While I was disappointed with the ultimate destination, I enjoying the ride the novella barrelled through! A quick, easy read that remained to be (mostly) fun despite the heavy topics that the book revolved around. The writing was fresh although there's moments that felt extremely cliché, which I originally thought was intentional to parody the stereotype of a ‘chic flick’ and how wonderful Isa's life suddenly is before twisting it on its head. So I think its partially my fault in just having different expectations in terms of style.
There's a lot of potential simmering underneath the surface that never got explored in how I was hoping (financial restrictions in medically transitioning, beauty standards that kill the people they're subjected onto, fatphobia, fetishization of trans women and how they're attacked from both sides regardless of how much she does/doesn't transition, dealing with a transphobic family and the conflict of emotions when they're terminally ill, etc.) that I think would had been so interesting to explore in a longer novel. Many moments are breezed by or you're told it in heavy handed ways(SPOILER: such as one of the people that got mutilated being described as looking like a sexy anime doll at the end of the book, while in the beginning Isa says she never saw an anime girl being realistic transitioning goals.) and I think because of the pacing, there isn't a satisfying resolution to many things that I thought were purposely being set up.
But!! show more I'm very excited to read more of Eve Harms work. This little novella was, again, a refreshing jolt of energy despite my yearning for just a little bit more. The protagonist is likeable and complex in just a short amount of time and the setup/premise is interesting, I would love to see what Harms is able to do in a longer format :) show less
There's a lot of potential simmering underneath the surface that never got explored in how I was hoping (financial restrictions in medically transitioning, beauty standards that kill the people they're subjected onto, fatphobia, fetishization of trans women and how they're attacked from both sides regardless of how much she does/doesn't transition, dealing with a transphobic family and the conflict of emotions when they're terminally ill, etc.) that I think would had been so interesting to explore in a longer novel. Many moments are breezed by or you're told it in heavy handed ways
But!! show more I'm very excited to read more of Eve Harms work. This little novella was, again, a refreshing jolt of energy despite my yearning for just a little bit more. The protagonist is likeable and complex in just a short amount of time and the setup/premise is interesting, I would love to see what Harms is able to do in a longer format :) show less
What a lovely mixture of a biograpy and a testimony to the disabled activists that have caused changed.
I saw a few complaints on it, but I thought the fact-based narration aided to the purpose of this book. It was less of a personal ‘story’ and more of a testimony of the change disabled activists fought for and her first hand account. The opening sections just supplied a personal background and lead up to explain her later on actions and how her activism continued to be built upon prior experience and be fueled by the challenges she was unfairly forced to experienced. You don't need to know all the personal heartbreak and misery and shame she felt during these moments of discrimination, you don't need to know every snide comment or instance of her being denied a basic service or human right. There's plenty of stories and account by disabled people all across the world, you already know the a
hardships they face—you should be able to sympathize with a marginalized group without voyeuristic details about their mistreatment.
Carrying on that, I also didn't find the writing dry at all! I thought it reflected on her life and how her style is obviously influenced by her positions of leadership and change. As Judith stated many times, she and other disabled people had to ARGUE and convince abled body people that discrimination against them even existed. People in positions of power don't care how you feel, she had to base her arguments in hard evidence and fact. Even as a show more child, she said the family dinners prepared her to be outspoken in what she believes because you always had to be prepared to defend your opinion on a subject. Personally, I viewed the style as another window to how she thought, operated, and spoke about the mistreatment she faced. Maybe in a more compassionate world, saying 'this makes me feel bad and excluded, I'm lonely and hurt' would be enough but, as we see, it wasn't. She and the countless other activists had to fight to have their lives even acknowledged, their feelings were constantly handwaved away. So the personal recounting of these major events being focused on the step by step and process was fascinating and I thought it added to the book.
I mostly treasured this not only for an inside view by one of the most known disabled activist, but also for how much emphasis is placed in building community and a support system. The attention she gives to credit and highlight how many people and other civil rights movements were involved and helped is such a beautiful reminder that together, in solidarity, we are always stronger and CAN make a change and set a new standard for what should be expected in a supportive society despite the people that try to prevent it.
I saw a few complaints on it, but I thought the fact-based narration aided to the purpose of this book. It was less of a personal ‘story’ and more of a testimony of the change disabled activists fought for and her first hand account. The opening sections just supplied a personal background and lead up to explain her later on actions and how her activism continued to be built upon prior experience and be fueled by the challenges she was unfairly forced to experienced. You don't need to know all the personal heartbreak and misery and shame she felt during these moments of discrimination, you don't need to know every snide comment or instance of her being denied a basic service or human right. There's plenty of stories and account by disabled people all across the world, you already know the a
hardships they face—you should be able to sympathize with a marginalized group without voyeuristic details about their mistreatment.
Carrying on that, I also didn't find the writing dry at all! I thought it reflected on her life and how her style is obviously influenced by her positions of leadership and change. As Judith stated many times, she and other disabled people had to ARGUE and convince abled body people that discrimination against them even existed. People in positions of power don't care how you feel, she had to base her arguments in hard evidence and fact. Even as a show more child, she said the family dinners prepared her to be outspoken in what she believes because you always had to be prepared to defend your opinion on a subject. Personally, I viewed the style as another window to how she thought, operated, and spoke about the mistreatment she faced. Maybe in a more compassionate world, saying 'this makes me feel bad and excluded, I'm lonely and hurt' would be enough but, as we see, it wasn't. She and the countless other activists had to fight to have their lives even acknowledged, their feelings were constantly handwaved away. So the personal recounting of these major events being focused on the step by step and process was fascinating and I thought it added to the book.
I mostly treasured this not only for an inside view by one of the most known disabled activist, but also for how much emphasis is placed in building community and a support system. The attention she gives to credit and highlight how many people and other civil rights movements were involved and helped is such a beautiful reminder that together, in solidarity, we are always stronger and CAN make a change and set a new standard for what should be expected in a supportive society despite the people that try to prevent it.
“We—all of us, and especially marginalized people—need to work together. In the broader civil rights movements disability was and still is absent. Visible and invisible disabilities cut across all minorities. We are African American, Latino, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, transgender, middle class, wealthy, poor, Jewish, Hindu, Christian, Muslim. We can’t be selective about which marginalized group moves forward. At the end of the day, we all need to be moving forward together, taking care of our families and the planet. When whole groups of people become segregated from others in our society, it weakens the fabric of our democracy. Distance and segregation are breeding grounds for failures of understanding and empathy and ultimately injustice and the denial of others’ rights.”show less
I find it so disappointing how many people seemingly dismiss this book as just ‘weird’ or something unworthy of analysis when I find having a book be more outlandish in it's character's actions makes the themes illuminate even more because of the heightened reality they exist in. Of course having exposure and actual knowledge or experience in South Korean culture will effect the meaning of how you may view some things. That's how literature works. But I feel as if the easy dismissal of this entire book by many English-as-first-language people is that because you're coming from a different life experience and place than the writer, you place this as unworthy of analysis. It's a refusal to actually engage with literature that comes from a different country/originally written in a different language which is xenophobic and racist. You don't have to enjoy the novel, I certainly have my complaints, but I think so many people refusing to give it the same respect and consideration as English written literature is telling!
I will give a quick warning for if anyone used the audiobook. I started to while knitting and had the book copy later and realized how many of the sentences were altered and, in a few cases, the narrator said the wrong name. I continued with the written form, where there's an inconsistent quality of translation, but wanted to warn some people just in case!
Every part of this story involves stripping Yeong-hye of her control and right of self determination, show more which accelerates her mental decline. Her husband, whom always looked down upon her and considered her unremarkable and thus an object to complete his safe, conventional life he chose for himself, begins the narrative. Mr. Cheong is ashamed and angry at her whenever she dares to go against what he decided best—he doesn't even believe she has discomfort and pain in wearing a bra and that's why she goes without one because he views her body as an object that exists only for his own needs. To be challenged with her actually being a person with feelings or any agency is something he can't bear, and it reflects in his refusal to accept she's a vegetarian. He admits he doesn't care of the reason, nor her mental suffering as she gets visibly weaker from malnourishment, because the relationship was never about love but instead in him having something to control. He ends up raping her because of this lack of care or any respect with a chilling nonchalance and self righteousness, believing he is in the right in forcing his power over her.
Cheong eventually calls her family to tell on her no longer eating meat, faking his concern despite that not even being necessary given how quick Yeong-hye's parents and siblings are in also violating her boundaries, albeit in different ways. Rather than being actually concern on how she's reached a stage of anorexia due to her mental health, they view her decision as acting out and no longer being compliant as she should be or that ‘she doesn't know any better’ to make a decision for herself. Her father, who was always physically abusive, tries to force meat into her mouth and then hits her when she refuses. The mother sobs how can she be doing this, how can she disrespect her parents and husband like this, because to act on her own free will is a disrespect when you're expected to live just for their purpose and fulfillment rather than your own. With Cheong, we see the effect of a man refusing to give up a sense of entitled control—where the focus of his and her family intervening is because she refuses to give in to his unfair demand, which allows the true underlying cause to be ignored and dismissed. They don't care about her dream, her delusions, nor her festering self hatred and guilt. It's easier to focus on the easy solution to what the problem is and, in attempting to force her to comply specifically to her husband and father's demands (although all of them all guilty of forcing their will upon her), that leads to her mental health getting worse to where she feels desperate and trapped enough to attempt to take her own life.
Later, after the failed suicide attempt because of this family ambush and then her mother still trying to trick her into consuming the blood of a goat, Yeong-hye does eventually gain a little weight and is more healthy because she's actually living alone and on a diet plan that lets her get proper nutrition while being a vegetarian—thus showing that this treatment and behavior from the people that were supposed to love and care for her was even more unacceptable than how horrifying and disgusting it first presents. If she had gotten the support she needed and deserved earlier or if her brother-in-law didn't intervene, her life may had still turned out fine.
I saw many people didn't enjoy the second chapter that focused on the brother-in-law but I really liked that it showed how he too manipulated and took advantage of Yeong-hye in a way that's different than the prior repulsion-based actions from her husband. He has an unhealthy fixation on her, specifically in seeing her as the ideal sexual object and the key to unlocking his artistic merit he had previously lost. He may say her husband was a horrible man and she deserved better, yet his feelings are led on by the belief that he is the better—that by Mr. Cheong being out of the way, he can now get what he wanted.
I wonder if Cheong raping her and how he was openly disgusted by her effected her view of her brother-in-law's actions or if she just willingly went along with it because what control has she had before to say no? Or if it stemmed from a place of emptiness, too hollow to disagree to whatever is being asked of her, which can be a side effect from her depression and self depreciation, as well as be a trauma response after having her control taken from her regardless of the fight she put up and its easier to just go along so it'll be over faster. Regardless, he asked her to model naked and be painted, and filmed her in ‘loving,’ (voyeuristic) swooping camera shots. He didn't force anything, instead he led her to believe it was her choice. He manipulated the control he had of her when really it was all about satisfying his urge and needs without much care to the woman he now deems as a sex object that must exist to serve his life a purpose and provide a fulfillment within his own unhappy life.
I think one of the more obvious examples for the way they both are entitled in a similar way, even if their mindset behind it differs, shows in that she earlier referred to her body a weapon—other than her breasts which are too soft to harm and that she's heartbroken they're shrinking, viewing it as a reflection of her own cruelty. Her husband views it as a disgrace because she no longer looks feminine enough for him. And the brother-in-law still views it as something to sexualize, eventually corrupting her view of her body even more to fit his needs; which starts obsession on becoming a tree as her mental health continues to decline because what harm can a tree cause? These two men may have different reasoning behind their actions but it still circles back to trying to sculpt her body and life into something that serves their desires before her own needs.
The third chapter, centered on her sister In-hye, definitely was the most fascinating! She actually loves her and understands more than the men in their lives but love isn't enough at this point. I love the glimpses we see of In-hye's own mental health struggles, how she frames her suicidal thoughts (and attempt of an attempt!) as well as her continued guilt on what happened. She carries the burden of care still, and always will. She takes on the blame for what happened and what could had avoided this outcome because if she doesn't, who will? I also love the hypocrisy and sense of self awareness of encouraging Yeong-hye to be strong and get better while reflecting on what did being persistent in those give her beyond a life she's unsatisfied in? What level of choice did *she* have in her life's path? How free is she truly, how free has she always been? We had Yeong-hye trapped at an institution but trying to die to be fully free and In-hye, technically physically free but trapped within her own life. They serve as a mirror of each other and of how they responded to the unfair expectations and limitations that was placed upon them. In-hye did as she was supposed to, she had a husband and child, she worked and cooked and cleaned. She didn't complain despite her husband not fulfilling her emotional needs, she did let herself dream of a life different. Yeong-hye ‘failed’ in society's eye, she rebelled in the sense of daring to be her own person rather than just the well-behaved wife or have any children. Yet both sisters end up riding in the ambulance and suicidal at the end of the book.
Their dynamic as well as Yeong-hye vegetarianism and the metaphor it stands for and watching it slowly kill her was definitely the highlight of the book. I would had been happy with more insight of Yeong-hye's actions and choice but I thought the glimpses we got were enough to shade it in and give reason! Overall, it was ultimately such an interesting note to end on and has left me, more than a week later, still thinking about it :) show less
I will give a quick warning for if anyone used the audiobook. I started to while knitting and had the book copy later and realized how many of the sentences were altered and, in a few cases, the narrator said the wrong name. I continued with the written form, where there's an inconsistent quality of translation, but wanted to warn some people just in case!
Cheong eventually calls her family to tell on her no longer eating meat, faking his concern despite that not even being necessary given how quick Yeong-hye's parents and siblings are in also violating her boundaries, albeit in different ways. Rather than being actually concern on how she's reached a stage of anorexia due to her mental health, they view her decision as acting out and no longer being compliant as she should be or that ‘she doesn't know any better’ to make a decision for herself. Her father, who was always physically abusive, tries to force meat into her mouth and then hits her when she refuses. The mother sobs how can she be doing this, how can she disrespect her parents and husband like this, because to act on her own free will is a disrespect when you're expected to live just for their purpose and fulfillment rather than your own. With Cheong, we see the effect of a man refusing to give up a sense of entitled control—where the focus of his and her family intervening is because she refuses to give in to his unfair demand, which allows the true underlying cause to be ignored and dismissed. They don't care about her dream, her delusions, nor her festering self hatred and guilt. It's easier to focus on the easy solution to what the problem is and, in attempting to force her to comply specifically to her husband and father's demands (although all of them all guilty of forcing their will upon her), that leads to her mental health getting worse to where she feels desperate and trapped enough to attempt to take her own life.
Later, after the failed suicide attempt because of this family ambush and then her mother still trying to trick her into consuming the blood of a goat, Yeong-hye does eventually gain a little weight and is more healthy because she's actually living alone and on a diet plan that lets her get proper nutrition while being a vegetarian—thus showing that this treatment and behavior from the people that were supposed to love and care for her was even more unacceptable than how horrifying and disgusting it first presents. If she had gotten the support she needed and deserved earlier or if her brother-in-law didn't intervene, her life may had still turned out fine.
I saw many people didn't enjoy the second chapter that focused on the brother-in-law but I really liked that it showed how he too manipulated and took advantage of Yeong-hye in a way that's different than the prior repulsion-based actions from her husband. He has an unhealthy fixation on her, specifically in seeing her as the ideal sexual object and the key to unlocking his artistic merit he had previously lost. He may say her husband was a horrible man and she deserved better, yet his feelings are led on by the belief that he is the better—that by Mr. Cheong being out of the way, he can now get what he wanted.
I wonder if Cheong raping her and how he was openly disgusted by her effected her view of her brother-in-law's actions or if she just willingly went along with it because what control has she had before to say no? Or if it stemmed from a place of emptiness, too hollow to disagree to whatever is being asked of her, which can be a side effect from her depression and self depreciation, as well as be a trauma response after having her control taken from her regardless of the fight she put up and its easier to just go along so it'll be over faster. Regardless, he asked her to model naked and be painted, and filmed her in ‘loving,’ (voyeuristic) swooping camera shots. He didn't force anything, instead he led her to believe it was her choice. He manipulated the control he had of her when really it was all about satisfying his urge and needs without much care to the woman he now deems as a sex object that must exist to serve his life a purpose and provide a fulfillment within his own unhappy life.
I think one of the more obvious examples for the way they both are entitled in a similar way, even if their mindset behind it differs, shows in that she earlier referred to her body a weapon—other than her breasts which are too soft to harm and that she's heartbroken they're shrinking, viewing it as a reflection of her own cruelty. Her husband views it as a disgrace because she no longer looks feminine enough for him. And the brother-in-law still views it as something to sexualize, eventually corrupting her view of her body even more to fit his needs; which starts obsession on becoming a tree as her mental health continues to decline because what harm can a tree cause? These two men may have different reasoning behind their actions but it still circles back to trying to sculpt her body and life into something that serves their desires before her own needs.
The third chapter, centered on her sister In-hye, definitely was the most fascinating! She actually loves her and understands more than the men in their lives but love isn't enough at this point. I love the glimpses we see of In-hye's own mental health struggles, how she frames her suicidal thoughts (and attempt of an attempt!) as well as her continued guilt on what happened. She carries the burden of care still, and always will. She takes on the blame for what happened and what could had avoided this outcome because if she doesn't, who will? I also love the hypocrisy and sense of self awareness of encouraging Yeong-hye to be strong and get better while reflecting on what did being persistent in those give her beyond a life she's unsatisfied in? What level of choice did *she* have in her life's path? How free is she truly, how free has she always been? We had Yeong-hye trapped at an institution but trying to die to be fully free and In-hye, technically physically free but trapped within her own life. They serve as a mirror of each other and of how they responded to the unfair expectations and limitations that was placed upon them. In-hye did as she was supposed to, she had a husband and child, she worked and cooked and cleaned. She didn't complain despite her husband not fulfilling her emotional needs, she did let herself dream of a life different. Yeong-hye ‘failed’ in society's eye, she rebelled in the sense of daring to be her own person rather than just the well-behaved wife or have any children. Yet both sisters end up riding in the ambulance and suicidal at the end of the book.
Their dynamic as well as Yeong-hye vegetarianism and the metaphor it stands for and watching it slowly kill her was definitely the highlight of the book. I would had been happy with more insight of Yeong-hye's actions and choice but I thought the glimpses we got were enough to shade it in and give reason! Overall, it was ultimately such an interesting note to end on and has left me, more than a week later, still thinking about it :)
The more I think about this book the more my feelings shift from just disappointed to outright anger. The handling of the CSA in graphic detail yet barely a glimpse of attention to the death of the abusive men. The fact that a book centered on Jessie and her trauma and the feminist themes that were encoded in the premise alone of breaking free from her handcuffs that shackle her life by two differently awful yet still similar men, was handled poorly. The voices of these people in her life that make up her and their banter wasn't a slog when it could have been providing insight for this character. The way the ending shifts to be reassuring about the police and that the big baddie wasn't her father that molested her nor her husband that was going to commit martial rape but instead was a random ‘figure of death’ that actually turns out to be a gay, necrophiliac pedophile that likes to wear lingerie and has schizophrenia.
There was so much potential for an empowering and horrifying story but King, like always, fails miserably to the point that the only potential his stories have is the general plot premise. His work remains best as living in the a bargin bin and reading the plot on a back before being tossed back and privately mused on while alone. Otherwise his writing sucks the potential out of these premises to make you so utterly exhausted that you don't even care enough to reimagine the better story you were hoping for.
There was so much potential for an empowering and horrifying story but King, like always, fails miserably to the point that the only potential his stories have is the general plot premise. His work remains best as living in the a bargin bin and reading the plot on a back before being tossed back and privately mused on while alone. Otherwise his writing sucks the potential out of these premises to make you so utterly exhausted that you don't even care enough to reimagine the better story you were hoping for.
this is the funniest book I can imagine recommending with the annoying 'it has queer characters! theres a lesbian pyromaniac and two fathers with a baby! it has a lot of complicated familial dynamics and is written by a he/they!' thing a lot of people do without giving any plot. Which, again, is compelling but I don't want to send someone into reading about elderly neglect, child abduction, incest, a bit of body horror, etc without SOME form of a heads up so. Here's that heads up!
I really enjoyed this one, although I feel like the book will benefit greatly from the writing being developed a little bit more or at least a better editor. Often times, the shorts can feel underbaked, like a rough extended concept of a story you text your friend about at 4 am rather than an actual story and, if you read it all in one sitting like I did, you notice a lot of unintentional repeating sentences.
However, I can't say I wasn't intrigued all the way through! There's lots of little things I liked, such as the first and last story being about father and son in two very different ways, an underlying sense of melancholy beneath the horror of the situations, protagonists that are unlikeable in different ways and how it reflects in their internal conflicts, to how some stories are in medias res and leaves your mind filling in what led these characters to these events and what will become of them afterwards.
I think if you grew up reading random, contained horror short stories of varying show more quality on the Internet like I did and you enjoy dark fiction topics, and if you maybe lower your expectations a bit, I feel like you'll get at least a little bit of fun out of this one like I did (My favorite was the self titled and You're Not Supposed to Be Here... Although big shout out to Bodies Are Burning for prior mentioned lesbian pyromaniac) show less
I really enjoyed this one, although I feel like the book will benefit greatly from the writing being developed a little bit more or at least a better editor. Often times, the shorts can feel underbaked, like a rough extended concept of a story you text your friend about at 4 am rather than an actual story and, if you read it all in one sitting like I did, you notice a lot of unintentional repeating sentences.
However, I can't say I wasn't intrigued all the way through! There's lots of little things I liked, such as the first and last story being about father and son in two very different ways, an underlying sense of melancholy beneath the horror of the situations, protagonists that are unlikeable in different ways and how it reflects in their internal conflicts, to how some stories are in medias res and leaves your mind filling in what led these characters to these events and what will become of them afterwards.
I think if you grew up reading random, contained horror short stories of varying show more quality on the Internet like I did and you enjoy dark fiction topics, and if you maybe lower your expectations a bit, I feel like you'll get at least a little bit of fun out of this one like I did (My favorite was the self titled and You're Not Supposed to Be Here... Although big shout out to Bodies Are Burning for prior mentioned lesbian pyromaniac) show less
This book's twist infuriated me so much I gave up reading for the rest of November and started Star Trek instead. Sure, there's definitely worse books but the ending and twist made all the prior parts of the novel that I did enjoy twist into hatred and disgust.
You set up an entire book about the dif erent types and degrees toxic masculinity and the danger it imposes on everyone he's around, even including himself!, and then to turn around and say ‘Heehee, actually it's the wife's crazy family with a curse! It's all that selfish bitch's fault, not his! ^_^'
It could had easily keep the curse aspect and say it's limited to that lot of land or whatever and only effects the men but by deliberately having it be the only female character's fault undermines ALL the theming and symbolism it originally had for it. From the way being the ‘provider’ is expected of the man of a household, and the pressure and stress that can lead to rapid mental instability, especially with the ideology of a man must he the strong one and show no vulnerability or weakness—even in crying. Him failing to do what was assigned to him (of course, based on the misogynist belief women are incapable of it) and that he scrambles to find what will masculate him again since he's been trained to base his value in these things.
Toxic masculinity cycles and how he was harming his son, even before the curse. He said if he gets even more empathetic it'll be like putting estrogen pills in his cereal. He's show more already pressuring him to conform to the idea of what man he needs to grow up to be and then that emotional abuse just gets amplified by the curse to turn into physical abuse.
There was even symbolism for the tablet and the way widespr media can be harming children—particularly boys. From Andrew Tates to other sexist Internet personalities, we see currently the rise of teenage boys and young men feeling entitled or being aggressively bigoted. How media brings that danger directly into the home if not careful and that it normalizes that dangerous belief to boys—which is bad for young girls in their classes and worse for the women they do grow up and meet.
There's so many flavors and types of misogyny that was touched on. Media personalities, smartass lawyers and cops that will use their position of power to control women, blue collar and poorer men that casually objectify women, children repeating what they've heard and learned—from condescending and annoying to physically abusive. But it's all the woman and her family's fault instead.
And for her to be a LAWYER and only consider if there really is another way because she's apparently too stupid to think of it herself? Or when she did in the hospital earlier and was told to focus on her child's safety rather than challenge it, a parallel of women being told their place is in the home rather than a workplace. And instead of continuing her original thought, instead of challenging that statement, instead of making a new agreement or finding a loophole—something that would have been fulfilling after the husband's misogyny about her intelligence and control in her life, it's the stupid woman condemning humanity to suffer because of her decision. Literally just shifting the blame to her even more and recycling an Adam and Eve plotline.
This entire book is setup around this cishet white man being a piece of shit and instead of challenging his and the general misogyny that this book makes a great effort to highlight, he went ‘Well its bad if you say the extreme parts out loud but he has a point’ and defended his behavior.
It's been a week since I read this and every time I think about it I still get so frustratingly mad.
show less
It could had easily keep the curse aspect and say it's limited to that lot of land or whatever and only effects the men but by deliberately having it be the only female character's fault undermines ALL the theming and symbolism it originally had for it. From the way being the ‘provider’ is expected of the man of a household, and the pressure and stress that can lead to rapid mental instability, especially with the ideology of a man must he the strong one and show no vulnerability or weakness—even in crying. Him failing to do what was assigned to him (of course, based on the misogynist belief women are incapable of it) and that he scrambles to find what will masculate him again since he's been trained to base his value in these things.
Toxic masculinity cycles and how he was harming his son, even before the curse. He said if he gets even more empathetic it'll be like putting estrogen pills in his cereal. He's
There was even symbolism for the tablet and the way widespr media can be harming children—particularly boys. From Andrew Tates to other sexist Internet personalities, we see currently the rise of teenage boys and young men feeling entitled or being aggressively bigoted. How media brings that danger directly into the home if not careful and that it normalizes that dangerous belief to boys—which is bad for young girls in their classes and worse for the women they do grow up and meet.
There's so many flavors and types of misogyny that was touched on. Media personalities, smartass lawyers and cops that will use their position of power to control women, blue collar and poorer men that casually objectify women, children repeating what they've heard and learned—from condescending and annoying to physically abusive. But it's all the woman and her family's fault instead.
And for her to be a LAWYER and only consider if there really is another way because she's apparently too stupid to think of it herself? Or when she did in the hospital earlier and was told to focus on her child's safety rather than challenge it, a parallel of women being told their place is in the home rather than a workplace. And instead of continuing her original thought, instead of challenging that statement, instead of making a new agreement or finding a loophole—something that would have been fulfilling after the husband's misogyny about her intelligence and control in her life, it's the stupid woman condemning humanity to suffer because of her decision. Literally just shifting the blame to her even more and recycling an Adam and Eve plotline.
This entire book is setup around this cishet white man being a piece of shit and instead of challenging his and the general misogyny that this book makes a great effort to highlight, he went ‘Well its bad if you say the extreme parts out loud but he has a point’ and defended his behavior.
It's been a week since I read this and every time I think about it I still get so frustratingly mad.
