From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge…

Men Explain Things to Me

Rebecca Solnit

Start date: June 22, 2015

Finish date: May 22, 2015

Discussion: Task Ideas/Resources/Discussions

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Free copy of Proximity Factor this July, no reviews required. Just enjoy.
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What Members Thought

Jun 05, 2014 Meg rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2014, kindle-owned, female-pen, gender-and-sexuality

Rebecca Solnit is important to read, and one of my favorite authors. She makes incredible connections between capitalism and misogyny, and just gets it. After years of tuning out to the news because I could no longer handle daily reports from our joke of a media about rape, lost reproductive rights, and the overall ridiculousness of politicians whose success is built on sexism and greed, Solnit actually makes me - dare I say want? - to start paying attention again. Well, not really; I don’t thin Rebecca Solnit is important to read, and one of my favorite authors. She makes incredible connections between capitalism and misogyny, and just gets it. After years of tuning out to the news because I could no longer handle daily reports from our joke of a media about rape, lost reproductive rights, and the overall ridiculousness of politicians whose success is built on sexism and greed, Solnit actually makes me - dare I say want? - to start paying attention again. Well, not really; I don’t think the greatest writer could drag me back in. But Solnit is the sort of cultural critic you’d want your son or daughter to read so that they have an understanding of what faces them as they become adults in this world. And, when there’s too much despair and you’re certain that the future is bleak, she reminds us that we’ve made important advances, even in the face of setbacks:

“It’s a war, but I don’t believe we’re losing it, even if we won’t win it anytime soon either; rather, some battles are won, some are engaged, and some women are doing really well while others suffer.”

I read the title essay several years ago, and the second reading of it was just as powerful. The other essays were new to me. There’s one that centers on Virginia Woolf. “The future is dark, which is the best thing the future can be, I think.” That’s a Woolf quote, but it may as well be a Solnit quote - her writing is as meandering (in the best way), lovely, and vast as Woolf’s. My favorite essay was "Grandmother Spider," which discusses the obliteration of women from the historical record and daily life, so that their nonexistence speaks for itself (in the same way that “men explain things to me”) and places power in the right hands. Despite the fact that our history and its narrative is built on and shaped by this exclusion, “Everyone is influenced by those things that precede formal education, that come out of the blue and out of everyday life. Those excluded influences I call grandmothers.” ...more

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Jul 10, 2016 Cari rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

So important, so enraging. As a naturally pessimistic person, I appreciated the glimmers of hope in a couple of the later essays, but this is ultimately a clear call to action. We have work to do. The only reason it's not a full 5 stars from me is that as a collection it didn't have perfect continuity (I'm getting stingy with my 5-star ratings!). ...more

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Aug 18, 2019 Christina rated it it was amazing

Shelves: feminist, tbr-for-2019

This collection of essays far exceeded my expectations. It is about more then men explaining things, though that “Men Explain Things to Me” essay that opens the book is well placed to open the conversation on the various aspects of a culture that has always been harmful to women. There is a great deal of emphasis on violence against women and a careful analysis of the aspects of culture that foster this environment. I love Solnit’s wit, humor, and absolute unwillingness to not hold back.

There’s ...more

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Feb 03, 2016 Jen rated it really liked it

Important and thought provoking. Certainly helped me articulate the feelings of being a woman in modern society and what still needs to be done. I will probably revisit some of these.

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