Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (24)

Firdaus, the main character and narrator of most of Woman at Point Zero , is continually molested, raped and beaten by the men around her. She finally finds a sort of power when she discovers that the tools men use to abuse and control her only mask their terror of a woman who is not afraid of men. Unlike Hollywood heroines, she finds this power in murder and loses her fear of death in prison.

I can't say anything about the questions I was left pondering without sounding angry and self-righteous or after-school-specialy. I picked this book up because I'm falling behind on my 52/52 and needed a quick read. For a quick read, it certainly is lingering as I think about women who are abused like this and what it means for the fight against the mildly irritating sexism I experience as a symptom of unresolved misogyny in our society.

Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism's Work is Done by Susan J. Douglas (19)

Sexism is still around and keeping ladies down. I agree with the basic message of this book that women still have to fight for equal opportunity. I also acknowledge that our society does little to support women at home and at work.

But I have to say that this is a very tiring book from an unimaginative feminist. The book is far longer than it ought to be to make her point. Douglas is repetitive and easily distracted with an irritating habit of interrupting important sentences with constant sarcastic asides that sacrifice clarity for labored humor.

I do appreciate her attitude and I loved reading the chapter on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Xena: Warrior Princess, two of my favorite shows as a kid. Those fantasies of powerful women kicking evil butt were encouraging escapes for a tiny, shy girl with glasses as big as her head. Yet, the author did little to mention how media can encourage women or how media could or does further feminist causes. She only took hundreds of pages retelling 90210 or Xena or Boston Legal, shows she obviously enjoyed watching, explained how they supported the new sexism, and offered no counter examples.

Douglas has less than a basic understanding of economic theory or practice and she considers only one vision of how the country can support families: the federal government does it all. Apparently national day care is going to solve everything for women. Because the only men who can help us care for our children are the ones we elected.

Juletane by Myriam Warner-Vieyra (6)

After four books written from the male perspective, I was happy to be inside a female mind again, even though Juletane's story is as depressing as The Color Purple. Helene, a French social worker, discovers an old notebook as she packs up her apartment in preparation for her wedding. In it is Juletane's autobiography.

After reading the novel's many bizarre and tragic events, what lingers with me are the consequences and causes of bad decisions. Juletane was disadvantaged, as an orphan sheltered by her guardian. No one warned her when she decided to marry the first man who showed interest in her. On the boat from Paris to Africa, she learns that her new husband is already married. Juletane quickly becomes depressed, deepening in her alienation, listlessness, and madness. In the next five years, she hardly attempts to go back to France, preferring to dwell in misery. She blames her misfortunes on her past, all the way to conception. Juletane lives alone with her fatalism.

Helene, through whose eyes we read Juletane's tale, is quite the opposite. A full and happy childhood, higher education, career, and independence. After her fiance dumps her, she determines that all men are brutal and hardens her heart, sleeping around and occasionally using sex for spite. Helene selfishly agrees to marry an infatuated younger man, only so she can have a child before she is too old. After reading Juletane's diary, the "block of ice around her heart" is broken. I imagine the story of the mad woman retreating from all relationships and dying at 25 in an asylum would inspire a person to change.

People can't live in isolation. Juletane was isolated by language and culture. She could have chosen to live with her circumstances or to go back to Paris. I'm pretty sure that if a Catholic unknowingly marries a polygamist, the marriage doesn't officially count, so she was not bound to her husband. Either way, she would not have been alone. Helene blocks off meaningful relationships after a great heartbreak. She imagines her solitude is strength and plans to only use her fiance for his sperm without getting close to him. But she recognizes the detriment of her self-imposed isolation. What will Helene do? The novel ends after she finished Juletane's diary. But, I suppose the only way to start is to form true, lasting, and deep relationships, starting with her marriage.