I have read numerous works this year trying to understand the world we live in today. Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud falls squarely in the middle of the pack of a year loaded with politically charged books like What Happened?, On Tyranny and Unbelievable as well as more feminist charged books like We Should All Be Feminists and Hunger. “She should be assertive but not bossy, feminine but not prissy, experienced but not condescending, fashionable but not superficial, forceful but not shrill. Put simply: she should be masculine, but not too masculine; feminine, but […]
YASSSS QUEEN
Between Katy Tur’s Trump book, this fantastic collection of biographies, and Elizabeth Warren’s This Fight Is Our Fight (review forthcoming), I have read some excellent works by some pissed off women lately. And I’m loving it. “She should be assertive but not bossy, feminine but not prissy, experienced but not condescending, fashionable but not superficial, forceful but not shrill. Put simply: she should be masculine, but not too masculine; feminine, but not too feminine. She should be everything, which means she should be nothing.” Petersen uses this […]
I had some feelings
Best for: Those interested in a detailed analysis of the different ways women are seen as not conforming (unless you’re interested in those who are too old – that chapter was not great). In a nutshell: Buzzfeed writer Petersen looks at ten different women and how each can be an example of being too ‘something’ that women aren’t meant to be, and how they use that to subvert the system. Line that sticks with me: “To call Clinton ‘too’ anything is to authenticate and fortify […]
We Are All Too Much Something
We are entering the period of time where the cultural upheaval that Hillary Clinton losing the White House will have on our literary intake. Out early is Anne Helen Petersen formerly of The Hairpin and currently of Buzzfeed, who is known for her incisive long reads on culture, celebrity, and feminism. This book literally grows out of her election night response article “This is How Much America Hates Women” where she began grappling with what last year’s election reaffirmed about American society. Too Fat, Too […]
Stars Without a Cause
I can’t remember if this was a choice for the July book club, but I know I bought it at the same time. It was either an option that I wanted to read, or a “people who bought this book also liked…” option. Those things reel me in every time. It’s an interesting read, though I suspect people who know more about classic (1900-1950’s) Hollywood are going to find it a fairly dull re-tread. For the most part Petersen simply retells some of the scandals […]
Sex, Drugs, and…Big Band Music?
I always like to do a little research on the authors before I start writing my reviews. In this case, it actually helped make a lot od sense: Petersen is a professor and part-time writer for sites like Buzzfeed and The Hairpin, which is probably why her book reads a little like a dissertation and a little like an article you’d find in Slate. I’m not going so far as to say that’s a bad thing, but for a topic with such promise of dirt […]