? It says that, when it comes to gender roles, we have not made much progress. Generally speaking, so called "locker room" talk is common among most men in our country. It is obvious that there are still many elements of sexism left in our culture. Dominican author Junot Diaz's touches on this, in his short story, "The Cheater's Guide to Love," which is the culmination of a collection of short stories called "This Is How You Lose Her." In the story, there is no question that the narrator, Yunior, is a womanizing sexist. However, some gender based critics contend that even though Yunior is a sexist, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the story is sexist.
Wilson GeraldoPublished 7 years ago in Viva- Top Story - August 2017
Best Books about Overlooked Women in History
Rosa Parks. Amelia Earhart. Cleopatra. Jackie Kennedy. Joan of Arc. These are just a few names on the long list of women who have unequivocally changed the course of history through their work, talent, beauty, or courage. And yet, this long list of names is immeasurably shorter than its male-centric counterpart. Over time society has been and continues to work toward gender equality; still, there are too many stories of feminine fierceness untold. While the world was busy lauding history's great men, there were women reaching equally laudable achievements, but the world wasn't ready to listen. It's time to give the long overdue recognition to some of the many women overlooked by history.
Rachel G. DavidPublished 7 years ago in Viva