Our Shared Shelf discussion

I really liked the “thank you” letter to the climate activists. It really demonstrates hope in the new (my) generation, and I am so happy about it.
Reading the essays I thought the same thing you did, “people who don’t understand should read this, but they never will”. It is therefore us who will have to explain, or better, show this people that what they think they know about the world, is completely wrong.
There is no difference between one human being and another, there is no answer in hate and separation and violence.
What we can do is show everyone love, and respect, educate the young (and the not so young) and show that it is indeed possible to live in a different way.

I agree with the above, some parts did indeed make me very angry. I enjoyed learning things that I hadn’t considered- for example- I had never considered the role that domestic control plays in voting and how this is skewed and happens more to those who are “Republicans” than homes considered “democratic” (I’m from the UK and I do not know much about American politics).

I found Rebecca Solnit was able to write things and write about the connections in a comprehensible way- easy to understand, something which if I wrote down I wouldn’t make those connections necessarily in a understandable way. I enjoy the way that she says the views are indeed changing (just slowly) and how this is due to mass movements of thoughts and protests- a new narrative to consider- and the benefits this has had.

*and the impact this has had. Whether these are small changes or a shift in thought.

My favourite essays were 'They think they can bully the truth' and 'A Hero is a Disaster'. This book has opened my eyes to many issues and left me with a lot to think about. Some parts made me quite angry.

It seems to me that Rebecca Solnit has a gift of putting into words feelings that many women have but never express them.

I don't know a lot about American politics so I had to look up some people that she was talking about in the book.

I enjoyed:

"Let this flooded women stories never cease" - there's a problem with the way feminism moves forward in reaction to breaking news stories. It brings focus to a single predator, a single incident, in the people who haven't faced the pervasiveness of misogyny can build stories around it as to why this is the exception, not the rule, or the act by a member of a subcategory we can dismiss or demonize.

"All the rage"- One of the pitfalls is trying to establish equality is to confuse gaining power with unleashing rage. For all of us this is the conundrum how, without idealizing and entrenching anger, can we grant non-white people and non male people and equal right to feeling and expressing it.

"A hero is Disaster" - Positive social change results mostly from connecting more deeply to the people around you then rising above them, from coordinated, rather than solo action. Among the virtues that matter are those traditionally considered feminine rather than masculine, more nerd than jock: listening, respect, patience, negotiation, strategic planning storytelling. But we like our lone and exceptional heroes, the drama of violence and virtue of muscle- or at least that's what we get over and over ,and from it we don't get much of a picture of how change actually happens and what are role in it might be or how ordinary people matter.

"Long Distance" - if history and intergenerational memory gives us a social and political baselines, amnesia renders us vulnerable to experiencing the present as inevitable unchangeable or just inexplicable. There is power and possibility in remembering that booms don't last, that campaigns can alter the fate of a people or even a nation, that the ways in which we think about race, gender, childhood, and age are mutable, that anyone who is alive for more than a few years has lived through violent transformations. ... I am old enough now to be repository of the way things were before.

To me, "Whose Story Is This?" felt very healing, as if it let me swim around in thoughts I've had over the course of my life and reflect on them. I particularly loved Solnit's discussion of the ways in which time works in conjecture with social movements. Her quote, "I felt acutely the long reach of the present" has been in my head since I read it a few weeks ago. The idea that we are connected so intimately to the past but so out of touch with recognizing those connections has me looking at lots of things more closely, looking for their roots.

For instance, I read an article about Harry Styles' fashion choices yesterday, where he mentioned that he thinks less about whether clothes were made for a particular gender and more about what he likes. The blurring of gendered lines in clothing has a long, long, history, so this is not a new sentiment. But there's something interesting to me about the "mainstream" couching of this comment, in that it's a very popular male celebrity speaking frankly on the subject of wearing "girl's" clothes. Roughly ten years ago I watched an episode of "The Office" where Micheal Scott wears a female pantsuit and is teased endlessly. To contrast those two moments, it seems that maybe something has changed in the interim.

There are two main thoughts I have from this. First, it made me wonder about the people who have laid the historical (including recent history) foundations of free gender expression, especially in terms of clothing/beauty. I'm wondering if anyone has ideas about where I could go to learn more about this history? I realized I know woefully little about this!

Second, the idea that more free gender expression might be becoming more mainstream for cis-men is rather hopeful for me. I see so many men in my life starting to acknowledge and learn about the ways that patriarchal systems hurt men as well, how many parts of themselves they have been taught to deny. I like the idea of little children of all genders seeing people they can identify with wearing all sorts of things, and feeling freer to express themselves in all sorts of ways. What are other people's thoughts on this? What kind of progress have we made in this arena? What kind of progress have we not made? How might people's experiences/opinions on our progress differ given different social and cultural backgrounds?

I want to start with my more negative thoughts so I can conclude on a more positive note, especially since I did really enjoy this book. In a way, the essays felt at times as if they were preaching to the choir. I don't think Solnit is that interested in winning converts to feminism or to any cause, but her essays can be so eye-opening and powerful that a part of me kept hoping that they could be aimed at people who are more on the fence about feminism or any of the issues presented.

I also felt the book at times seemed to be filtering certain information out. For example, in the essay in which she talks about Uma Thurman it often sounds like it was Thurman who did her full-blown confession against Weinstein and Tarantino, when in reality, it was through Maureen Dowd's article and as time went on, Thurman cleared out more details in separate articles and social media posts. I don't get Solnit's particular focus on Thurman's relationship with Tarantino, especially since she later commended him for doing the right thing in helping her have a case against Weinstein.

Now to the more positive: This is often a very powerful and very moving set of essays. The one about heroes was especially significant to me as a writer. I don't mind if movies or books end up specially focusing on the more warlike aspects of their stories, but I also want to know more about how they rebuild their societies, if this is something they try and succeed or fail to do. It's something I've tried to apply to my own writing.

I also appreciated that as dark as the topics got especially as a reflection of the times, there was still a ray of hope. Solnit isn't gloom and doom at all, quite the opposite. She sees a lot of hope and progress, even if current events make us feel the opposite.

But where the book was the most eye-opening was in the essay about voter suppression. I have a relative that I've known my entire life and since she's been with her husband, she's inclined toward the fanatical side of Christianity. The type that would call for books to be burned or banned. Even as a kid, I felt this was wrong and aside from other personal matters, is part of the reason why I've tried to keep as much distance from her in my life. I wasn't surprised that she voted for Trump and that angered me so much, I felt she was a real fascist who hadn't gotten better at all. I couldn't stand the idea of seeing her in person and I haven't in years, nor have I spoken to her.

But Solnit's essay, with its focus on how women are often forced to vote for certain parties or candidates by their husbands, especially in more conservative marriages made me look at her in a different light. Maybe I've been right all along and she's a complete fascist, but also it made me consider that she's stuck with my uncle and his beliefs. If she agrees with them or not, that's her issue but now I see that she could be hiding her own truth. And if she isn't, I see she's a more complex person than my own beliefs would've acknowledged.

The essays were thought provoking and I enjoyed it.

I felt like the author was better versed in the problems for urban areas and sort of discounted issues that rural communities may be dealing with (especially when she inferred that there shouldn't be equal representation of rural and urban areas in the Senate).

Access to health care isn't easy, with some having to commute 50 miles or more. Plus there may not be public transportation to use to get there.

Education is the same, as students may have to ride the bus for an hour to get to school. There may be internet based schools now, but not all areas have the broadband access.

I liked reading the collection of essays and had never thought about voter suppression and have no idea if the street names in my hometown are in some way inspired by women. I will definitely check that out. I’m European so I had to look up some names too, but I didn’t mind since sadly, there are comparable cases in everywhere.

For me, ‚Nobody knows’ paved the way through the collection and reminded me once more, that truth itself is always a construct imbedded in a discourse. Reading your comments on how angry reading the essays made some of you (and me), I thought back to ‚All the rage‘. I understand the contrast solnit opens up between male destructive rage and the feminist rage coming from a place of suppression and feeling of injustice. The latter one feels like a reflection of my reading situation. I’m getting angry too while reading these essays, being in certain situations and for me, this anger arouses action and is the pivotal moment. But I also know situations where this anger can turn into helplessness or fear, paralysing everything. That is why I liked the ‚A hero is a disaster‘ essay, because it is and always has been through the collective that change is made and a space for resonance, just like this group, is created.

I truly appreciated this book, and I share the same sentiment of anger and frustration for the truths is telling, my experiences and the correlation that I could pinpoint between the USA and my country (Italy).
The ones that struck me most are:
They Think They Can Bully the Truth: we are living in a time in which we are questioning established facts, we don't trust science and history anymore, we despise culture and education and call elitist the ones who love learning and reading, we are constantly bombarded by fake news and all of this is welcomed by people and political parties who perpetuates racism, fascism, misogyny, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, etc. (The lesser you know the more they can control you).

Voter Suppression Begins at Home: I've never thought about this issue before and I actually praised the postal vote for comodity reasons (in Italy we don't have it).

Lies Become Laws: Women still struggle to be believed by their doctors about pain and disease because we are SO strong (programmed to) to endure immense pain. Women are more likely to see 3+ specialists, in order to get the right diagnosis, than men are.
In Italy even if we have an abortion law it's still difficult for women to get one because of the massive number of conscientious objector doctors in the hospitals and also due to traditions and religious beliefs.

Let This Flood of Women's Stories Never Cease: sexual abuse, harassment, rape, violence, femicide committed almost daily and yet, many women and men still believe that if you want, TRULY want, you (woman) can avoid being harassed and raped, and they sill blame the victims and what they were wearing (provocative, succinct, etc). We still have a long way to go.

I am going to have to go back and do a reread because I read it and made no notes... so now I want to go back and mark things.

I really liked this, it is my first book by Solnit and I’m so impressed.
Some parts felt like preaching to the choir, but then in the next essay would be something new - idea, facts or perspective - for me.

I worked as a case manager in a DV centre and all the parts about DV, rage etc was all to familiar. I am Australian, immigrated to Texas and I am not familiar with the history and laws, this was very uncomfortable to read and learn so much about my new home here, and their treatment to women and non white people.

This had me feeling multiple things but it felt balanced. When it got me feeling angry or overwhelmed, we were given pride in how far we have come and hopeful for the future. I was grateful I wasn’t left feeling directionless, in the big picture.

I appreciate how direct & uncompromising Solnit is in this novel in offering her perspective while still giving each of the subjects she includes a full perspective, her goal seeking the universal truth more-so than playing ideological sides. All of her arguments & analyses were sound which is saying a lot considering how many there are in this book & how potentially contentious much of the subject matter was.

Her view of time, the passing on of traditions & perspectives as well as the inevitable changes that occur over decades & centuries was particularly enriching & I loved the concept of the baton being passed on from one generation to another as well as her encouragement throughout the book & especially at the end for those alive today to do our best to make the most of the present to make a brighter future inevitable.

This was a wonderfully informative & empowering read, I feel it's an excellent long-form news piece that everybody should read in the present time to understand what's happening in the social developments of our world. Whose Story Is This? has gems for future readers as well, being both a good, accurate snapshot of the current day as well as in any era how to have a good perspective of the power of the present moment for positive change.

Here's our discussion on Whose Story Is This? and Cinderella Liberator! Our group really loved the books, but there were definitely a couple topics we wanted to discuss and couldn't because of time. I think we all felt challenged to listen to other stories more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5anD...

Amazing work