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Women and Other Monsters: Building a New Mythology
A fresh cultural analysis of female monsters from Greek mythology, and an invitation for all women to reclaim these stories as inspiration for a more wild, more “monstrous” version of feminismThe folklore that has shaped our dominant culture teems with frightening female creatures. In our language, in our stories (many written by men), we underline the idea that women who step out of bounds—who are angry or greedy or ambitious, who are overtly sexual or not sexy enough—aren’t just outside the norm. They’re unnatural. Monstrous. But maybe, the traits we’ve been told make us dangerous and undesirable are actually our greatest strengths.Through fresh analysis of 11 female monsters, including Medusa, the Harpies, the Furies, and the Sphinx, Jess Zimmerman takes us on an illuminating feminist journey through mythology. She guides women (and others) to reexamine their relationships with traits like hunger, anger, ugliness, and ambition, teaching readers to embrace a new image of the female one that looks a lot like a monster, with the agency and power to match.Often, women try to avoid the feeling of monstrousness, of being grotesquely alien, by tamping down those qualities that we’re told fall outside the bounds of natural femininity. But monsters also get to do what other female characters—damsels, love interests, and even most heroines—do not. Monsters get to be complete, unrestrained, and larger than life. Today, women are becoming increasingly aware of the ways rules and socially constructed expectations have diminished us. After seeing where compliance gets us—harassed, shut out, and ruled by predators—women have never been more ready to become repellent, fearsome, and ravenous.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 9, 2021
366 people are currently reading
14167 people want to read
About the author
Jess Zimmerman
8 books54 followersJess Zimmerman is the editor-in-chief of Electric Literature and the author of Women and Other Monsters. She is also the author, with Jaya Saxena, of Basic Witches (Quirk, 2017). Her nonfiction writing has appeared in The Guardian, Slate, The New Republic, Hazlitt, Catapult, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 593 reviews
February 28, 2021
Why you may not like this book: This is a non-fiction book that is half-way between a memoir and an exploration of mythology. For readers looking for one thing or the other, or who don't know what quite to expect, I can see this taking them by surprise or not being quite satisfied with either section. It feels like women and "monsters" of Greek mythology are the framing device Zimmerman uses to talk about her personal experiences with sexism, emotional abuse, fatphobia, and self-harm and generally about the experience of being a woman in a way that will especially ring true for women in a post-Trump America.
Why I enjoyed this book: I enjoyed both the fresh analysis on monsters of Greek mythology and the vulnerable and honest way Zimmerman ties them to her own experiences. For the most part, her connections between the mythology and the modern experience of being a woman felt smart. There were 1 or 2 times I thought they were a little more forced or stretched than others, but nothing that ruined the experience for me.
This is already something I know I want to reread because I want to spend more time with the analysis. I know that during first read there were times I found myself agreeing and I found myself moved. I like to sit a little more with what Zimmerman is saying both about these mythological portrayals and "womanhood."
I've thought about this book a lot since reading it!
January 3, 2023
Update after rereading:
My biggest problem with this book was the disappointing premise. And I feel like that's something that many felt too. From the blurb, synopsis, and even the introduction, Women and Other Monsters seem to be an interesting non-fiction book exploring women and monsters in Greek mythology. There's no nuanced to be had here, not an in-depth analysis of the myths and their monsters.
Jess Zimmerman admits she's not a classicist. But well, I could never imagine that meant a very surface-level analysis. Instead, she prefers to rely on others' words to discuss pop culture, politics, and real-life events. Mixing with that, she incorporates her own story.
I'm not necessarily bothered by the book's memoir aspect, I don't think that's a bad idea. But it wasn't what I was hoping to get here, the monsters get a few lines at the beginning and then, they are barely mentioned again. There is nothing new to be gained here, Zimmerman is not concerned with exploring the history of the myth itself, we get barely a summary. All of her analysis is about her life and experiences, she makes big generalizations, and what is the point of this book?
There is a lot of projection involved, which makes things harder, and weird comments to include intersectionality. As I have found before, every time cis authors want to include trans women and non-binary folks, they fall into uncomfortable territory. After all, that's the problem with all these big generalizations that ignore race, gender, and sexuality.
Her chapter about queerness is where this projection is felt the most. She talks about her feelings, her relationship with women, and why she doesn't feel comfortable identifying as queer. All valid, but then her argument takes a turn that feels so uncomfortable to me, as a queer woman. Of course, we are all attracted to women, that's what society wants. Women are objects to be desired. This entire section about queer women never addresses the violence queer women are subjected to, especially lesbians. Her point is so wrapped in her argument that she completely ignores how women are not supposed to be attracted to other women. She claims that society makes women desirable, but that desire is limited to men.
This book is not very thoughtful or nuanced, it doesn't add anything new to the conversations about patriarchy, womanhood, and women's hunger, ugliness, anger, and ambition. Maybe if this book had been a memoir, this would be a different story. As it is, I wished I had skipped this one entirely.
In the comments, many people recommended Natalia Haynes' Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths and now that I have read it, I wholeheartedly agree. Pandora's Jar is an exploration of women in Greek myths. If you were disappointed by Women and Other Greek Monsters, highly recommended it.
you can find my first review here:
My biggest problem with this book was the disappointing premise. And I feel like that's something that many felt too. From the blurb, synopsis, and even the introduction, Women and Other Monsters seem to be an interesting non-fiction book exploring women and monsters in Greek mythology. There's no nuanced to be had here, not an in-depth analysis of the myths and their monsters.
Jess Zimmerman admits she's not a classicist. But well, I could never imagine that meant a very surface-level analysis. Instead, she prefers to rely on others' words to discuss pop culture, politics, and real-life events. Mixing with that, she incorporates her own story.
I'm not necessarily bothered by the book's memoir aspect, I don't think that's a bad idea. But it wasn't what I was hoping to get here, the monsters get a few lines at the beginning and then, they are barely mentioned again. There is nothing new to be gained here, Zimmerman is not concerned with exploring the history of the myth itself, we get barely a summary. All of her analysis is about her life and experiences, she makes big generalizations, and what is the point of this book?
There is a lot of projection involved, which makes things harder, and weird comments to include intersectionality. As I have found before, every time cis authors want to include trans women and non-binary folks, they fall into uncomfortable territory. After all, that's the problem with all these big generalizations that ignore race, gender, and sexuality.
Her chapter about queerness is where this projection is felt the most. She talks about her feelings, her relationship with women, and why she doesn't feel comfortable identifying as queer. All valid, but then her argument takes a turn that feels so uncomfortable to me, as a queer woman. Of course, we are all attracted to women, that's what society wants. Women are objects to be desired. This entire section about queer women never addresses the violence queer women are subjected to, especially lesbians. Her point is so wrapped in her argument that she completely ignores how women are not supposed to be attracted to other women. She claims that society makes women desirable, but that desire is limited to men.
This book is not very thoughtful or nuanced, it doesn't add anything new to the conversations about patriarchy, womanhood, and women's hunger, ugliness, anger, and ambition. Maybe if this book had been a memoir, this would be a different story. As it is, I wished I had skipped this one entirely.
In the comments, many people recommended Natalia Haynes' Pandora's Jar: Women in the Greek Myths and now that I have read it, I wholeheartedly agree. Pandora's Jar is an exploration of women in Greek myths. If you were disappointed by Women and Other Greek Monsters, highly recommended it.
you can find my first review here:
February 23, 2021
I don’t really have much to say about this. I did in fact enjoy my time with this and I thought the framework Zimmermann uses – speaking about different female monster from Greek/ Roman mythology and using that as a jumping point to write more generally about sexism – was really well chosen. I just do not think it was as great as it could have been and that is such a shame. This book sits squarely in an intersection of two of my great loves: feminism and mythology. I should have adored this. I think what makes this such a difficult review for me to write is that there is nothing wrong with this book – but I was not the right reader.
I like my non-fiction either highly introspective and navel-gazing, or perfectly structured and researched. This was somehow neither. As such, I vastly prefered the parts where Zimmermann was close to her own life, using mythology to make sense of her experiences. These parts worked extremely well and gave me much to think about. On the other hand, the more general political points did not always convince me, probably because this was not really the focus of the book or because I found them very narrow in their application while Zimmermann made them sound universal. I am, however, not from the US – so your milage may absolutely vary here.
Content warnings: discussions of sexism and racism, (mythical) rape, (mythical) miscarriage, abortion, emotional abuse
I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I like my non-fiction either highly introspective and navel-gazing, or perfectly structured and researched. This was somehow neither. As such, I vastly prefered the parts where Zimmermann was close to her own life, using mythology to make sense of her experiences. These parts worked extremely well and gave me much to think about. On the other hand, the more general political points did not always convince me, probably because this was not really the focus of the book or because I found them very narrow in their application while Zimmermann made them sound universal. I am, however, not from the US – so your milage may absolutely vary here.
Content warnings: discussions of sexism and racism, (mythical) rape, (mythical) miscarriage, abortion, emotional abuse
I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
March 22, 2021
This felt really confused....and was a very big letdown.
What was pitched as a reflective and deep look at the Greek mythology tropes and legends that have permeated and persisted in our culture and have structurally defined and shaped our perceptions of women came across as a jumbled mess with a lack of structure. This is such a shame because as someone who has been fascinated by Greek mythology since middle school and selected Greek women and the role of sexism as her high school senior thesis, I thought reading this would feel like a return to that passion with sharp, witty, and careful dissection and thoughtful research and analysis.
The barely surface level assessment was mired with the author’s personal journey and experiences that were more specific to her and her own emotions than grand societal influences dictated by centuries of Greek history.
The concept of hunger especially was honed in on throughout, which I think is because of the author’s body dysmorphia, fat shaming, and eating disorder history rather than because it features so prominently in Greek mythology. There were so many other themes and tropes that could have been critically examined, such as overall emotions or anger (female wrath as seen in Medusa, scilla, Hera), beauty both as a standard and form of power and manipulation against men (sirens, harpies, Aphrodite), sexual violence and subjugation (rape, Pandora’s box, Persephone), the pitting of women against themselves to assert themselves (Hera, Athena) etc. There are so many huge themes that could have been broke up and assessed, each having a section or chapter devoted to them where source material is introduced and then critically examined. Instead....the focus is narrowly on hunger with examples of actual food quantity consumption which frankly felt uncomfortable (and also talked about men and a study of how they eat even when not hungry?), hunger in the emotional (for affection and validation) and physiological sense as if everything could be boiled down to that singular concept.
The author’s discussion of her marriages felt out of place and didn’t connect to the themes in Greek mythology - for example the importance and expectations placed on the concept of marriage within Greek mythology and how that differs for men and women. It also isn’t clear how her early childhood love and fascination with Greek mythology impacted her life later on, namely through those mental health challenges and in those toxic relationships.
Lastly, this felt like an ode to Madeline Miller’s book Circe, which is referenced (read worshipped) early and often. If this is meant to examine Greek mythology and its influence on our society and culture and by extension the role and treatment of women, ONE female authors’ book focusing on a female Goddess does not convey the message nor is it the hallmark of the systematic dismantling of centuries of misogynistic culture. While it’s great Circe features a female Goddess who overcomes many attempts at subversion and subjugation by men, it ultimately ends in the same way that many Greek stories do, with weird incest and sexuality, so ultimately what is the profound shift that Circe shows us?
While I have no doubt the author’s deeply personal experiences are important and should be shared, they should stand alone instead of being wrapped up in a contrived analysis of Greek mythology and it’s intersection with feminism.
What was pitched as a reflective and deep look at the Greek mythology tropes and legends that have permeated and persisted in our culture and have structurally defined and shaped our perceptions of women came across as a jumbled mess with a lack of structure. This is such a shame because as someone who has been fascinated by Greek mythology since middle school and selected Greek women and the role of sexism as her high school senior thesis, I thought reading this would feel like a return to that passion with sharp, witty, and careful dissection and thoughtful research and analysis.
The barely surface level assessment was mired with the author’s personal journey and experiences that were more specific to her and her own emotions than grand societal influences dictated by centuries of Greek history.
The concept of hunger especially was honed in on throughout, which I think is because of the author’s body dysmorphia, fat shaming, and eating disorder history rather than because it features so prominently in Greek mythology. There were so many other themes and tropes that could have been critically examined, such as overall emotions or anger (female wrath as seen in Medusa, scilla, Hera), beauty both as a standard and form of power and manipulation against men (sirens, harpies, Aphrodite), sexual violence and subjugation (rape, Pandora’s box, Persephone), the pitting of women against themselves to assert themselves (Hera, Athena) etc. There are so many huge themes that could have been broke up and assessed, each having a section or chapter devoted to them where source material is introduced and then critically examined. Instead....the focus is narrowly on hunger with examples of actual food quantity consumption which frankly felt uncomfortable (and also talked about men and a study of how they eat even when not hungry?), hunger in the emotional (for affection and validation) and physiological sense as if everything could be boiled down to that singular concept.
The author’s discussion of her marriages felt out of place and didn’t connect to the themes in Greek mythology - for example the importance and expectations placed on the concept of marriage within Greek mythology and how that differs for men and women. It also isn’t clear how her early childhood love and fascination with Greek mythology impacted her life later on, namely through those mental health challenges and in those toxic relationships.
Lastly, this felt like an ode to Madeline Miller’s book Circe, which is referenced (read worshipped) early and often. If this is meant to examine Greek mythology and its influence on our society and culture and by extension the role and treatment of women, ONE female authors’ book focusing on a female Goddess does not convey the message nor is it the hallmark of the systematic dismantling of centuries of misogynistic culture. While it’s great Circe features a female Goddess who overcomes many attempts at subversion and subjugation by men, it ultimately ends in the same way that many Greek stories do, with weird incest and sexuality, so ultimately what is the profound shift that Circe shows us?
While I have no doubt the author’s deeply personal experiences are important and should be shared, they should stand alone instead of being wrapped up in a contrived analysis of Greek mythology and it’s intersection with feminism.
May 10, 2025
solid feminist nonfiction !
August 1, 2021
TL;DR: I hated this book, which goes wrong on almost every conceivable level. But, I will say, the artwork in it is really nice, so please flip through it for the pretty illustrations by Samira Ingold and then go on to listen to Let's Talk About Myth's Baby!" (for episodes covering not only the stories of certain women/female monsters in mythology and how those symbols echo through time, or Sinister Myth,
which tracks (in part) how mythology words have become code words for literal or figurative violence against women and minorities.
Here is what I will not critique here: I don't think the author is wrong in her opinions. In fact, politically, she and I often share viewpoints. This 1 star is not a knee-jerk reaction against her politics or against her opinions.
Here is what I find problematic, however:
a) I think the book was mismarketed.
b) I think this book is REALLY triggering to people who have certain struggles (namely, if you have an eating disorder or have had one, I'd really recommend you don't read this book).
c) I think the analysis offered was vapid, with some serious and not-so-serious errors that make me think the author's investigation into their "subject material" was pretty cursory at best.
So that's the short version.
which tracks (in part) how mythology words have become code words for literal or figurative violence against women and minorities.
Here is what I will not critique here: I don't think the author is wrong in her opinions. In fact, politically, she and I often share viewpoints. This 1 star is not a knee-jerk reaction against her politics or against her opinions.
Here is what I find problematic, however:
a) I think the book was mismarketed.
b) I think this book is REALLY triggering to people who have certain struggles (namely, if you have an eating disorder or have had one, I'd really recommend you don't read this book).
c) I think the analysis offered was vapid, with some serious and not-so-serious errors that make me think the author's investigation into their "subject material" was pretty cursory at best.
So that's the short version.
March 16, 2023
„Opowieści o potworach rodzaju żeńskiego, istotach za bardzo wulgarnych, za bardzo podstępnych, za bardzo zachłannych, za bardzo bystrych, by im to wyszło na zdrowie, to historie opowiadane przez mężczyzn.“
Dawno nie spotkałam się ze zbiorem feministycznych tekstów, których lekturę uważałabym za faktycznie udany czas. Felietonów, z których wyniosłam coś więcej niż ładne ujęcie w zdania zaledwie wstępu do tematu lub po prostu drażniącej osobowości autorki (aluzja do Solnit).
Jess Zimmerman nie analizuje mitów. Ona opowiada o swoim życiu i swoich spostrzeżeniach odnośnie kobiecości czy ciała, a to wzbogaca postaciami, jakich historie mogą (w jej wersji) odbijać dany problem. Podaje jedną z możliwych (przewrotnych) interpretacji i tak łączy wszystko w autobiograficzne felietony.
I podoba mi się to ogromnie. Nie zawsze się z nią zgadzałam, czy też raczej nie zawsze trafiało do mnie jej ujęcie tematu, ale. To kwestia moich doświadczeń kontra jej, nie wada tekstu samemu w sobie. Bo felietony autorki były dla mnie wspaniałą przygodą, na którą zabrałam ze sobą ogrom znaczników.
Dawno nie spotkałam się ze zbiorem feministycznych tekstów, których lekturę uważałabym za faktycznie udany czas. Felietonów, z których wyniosłam coś więcej niż ładne ujęcie w zdania zaledwie wstępu do tematu lub po prostu drażniącej osobowości autorki (aluzja do Solnit).
Jess Zimmerman nie analizuje mitów. Ona opowiada o swoim życiu i swoich spostrzeżeniach odnośnie kobiecości czy ciała, a to wzbogaca postaciami, jakich historie mogą (w jej wersji) odbijać dany problem. Podaje jedną z możliwych (przewrotnych) interpretacji i tak łączy wszystko w autobiograficzne felietony.
I podoba mi się to ogromnie. Nie zawsze się z nią zgadzałam, czy też raczej nie zawsze trafiało do mnie jej ujęcie tematu, ale. To kwestia moich doświadczeń kontra jej, nie wada tekstu samemu w sobie. Bo felietony autorki były dla mnie wspaniałą przygodą, na którą zabrałam ze sobą ogrom znaczników.
June 21, 2021
This book was marketed so wrong, I thought it was about the mythology of monsters and monstrous women, but it is more like a woke twitter post with anecdotes about the author's life with a brief mention of the actual mythology.
March 12, 2021
2.5 stars
Before you look at the rating and go yikes, I'd love to point out that this low rating is 100% a "me" problem and not the fault of the book. It was a lot of little things that came together (or didn't come together) that prevented me from enjoying it.
I don't have too much to say about this one, so this review is going to be short.
Overall, I think that if you're coming to this text with any prior knowledge of the subject matter, you're not going to learn a lot of new things—topics of female representation in the classic Greek myths and other Western standards are covered, but in an introductory way that I often found myself nodding and go, "yes, now what else? What is the new angle here?"
I also was surprised to find that this book was a much more personalized narrative that focused on the author's life experiences, thoughts, and personal insertions. This was done well, if you enjoy that kind of nonfiction, but I was confused by the level of author-insertion to this work. When you're here for the myths and their analysis of how they represent the ways we place monstrous traits on women in different contexts, its a little ??? to then receive a lot of personal anecdotes of the one cis/white woman behind the curtain as opposed to a more zoomed-out approach to larger groups of women.
Again, would really like to stress that all of my above notes are not criticisms of the work as a standard, but more so why I personally could not get into it. If you are interested in the subject matter and my gripes sounded like positives, definitely check this one out!
Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for my audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Blog | Instagram
Before you look at the rating and go yikes, I'd love to point out that this low rating is 100% a "me" problem and not the fault of the book. It was a lot of little things that came together (or didn't come together) that prevented me from enjoying it.
I don't have too much to say about this one, so this review is going to be short.
Overall, I think that if you're coming to this text with any prior knowledge of the subject matter, you're not going to learn a lot of new things—topics of female representation in the classic Greek myths and other Western standards are covered, but in an introductory way that I often found myself nodding and go, "yes, now what else? What is the new angle here?"
I also was surprised to find that this book was a much more personalized narrative that focused on the author's life experiences, thoughts, and personal insertions. This was done well, if you enjoy that kind of nonfiction, but I was confused by the level of author-insertion to this work. When you're here for the myths and their analysis of how they represent the ways we place monstrous traits on women in different contexts, its a little ??? to then receive a lot of personal anecdotes of the one cis/white woman behind the curtain as opposed to a more zoomed-out approach to larger groups of women.
Again, would really like to stress that all of my above notes are not criticisms of the work as a standard, but more so why I personally could not get into it. If you are interested in the subject matter and my gripes sounded like positives, definitely check this one out!
Thank you to Libro.fm and the publisher for my audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
Blog | Instagram
January 29, 2024
Nie rozumiem komentarzy i ostrzeżeń, że książka Zimmerman jest źle reklamowana, bo wcale nie jest o mitologii. Przecież jest. Autorka analizuje w perspektywie feministycznej postaci potwór z greckiej i rzymskiej mitologii, tj. ukazując, jakie patriarchalne dyskursy kryją się pod mitycznymi metaforami. Przywołuje wiele opracowań, od Homera po Owidiusza, przedstawia różne wersje i wyjaśnienia, powiązania pomiędzy postaciami mitycznymi.
Ale ta książka nie jest tylko o tym. Mit stanowi podstawę do snucia refleksji nad współczesnym działaniem tych samych patriarchalnych dyskursów, które wyprodukowały Meduzę, Chimerę czy syreny, często z autobiograficznym zacięciem. Zaprezentowane tu eseje są inteligentne, celne, erudycyjne, wnikliwe i szczere. Zimmerman mówi o pułapce kobiecości w patriarchacie, o tym, kto zyskuje na naszym poczuciu wstydu, potworności i niedopasowania do niemożliwych do osiągnięcia ideałów, o społecznej separacji kobiet wobec siebie, o doświadczeniu dziewczyny/kobiety nie dość ładnej, by kiedykolwiek czuć się dobrze sama ze sobą i o wielu innych problemach, które doświadczają kobiety we współczesnym społeczeństwie. Zauważa, jak łatwo zostać okrzykniętą czymś potwornym, kiedy jest się kobietą, bo "potwory rodzą się z różnicy między tym, jakie mamy być, a tym, jakie jesteśmy": za grube, za chude, za niskie, za wysokie, za dobrze wykształcone, za głupie, zbyt ambitne, leniwe, bezdzietne, mamy za dużo dzieci albo mamy mało, ale za bardzo... Problemy można mnożyć, wystarczy przeskrolować Twitter przez 15 minut, żeby zobaczyć monstrualizację kobiet w działaniu.
Według Zimmerman figura potwory niesie w sobie wielki wywrotowy potencjał. Potwora jest tym, co rzuca wyzwanie. A skoro świat jest tak dogłębnie niesprawiedliwy i spierdolony, można go tylko podważać. Zaakceptować własną potworność. Zrobić z niej broń przeciwko herosom patriarchatu, wyzysku, rasizmu, transfobii, homofobii.
To, o czym Zimmerman pisze, nie jest niczym nowym. Każde z tych zagadnień było już wałkowane w teorii feministycznej. Siłą tej książki jest odniesienia do doświadczenia. Poza tym, dobrze jest mieć takie feministyczne abecadło zebrane w jednym miejscu. Czy dowiedziałam się czegoś nowego? Poznałam Zimmerman i jej doświadczenie, z którym mam wiele wspólnego. Teorię i mitologię znałam wcześniej. Ale i tak uważam, że czas poświęcony na lekturę nie został zmarnowany, bo czytanie tej książki jest jak wymiana porozumiewawczego spojrzenia z inną kobietą w sytuacji, którą określam jako Mężczyzna Mówi: w oczywisty sposób pierdoli głupoty, ale nie można mu przerwać i jedyne, co ratuje przed utratą poczytalności w tej absurdalnej sytuacji jest znaczące spojrzenie "ty też to słyszysz, prawda? nie odbija mi?". Zimmerman daje mi poczucie poczytalności w świecie, w którym występuje postępujący deficyt zdrowia psychicznego.
Ale ta książka nie jest tylko o tym. Mit stanowi podstawę do snucia refleksji nad współczesnym działaniem tych samych patriarchalnych dyskursów, które wyprodukowały Meduzę, Chimerę czy syreny, często z autobiograficznym zacięciem. Zaprezentowane tu eseje są inteligentne, celne, erudycyjne, wnikliwe i szczere. Zimmerman mówi o pułapce kobiecości w patriarchacie, o tym, kto zyskuje na naszym poczuciu wstydu, potworności i niedopasowania do niemożliwych do osiągnięcia ideałów, o społecznej separacji kobiet wobec siebie, o doświadczeniu dziewczyny/kobiety nie dość ładnej, by kiedykolwiek czuć się dobrze sama ze sobą i o wielu innych problemach, które doświadczają kobiety we współczesnym społeczeństwie. Zauważa, jak łatwo zostać okrzykniętą czymś potwornym, kiedy jest się kobietą, bo "potwory rodzą się z różnicy między tym, jakie mamy być, a tym, jakie jesteśmy": za grube, za chude, za niskie, za wysokie, za dobrze wykształcone, za głupie, zbyt ambitne, leniwe, bezdzietne, mamy za dużo dzieci albo mamy mało, ale za bardzo... Problemy można mnożyć, wystarczy przeskrolować Twitter przez 15 minut, żeby zobaczyć monstrualizację kobiet w działaniu.
Według Zimmerman figura potwory niesie w sobie wielki wywrotowy potencjał. Potwora jest tym, co rzuca wyzwanie. A skoro świat jest tak dogłębnie niesprawiedliwy i spierdolony, można go tylko podważać. Zaakceptować własną potworność. Zrobić z niej broń przeciwko herosom patriarchatu, wyzysku, rasizmu, transfobii, homofobii.
To, o czym Zimmerman pisze, nie jest niczym nowym. Każde z tych zagadnień było już wałkowane w teorii feministycznej. Siłą tej książki jest odniesienia do doświadczenia. Poza tym, dobrze jest mieć takie feministyczne abecadło zebrane w jednym miejscu. Czy dowiedziałam się czegoś nowego? Poznałam Zimmerman i jej doświadczenie, z którym mam wiele wspólnego. Teorię i mitologię znałam wcześniej. Ale i tak uważam, że czas poświęcony na lekturę nie został zmarnowany, bo czytanie tej książki jest jak wymiana porozumiewawczego spojrzenia z inną kobietą w sytuacji, którą określam jako Mężczyzna Mówi: w oczywisty sposób pierdoli głupoty, ale nie można mu przerwać i jedyne, co ratuje przed utratą poczytalności w tej absurdalnej sytuacji jest znaczące spojrzenie "ty też to słyszysz, prawda? nie odbija mi?". Zimmerman daje mi poczucie poczytalności w świecie, w którym występuje postępujący deficyt zdrowia psychicznego.
February 13, 2021
I saw "women", "monsters", and "Medusa" and I was sold so I went into this not knowing what to expect exactly, which is my own fault but also... what a find! If you're a lover of mythology (Um.... yes and my favorite "monsters" were always the gorgons...) and want a look at female monsters through a mythological feminist journey.... well here you have it. Full disclosure - feminist reads aren't really my thing. No, this doesn't make me any less of a woman, whatever that's supposed to mean. There were a lot of FUCK YEAH moments in reading this and I loved the journey via mythology to make it even MORE interesting. But sometimes I was also like, ok ok.. enough. Back to the monsters.. um hello.. Hydra? Chimera? Medusa? Hello?
If you're going to write me in as a character for your book, please make me the more interesting *monster* version please. I certainly don't fall within the bounds of natural femininity and if that's what makes me a monster, then SO ABSOLUTELY BE IT. I'm hungry. Time to hunt.
If you're going to write me in as a character for your book, please make me the more interesting *monster* version please. I certainly don't fall within the bounds of natural femininity and if that's what makes me a monster, then SO ABSOLUTELY BE IT. I'm hungry. Time to hunt.
February 10, 2021
Thank you so much to Jess Zimmerman, Beacon Press, and Libro.fm for my ALC of Women and Other Monsters. This book talks about folklore and how it shapes our current culture of fear of powerful women. Women who want success, love, lust, or get angry are not “normal”. Women are expected to diminish themselves to make men feel more comfortable. Zimmerman analizes monsters such as the Harpies and Medusa and compares and contrasts them to women and their relationships with their bodies, race, beauty, and even twitter trolls.
Thoughts: I loved how relevant and relatable this book was. I found myself thinking YES GIRL almost the entire time. She is candid in the best way, talking about everything from how you never see ugly girls in the media to the way our most recent ex-president treated women as objects. I like the way she showed sometimes there is no winning. If you choose not to have children, you’re wrong. If you choose to have a child and work, you’re wrong. Women are put in a difficult position just because they are women. And we’re not even supposed to be angry about it, because it’s not feminine.
Zimmerman called out the sexism, ageism, racism, homophobia, and other harmful parts of our society that diminish women, specifically women of color. She speaks on the gender gaps in our society and the implicit bias many have against women and their opinions. I loved her fearless writing and important points on what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a monster, and how sometimes, you can be both. 4-stars.
Thoughts: I loved how relevant and relatable this book was. I found myself thinking YES GIRL almost the entire time. She is candid in the best way, talking about everything from how you never see ugly girls in the media to the way our most recent ex-president treated women as objects. I like the way she showed sometimes there is no winning. If you choose not to have children, you’re wrong. If you choose to have a child and work, you’re wrong. Women are put in a difficult position just because they are women. And we’re not even supposed to be angry about it, because it’s not feminine.
Zimmerman called out the sexism, ageism, racism, homophobia, and other harmful parts of our society that diminish women, specifically women of color. She speaks on the gender gaps in our society and the implicit bias many have against women and their opinions. I loved her fearless writing and important points on what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a monster, and how sometimes, you can be both. 4-stars.
February 7, 2021
Jess Zimmerman’s Women And Other Monsters is a fresh analysis of female monsters from Greek mythology mixed with memoir-ish glimpses into the author’s life and experiences that will likely resonate with many women and people who have experienced being treated societally as female at some point in their lives. Zimmerman’s tone was approachable, funny, and vulnerable. I really appreciated her openness; she’s quite candid about her thoughts, inner struggles, and past experiences, however uncomfortable.
There were a few parts where I thought the conclusions drawn felt a bit stretched or perhaps only really applicable to some portion of Zimmerman’s larger definition of “women.” I think, however, that this is inevitable to some degree when trying to draw any kind of conclusions for as diverse a group as her broadly defined “women.”
Overall, this was a great read that really left an impression! I’m currently writing a book that involves a monster from folklore, and the relationship between mythology/folklore and the roles women often play in these stories has been on my mind a lot lately. This has given me a lot to think about. Huge thank you to Libro FM & Beacon Press for a free advanced listeners copy.
There were a few parts where I thought the conclusions drawn felt a bit stretched or perhaps only really applicable to some portion of Zimmerman’s larger definition of “women.” I think, however, that this is inevitable to some degree when trying to draw any kind of conclusions for as diverse a group as her broadly defined “women.”
Overall, this was a great read that really left an impression! I’m currently writing a book that involves a monster from folklore, and the relationship between mythology/folklore and the roles women often play in these stories has been on my mind a lot lately. This has given me a lot to think about. Huge thank you to Libro FM & Beacon Press for a free advanced listeners copy.
June 14, 2021
I'm going to give this book 4.5 stars
Imagine picking up a book, after a horrible reading slump, no less and saying " whoa, that's me!" whenever the author described something so terrible, so insecure and self - doubting and then going to bed with that.
Body image issues? Check
Intellectual Insecurity? Check
Trying to appear unrapeable? Check
Trying to appear non - threatening in meetings to avoid arousing male anger? Check
Trying really, really hard to get the other girls to like me? Check
Do women go to the same school of life regardless of circumstance? Yes, yes they do.
This reminds me of the ridiculous book written by Justin Baldoni. I don't remember the name, wherein he identifies as a feminist, but does not believe that aggressive action is necessary. He simply urges other men to be kinder to women and "consciously do better by the females in their lives."
Feminism is the movement against the SYSTEMIC discrimination against women, and it can't be made more obvious than women the world over being made to feel the same about their sexuality, their gender, their presentation.
Sir, it is kind of you to condescend to us, but all we want is fair wage, bodily autonomy and acknowledgement as human beings.
He's going to have to make us a pretty powerful vision board and send all his good vibes and intentions that-aways.
No matter how rich, poor, pretty or not: we have all tried to make ourselves as small as possible to avoid being taken too much note of.
Being a young, mixed - race, Muslim, hijabi professional from a middle- classed background, don't even get me started. I unfortunately experienced this at the hands of my female colleagues. I was "loud" because of my mother's race, liberal too. I didn't fit in. I really wasn't as pretty as I thought I was ( I didn't perceive myself as pretty or not pretty at age 12- and then it was all I could think about).
My surname was weird ( everyone in the community school was ridiculously related to each other), so I got to be the sacrifice for and to the collective.
I wore the hijab to make everybody else look bad. Why did I think I was so much better than everybody else when I was so different?
This is either going to be my villain origin story or my catapult to greatness.
We need to ask ourselves how we can erase these " rites of passage " that we allow young women to go through, without support, without guidance and without solidarity. Am I blaming women for this? Absolutely not.
I'm simply thinking about how we can shout even louder, how we truly take ownership and provide comfort to each other without giving any ground to those against the liberation and empowerment of women. I'm also thinking about how exhausting it is.
I adored the parallels between monsters and women, I thought it was fresh. I thought it was vibrant. It made just TOO much sense to me.
Imagine picking up a book, after a horrible reading slump, no less and saying " whoa, that's me!" whenever the author described something so terrible, so insecure and self - doubting and then going to bed with that.
Body image issues? Check
Intellectual Insecurity? Check
Trying to appear unrapeable? Check
Trying to appear non - threatening in meetings to avoid arousing male anger? Check
Trying really, really hard to get the other girls to like me? Check
Do women go to the same school of life regardless of circumstance? Yes, yes they do.
This reminds me of the ridiculous book written by Justin Baldoni. I don't remember the name, wherein he identifies as a feminist, but does not believe that aggressive action is necessary. He simply urges other men to be kinder to women and "consciously do better by the females in their lives."
Feminism is the movement against the SYSTEMIC discrimination against women, and it can't be made more obvious than women the world over being made to feel the same about their sexuality, their gender, their presentation.
Sir, it is kind of you to condescend to us, but all we want is fair wage, bodily autonomy and acknowledgement as human beings.
He's going to have to make us a pretty powerful vision board and send all his good vibes and intentions that-aways.
No matter how rich, poor, pretty or not: we have all tried to make ourselves as small as possible to avoid being taken too much note of.
Being a young, mixed - race, Muslim, hijabi professional from a middle- classed background, don't even get me started. I unfortunately experienced this at the hands of my female colleagues. I was "loud" because of my mother's race, liberal too. I didn't fit in. I really wasn't as pretty as I thought I was ( I didn't perceive myself as pretty or not pretty at age 12- and then it was all I could think about).
My surname was weird ( everyone in the community school was ridiculously related to each other), so I got to be the sacrifice for and to the collective.
I wore the hijab to make everybody else look bad. Why did I think I was so much better than everybody else when I was so different?
This is either going to be my villain origin story or my catapult to greatness.
We need to ask ourselves how we can erase these " rites of passage " that we allow young women to go through, without support, without guidance and without solidarity. Am I blaming women for this? Absolutely not.
I'm simply thinking about how we can shout even louder, how we truly take ownership and provide comfort to each other without giving any ground to those against the liberation and empowerment of women. I'm also thinking about how exhausting it is.
I adored the parallels between monsters and women, I thought it was fresh. I thought it was vibrant. It made just TOO much sense to me.
April 29, 2021
I absolutely love this criticism of how society perceives women. The book is a mix of memoir and mythology, the author relates her life experience that fit into the motif of Monsters. The author explains that based off the way society looks at women and women's expectations in society reflects that in society's eyes any woman with a voice is a monster.
March 23, 2021
I listened to this on Libro.fm, and found it so relatable. It put into words so many things I think about and feel on a daily basis.
September 21, 2021
I'm so disappointed.
This book is a rambling, repetitive mess of justified anger but no action. The author constantly reminds you 1) that she's "ugly" and "fat" and 2) about things she's already established (yes, you already said it was Athena who cursed Medusa; you don't need to state so in a parenthetical every time you mention Athena's name).
Most disappointing, though, was the basis of the book's theme using Greek mythology. She primarily uses Ovid as a myth source, but he was a Roman writer centuries after the Classical Greek period. Using Ovid for Greek mythology is like using the Grimm brothers (whom she also sources) for all European fairytales. Those particular authors were often severely removed from the original story contexts and are notorious for adding their own interpretations and ideals.
I get that the author wanted to focus on how modern society at large views the stories, and in that case it wouldn't have been a problem to use Ovid and the Grimms because they are arguably the most popular. But those sources and the way she words her descriptions reveal her extremely shallow research.
The tagline for her book is "Building a New Mythology," but she doesn't include the myriad ways these monsters have been used for exactly that purpose for millennia. She points out that ancient Greeks used the symbol of Medusa on shields to terrify the enemy and on doors to scare away intruders, but she mixes up that Medusa with Ovid's. She doesn't discuss how women used the symbol in the domestic space, or how Athena's* "curse**" could and has been re-interpreted as a blessing to protect Medusa from men's lustful gazes (which literally would have fit into the author's entire thesis).
*In fact Minerva's curse; Roman and Greek gods are not the same, and the whole rape/curse addition is entirely Ovid's and not original to Greek myth.
**which the author demonizes in an effort to show how Athena, born from Zeus' thigh and not from a womb, is such an evil anti-woman figure O_O
This book is a rambling, repetitive mess of justified anger but no action. The author constantly reminds you 1) that she's "ugly" and "fat" and 2) about things she's already established (yes, you already said it was Athena who cursed Medusa; you don't need to state so in a parenthetical every time you mention Athena's name).
Most disappointing, though, was the basis of the book's theme using Greek mythology. She primarily uses Ovid as a myth source, but he was a Roman writer centuries after the Classical Greek period. Using Ovid for Greek mythology is like using the Grimm brothers (whom she also sources) for all European fairytales. Those particular authors were often severely removed from the original story contexts and are notorious for adding their own interpretations and ideals.
I get that the author wanted to focus on how modern society at large views the stories, and in that case it wouldn't have been a problem to use Ovid and the Grimms because they are arguably the most popular. But those sources and the way she words her descriptions reveal her extremely shallow research.
The tagline for her book is "Building a New Mythology," but she doesn't include the myriad ways these monsters have been used for exactly that purpose for millennia. She points out that ancient Greeks used the symbol of Medusa on shields to terrify the enemy and on doors to scare away intruders, but she mixes up that Medusa with Ovid's. She doesn't discuss how women used the symbol in the domestic space, or how Athena's* "curse**" could and has been re-interpreted as a blessing to protect Medusa from men's lustful gazes (which literally would have fit into the author's entire thesis).
*In fact Minerva's curse; Roman and Greek gods are not the same, and the whole rape/curse addition is entirely Ovid's and not original to Greek myth.
**which the author demonizes in an effort to show how Athena, born from Zeus' thigh and not from a womb, is such an evil anti-woman figure O_O
July 8, 2024
Terminata la lettura del testo di Zimmerman è davvero difficile capire cosa pensare a riguardo, perché – capitolo dopo capitolo – si innesta nel lettore un misto di frustrazione e delusione. Il titolo del saggio e la sua introduzione sono tremendamente fuorvianti. Ci si avvicina al testo attirati dalla trattazione della mitologia greca, affascinati da quelle figure liminari che si aggirano tra il mondo reale e il sovrannaturale, nascoste nell’ombra e pronte a difendersi ad ogni costo dalla violenza di un mondo che non vuole accettarle, che non può farlo, e che farà di tutto per distruggerle, cancellarle per sempre dalla faccia della terra.
Entusiasti per la particolarità del tema, ci si immerge nella lettura e – sin dall’inizio – si scopre che tutto quello che ci aspettavamo, il vero motivo per il quale abbiamo scelto questo libro, rimane sulla superficie della pagina, un mero pretesto per una narrazione autobiografica legata alla attualità. Le figure mitologiche, quelle donne mostro che l’autrice prende ad esempio e dalle quali cerca di imparare un nuovo modo di esistere e di essere, vengono citate qui e là superficialmente, attraverso una serie di fonti classiche mai approfondite ed esaminate e del tutto arbitrarie.
Sin dall’inizio del testo, l’autrice vuole solo parlarci della sua vita, dei suoi traumi, delle difficoltà attraversate ad accettare il proprio corpo, i propri desideri, le proprie necessità e nasconde questo bisogno dietro un oggetto chiaro e definito, quasi che – parlare di sé, prendere in esame la propria esistenza, passarla al setaccio alla ricerca di risposte – sia qualcosa di vergognoso, di inattendibile, che non meriti l’attenzione di un pubblico vasto e interessato.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
Entusiasti per la particolarità del tema, ci si immerge nella lettura e – sin dall’inizio – si scopre che tutto quello che ci aspettavamo, il vero motivo per il quale abbiamo scelto questo libro, rimane sulla superficie della pagina, un mero pretesto per una narrazione autobiografica legata alla attualità. Le figure mitologiche, quelle donne mostro che l’autrice prende ad esempio e dalle quali cerca di imparare un nuovo modo di esistere e di essere, vengono citate qui e là superficialmente, attraverso una serie di fonti classiche mai approfondite ed esaminate e del tutto arbitrarie.
Sin dall’inizio del testo, l’autrice vuole solo parlarci della sua vita, dei suoi traumi, delle difficoltà attraversate ad accettare il proprio corpo, i propri desideri, le proprie necessità e nasconde questo bisogno dietro un oggetto chiaro e definito, quasi che – parlare di sé, prendere in esame la propria esistenza, passarla al setaccio alla ricerca di risposte – sia qualcosa di vergognoso, di inattendibile, che non meriti l’attenzione di un pubblico vasto e interessato.
Continua a leggere qui: https://parlaredilibri.wordpress.com/...
April 21, 2021
It's largely my own fault that I didn't enjoy this book. A) I should have read the goodreads reviews beforehand and B) I was told explicitly in the introduction that this book wasn't written for me (which is completely fair). I do think that the publisher's description begs for disappointment. This book is 80% memoirs and 20% literary criticism of ancient mythology through a feminist lens. Based on the book jacket, I was expecting (and hoping for) 100% of the latter.
I have no problem with a book that balances memoirs with historical nonfiction. "Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller, for example, uses both genres quite effectively. I do think there needs to be an equal distribution to make it work. Too much of one or the other and you are left wondering why the minimized genre was even there in the first place. That's what happened here. I think if these were feminist memoirs on their own, and I knew that going into the book, I would have enjoyed this more.
All that being said - I am a cis male so, again, this book was not written for me and is very likely much more engaging for someone that has identified, or been perceived, as female. I didn't write this review to convince you not to read the book, just to explain my lukewarm rating.
I have no problem with a book that balances memoirs with historical nonfiction. "Why Fish Don't Exist" by Lulu Miller, for example, uses both genres quite effectively. I do think there needs to be an equal distribution to make it work. Too much of one or the other and you are left wondering why the minimized genre was even there in the first place. That's what happened here. I think if these were feminist memoirs on their own, and I knew that going into the book, I would have enjoyed this more.
All that being said - I am a cis male so, again, this book was not written for me and is very likely much more engaging for someone that has identified, or been perceived, as female. I didn't write this review to convince you not to read the book, just to explain my lukewarm rating.
September 8, 2021
I was really excited to read this. I love Greek Mythology and the idea of relating the most well known monsters to feminism was a great concept BUT this was a terrible execution. The author’s self loathing was tedious and unbearable. There’s hardly anything about Greek myths but way too much about how ugly she thinks she is and her lineup of toxic relationships. All her takes on feminism were just generic regurgitations devoid of any original thought. It seemed like an opportunity for the author to virtue signal and show everyone that she’s read all the relevant Buzzfeed articles, she’s hip, she’s with it, she was a goth girl, and owned the D’Aulaires children’s mythology book as a kid. The incorporation of the monsters was shallow and dull. She hated herself, I hated her, I hated her shitty book, I hate myself for sticking it out to the end. Avoid and read literally anything by Madeline Miller instead.
March 17, 2025
A friend lent this book to me, and I’m so glad she did. Because I rarely read essays, I probably never would have picked up this book on my own.
Even from the very beginning with the note to the reader, I felt included. Zimmerman writes: “If you were raised and socialized as a girl, if the people around you tried to prepare you from an early age for life as a woman, this book is for you, even if you turned out not to be a woman after all” (ix). So often do trans men get forgotten in the sphere of the female experience. Socialization shapes the way you think and the way you treat other people. Therefore, even though trans men no longer identify as female, we are still deeply connected to the female experience. I appreciated that Zimmerman recognized that. Even more so that she also acknowledged trans women because they get the short end of the stick even more than trans men. If anything, trans men experience a sort of relief of being able to escape from the confines of misogyny upon transitioning. Trans women, on the other hand, find themselves in a pit that they hadn’t realized they were in, left unprepared on how to handle it because they haven’t been socialized as such. Women are raised to expect and sometimes even want subservience, and that is a hard pill to swallow, especially for a woman that is already facing intense transphobia and violence against queer people.
Ultimately, I am grateful for Zimmerman’s thoughtfulness of making an effort to include as many readers as she can, making sure to discuss the rules of ableism and the variety of experience derived from intersectionality.
Zimmerman’s comparisons of monsters to the current political climate and how we need to react similarly to such monsters or at least mimic them in their weaponized ugliness, their never ending hunger, their poisonous independence, their reclaimed solidarity, and their ability to recognize the true enemy is something truly powerful. It reminds me of all the ways that I am influenced by and even unintentionally maintain patriarchal values. I need to stop attaching beauty standards to inherent worth, and I need to remember how the story gets flipped to villainize the victim. It’s so easy to fall into a pre constructed narrative, but because it’s easy, one should question it even more.
These essays were so well thought out, and I will be pursuing more of Zimmerman’s writing.
Even from the very beginning with the note to the reader, I felt included. Zimmerman writes: “If you were raised and socialized as a girl, if the people around you tried to prepare you from an early age for life as a woman, this book is for you, even if you turned out not to be a woman after all” (ix). So often do trans men get forgotten in the sphere of the female experience. Socialization shapes the way you think and the way you treat other people. Therefore, even though trans men no longer identify as female, we are still deeply connected to the female experience. I appreciated that Zimmerman recognized that. Even more so that she also acknowledged trans women because they get the short end of the stick even more than trans men. If anything, trans men experience a sort of relief of being able to escape from the confines of misogyny upon transitioning. Trans women, on the other hand, find themselves in a pit that they hadn’t realized they were in, left unprepared on how to handle it because they haven’t been socialized as such. Women are raised to expect and sometimes even want subservience, and that is a hard pill to swallow, especially for a woman that is already facing intense transphobia and violence against queer people.
Ultimately, I am grateful for Zimmerman’s thoughtfulness of making an effort to include as many readers as she can, making sure to discuss the rules of ableism and the variety of experience derived from intersectionality.
Zimmerman’s comparisons of monsters to the current political climate and how we need to react similarly to such monsters or at least mimic them in their weaponized ugliness, their never ending hunger, their poisonous independence, their reclaimed solidarity, and their ability to recognize the true enemy is something truly powerful. It reminds me of all the ways that I am influenced by and even unintentionally maintain patriarchal values. I need to stop attaching beauty standards to inherent worth, and I need to remember how the story gets flipped to villainize the victim. It’s so easy to fall into a pre constructed narrative, but because it’s easy, one should question it even more.
These essays were so well thought out, and I will be pursuing more of Zimmerman’s writing.
August 27, 2021
This is not the kind of book I ordinarily read. I must have read a recommendation and put it on my wish list and my daughter bought it for me. Otherwise, I probably would not have purchased or read it. It is from the genre of feminist literature. It is s series of essays, very personal (sometimes too personal) but it is extremely well written and Zimmerman makes some very pertinent points in terms of the way that women have been viewed historically. Having read The Odyssey many years ago, I was familiar with the monsters and other impediments which kept Odysseus away from home for so many years. I did not think too much of the prevalence of women among those "impediments" but it turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that women were demonized in mythology as they have been throughout history.
Zimmerman believes that it is time to write a new mythology recognizing the strength of women without their demonization. It is an admirable goal and explained a lot to me about why, for example the sirens might have been seeking out sailors approaching their shore, and even the back story of the Harpies.
As previously stated, it was very well written by a very gifted intellect.
Zimmerman believes that it is time to write a new mythology recognizing the strength of women without their demonization. It is an admirable goal and explained a lot to me about why, for example the sirens might have been seeking out sailors approaching their shore, and even the back story of the Harpies.
As previously stated, it was very well written by a very gifted intellect.
June 3, 2021
I think this may end up being one of my favorite books of 2021.
Looking back to the female monsters of Classical antiquity, Jess Zimmerman skillfully weaves mythology, personal essay, and a larger sociological perspective together to create a sort of hybrid study of womanhood in its many forms, a fusion that is not unlike the monsters she analyzes in its pages.
Medusa’s ugliness, so intense it turns viewers to stone. Charybdis’ unquenchable hunger for destruction. The many incongruous heads of Chimera. The hideous Furies and their implacable quest for justice. Each of these monsters (and others) embody the fraught expectations of womanhood—a refusal to adhere to conventional beauty standards; ambitions that make men uncomfortable; complex personalities that don’t fit in a tiny, pre-made box; a desire for justice that threatens the comfortable status quo—and each of them is a negative allegory that can be reclaimed, if we embrace the monstrous parts of ourselves and retell the story in a new way.
Zimmerman is also inclusive in her definition of womanhood, expanding it to encompass anyone who has been held to the demands and diminishment of patriarchy and been found wanting.
Looking back to the female monsters of Classical antiquity, Jess Zimmerman skillfully weaves mythology, personal essay, and a larger sociological perspective together to create a sort of hybrid study of womanhood in its many forms, a fusion that is not unlike the monsters she analyzes in its pages.
Medusa’s ugliness, so intense it turns viewers to stone. Charybdis’ unquenchable hunger for destruction. The many incongruous heads of Chimera. The hideous Furies and their implacable quest for justice. Each of these monsters (and others) embody the fraught expectations of womanhood—a refusal to adhere to conventional beauty standards; ambitions that make men uncomfortable; complex personalities that don’t fit in a tiny, pre-made box; a desire for justice that threatens the comfortable status quo—and each of them is a negative allegory that can be reclaimed, if we embrace the monstrous parts of ourselves and retell the story in a new way.
Zimmerman is also inclusive in her definition of womanhood, expanding it to encompass anyone who has been held to the demands and diminishment of patriarchy and been found wanting.
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August 26, 2024This wasn't a perfect book, but it was perfect for what I needed right now.
There were a lot of lines in here that excellently incapsulated what I needed to hear/be told. The parallels between mythical monsters and what society considers a 'dangerous woman' were really well done and I appreciated how they were talked about.
Some of this book does read very heavily of the author's insecurities so if you're someone that struggles with internalized fatphobia/body-shaming/self-harm, I would be mindful of that going in. They're not pushed by the narrative as okay, but they could still negatively effect someone that's already struggling with certain thoughts.
Also, this goes to show that it's not difficult to write an inclusive feminist book that acknowledges trans/nb people as well. I'm not a member of those communities so I don't know how well it was handled from that perspective, but I did appreciate the author acknowledging that women didn't just refer to ciswomen.
Overall, this was good and it's one I plan to revisit in the future.
There were a lot of lines in here that excellently incapsulated what I needed to hear/be told. The parallels between mythical monsters and what society considers a 'dangerous woman' were really well done and I appreciated how they were talked about.
Some of this book does read very heavily of the author's insecurities so if you're someone that struggles with internalized fatphobia/body-shaming/self-harm, I would be mindful of that going in. They're not pushed by the narrative as okay, but they could still negatively effect someone that's already struggling with certain thoughts.
Also, this goes to show that it's not difficult to write an inclusive feminist book that acknowledges trans/nb people as well. I'm not a member of those communities so I don't know how well it was handled from that perspective, but I did appreciate the author acknowledging that women didn't just refer to ciswomen.
Overall, this was good and it's one I plan to revisit in the future.
September 26, 2022
There is so much to unpack in this book. 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑀𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠: 𝐵𝑢𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐴 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑀𝑦𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑦 offers a feminist analysis of the female monsters from Greek Mythology.
Rather than focusing on what makes women beastly, this book focuses on the beauty in horror, and reclaims their stories.
Beauty standards, female desire, the male gaze, emotional labor, and more are covered in this essential collection of essays, which explores how our we have come to associate these ideals with monstrosity, rather than celebrating them as positive traits. But why are these traits deemed grotesque, why are they not celebrated?
In her collection of feminist essays, Zimmerman reflects on the history of using metaphor in relation to beauty, making beautiful women goddesses and ugly women monstrous, challenging everything we thought we understood about monsters.
We are trained to believe what we have been told—but this book shatters the expectations that have been placed on women for centuries.
Rather than focusing on what makes women beastly, this book focuses on the beauty in horror, and reclaims their stories.
Beauty standards, female desire, the male gaze, emotional labor, and more are covered in this essential collection of essays, which explores how our we have come to associate these ideals with monstrosity, rather than celebrating them as positive traits. But why are these traits deemed grotesque, why are they not celebrated?
In her collection of feminist essays, Zimmerman reflects on the history of using metaphor in relation to beauty, making beautiful women goddesses and ugly women monstrous, challenging everything we thought we understood about monsters.
We are trained to believe what we have been told—but this book shatters the expectations that have been placed on women for centuries.
June 16, 2022
3.5 stars!
Zimmerman dives into how female monsters such as the Harpies and Medusa in mythology have been presented as scary. She discusses how hunger, sexuality, ugliness and ambition have all been presented as undesirable traits for women. But are they really?
I loved the connections that Zimmerman made with how mythology was all written though the male gaze and therefore is skewed. Her commentary on modern feminism was pretty spot on. She goes into body image, sexual harrassment and being honest about our desires without fearing societal repreccusions. I didn’t like how much subject matter was covered, especially when it goes into the aspects that are memoir-like. It just made it feel disorganised at times. While Zimmerman uses mythology as the vessel for her analysis on feminism, some parts of it could have used more of an in-depth connection with the actual mythology. Thanks to @beaconpress and @librofm for my review copy.
Zimmerman dives into how female monsters such as the Harpies and Medusa in mythology have been presented as scary. She discusses how hunger, sexuality, ugliness and ambition have all been presented as undesirable traits for women. But are they really?
I loved the connections that Zimmerman made with how mythology was all written though the male gaze and therefore is skewed. Her commentary on modern feminism was pretty spot on. She goes into body image, sexual harrassment and being honest about our desires without fearing societal repreccusions. I didn’t like how much subject matter was covered, especially when it goes into the aspects that are memoir-like. It just made it feel disorganised at times. While Zimmerman uses mythology as the vessel for her analysis on feminism, some parts of it could have used more of an in-depth connection with the actual mythology. Thanks to @beaconpress and @librofm for my review copy.
August 12, 2021
I LOVED this book!
I received it as a gift, and it’s not something I probably would’ve bought on my own — I don’t normally go for short essay-like writing.
That being said, this book made me feel so many emotions. It’s incredibly relatable and Jess Zimmerman is a brilliant author.
I am super into classics, and this wasn’t focused exclusively on the subject of mythology, which is refreshing. Zimmerman bounces back and forth between talking about an aspect of a mythological creature and how that relates to a modern feminist issue.
It wasn’t repetitive at all, and I learned a lot: both about mythology and modern issues.
Highly recommend giving this a read!
I received it as a gift, and it’s not something I probably would’ve bought on my own — I don’t normally go for short essay-like writing.
That being said, this book made me feel so many emotions. It’s incredibly relatable and Jess Zimmerman is a brilliant author.
I am super into classics, and this wasn’t focused exclusively on the subject of mythology, which is refreshing. Zimmerman bounces back and forth between talking about an aspect of a mythological creature and how that relates to a modern feminist issue.
It wasn’t repetitive at all, and I learned a lot: both about mythology and modern issues.
Highly recommend giving this a read!
July 1, 2023
Feministyczne eseje, w których mityczne potwory: Meduza, Skylla, Charybda, Hydra, Harpie i inne, stają się punktem wyjścia do opowieści o kobietach i kobiecości. Ciekawe, chociaż - jak na mój gust - za dużo tu życia samej autorki.
July 13, 2025
“Dovevo a me stessa almeno quel minimo di affetto.
Ero arrabiata di una rabbia cattiva, meschina e ingiusta, ma anche di una rabbia lucida e cristallina, che mi aiutava a bruciare quello che restava della carne morta, della falsa pelle che avevo abitato così a lungo per piacere agli altri.”
Bello, bello,bello!!
Ero arrabiata di una rabbia cattiva, meschina e ingiusta, ma anche di una rabbia lucida e cristallina, che mi aiutava a bruciare quello che restava della carne morta, della falsa pelle che avevo abitato così a lungo per piacere agli altri.”
Bello, bello,bello!!
March 12, 2022
What a fantastic tapestry of mythology and feminism. Zimmerman's enthusiasm for mythology deftly unpacks the many problematic pieces of the tales and their echoes today.
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