The Mother of All Questions in Reading with Style

Mar 15, 2017 Kazen rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

I read Men Explain Things to Me a month ago and I'm happy I was able to follow up so quickly with The Mother of All Questions. It's a continuation of Solnit's previous essay collection with a thankfully more inclusive lens.

The standout essay is A Short History of Silence, about how women are forbidden or prevented from speaking and not heard when they do. It's a truth we hold in our hearts but avoid looking at too closely because man, it hurts.

Being unable to tell your story is a living death an

I read Men Explain Things to Me a month ago and I'm happy I was able to follow up so quickly with The Mother of All Questions. It's a continuation of Solnit's previous essay collection with a thankfully more inclusive lens.

The standout essay is A Short History of Silence, about how women are forbidden or prevented from speaking and not heard when they do. It's a truth we hold in our hearts but avoid looking at too closely because man, it hurts.

Being unable to tell your story is a living death and sometimes a literal one. If no one listens when you say your ex-husband is trying to kill you, if no one believes you when you say you are in pain, if no one hears you when when you say 'help', if you don't dare say 'help', if you have been trained not to bother people by saying 'help'.

My heart aches because I know this. I've seen it, not only with myself and women but other marginalized groups. Others say the stories are 'unbelievable', which as Solnit points out, "means those with power did not want to know, to hear, to believe, did not want them to have voices." I'm happy to see that she recognizes the different and varied challenges faced by people of color, those who are LGBTQ*, and others who were often overlooked in Men Explain Things to Me. Solnit also explores what this hyper-masculine culture means for guys, punishing them for showing "soft" feelings and effectively blunting their emotional range as humans.

Jaw dropping and rage inducing facts abound - rape is the most common form of trauma, but PTSD research is directed at male veterans. "Fight or flight" was largely studied in male rats and humans and women often employ a third, until now unrecognized, option. One reason the gun homicide rate hasn't risen is not because fewer people are getting shot, but because medicine is getting better at saving those who are. In fact more people are getting shot. And on and on.

Luckily Solnit also points out things we can all do. Tell your story if you can, and listen and believe those who are telling you theirs. If someone lobs a sexist inquiry your way reply, "Would you ask a man that question?" Do the intellectual work to not see groups (Muslims, women, poor people, etc.) as monolith entities, for that is the road to believing you can attack any member for the entire group's perceived sins.

Overall The Mother of All Questions is more nuanced and inclusive than its predecessor while still packing an eye opening gut punch. Necessary for the times we live in and a hearty recommend.

Thanks to Haymarket Books and Edelweiss for providing a review copy. ...more

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May 21, 2017 Kathleen (itpdx) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: lwv-book-group, non-fiction

Second reading: It is a good time to reread this as the #metoo movement hits its stride and the backlash gathers. Keep strong.

Solnit has written a powerful and clear modern feminist manifesto. She takes on the interviewer whose author interview focuses on her choice not to have children. Would you follow that line of questions with a male author? She explains silence-who is silenced and how and what the repercussions are. Her essay on rape culture is the clearest explanation that I have read or ...more

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