I am divorced, and a homemaker. It’s weird, my ex is a homemaker and disses me for being a homemaker. I’ve had a few “professionals” say that I am irresponsible for doing this work because it doesn’t pay. Which betrays a bad understanding of finance, because if I was going to hire a cook, a maid, a repair person, a landscaper, a tutor, a nurse, etc for all of the stuff I do, then I would need to have hundreds of thousands of dollars, and basically be employing my own staff. How exactly is that more efficient than me simply doing it all? The only “benefit” being notion of being smug for participating in classism. No thanks!
No matter how they try to spin it, it boils down to a set of toxic cultural traditions which I make perfectly clear are not my traditions, and aren’t going to be. It’s like a bullet-hell video game where I need to keep arguing down thousands upon thousands of ideological zombies, hoping that I eventually fight my way to the spawn point and crash the game.
Fortunately, at least, those kneejerk reactions make it easy to filter out superficial people. The only problem is if you are in such a terrible place that there is no-one else left afterwards,
Yes! Candidate doofus doesn’t need a partner, they just want a Frisky Buffet!
I just want to clarify, that being a housewife is indeed WORK!
When I said I hate working I specifically meant outside the home!
As @Popo_Bawa says, taking on all the hats that are required to be a homemaker means a hell of a lot of work. I just personally find that way more satisfying and fulfilling than sitting at desk all damn day.
I’ve been a goth since I was 15. Filtering out people is something I’m pretty good at.
That is an excellent article. The standout sentence for me was this one:
“Because we live in a culture that sees female pain as normal and male pleasure as a right.”
Boy-howdy, ain’t that the truth.
I once told a boyfriend (after sex) that I was not satisfied by what had just happened. He walked out and never spoke to me again. I was upset for a while, but pretty soon I recognized it for the dodged bullet it was.
This may be a tough read for some, because I know there are some serious Atwood fans on this board.
But I also believe that we need to look at and acknowledge the flaws that our heroes have, and to listen to serious criticism, especially when it comes from those more traditionally marginalised against those with greater power and privilege.
To me, Atwood represents not just white feminism, but WASP feminism, and upper-ish class WASP at that. She doesn’t do working class well (compare to Alice Munroe, or Michael Ondaatje). She doesn’t do Canadian-but-not-WASP well (compare to Nia Vardalos, or Ondaatje again). And, of course, she doesn’t write POC well, if she writes them at all.
And you know what? That’s okay. It’s unfair to expect one person to capture so many characters outside her experience. There is nothing wrong with specialising.
Except, of course, that Atwood gets held up as The Voice of Canadian Feminism, which was a BS title to begin with.
She’s an excellent writer and feminist who deserves accolades, awards, the TV and film adaptations, etc. etc. But she shouldn’t be such a monolithic figure on the Canadian literary and social landscape.
I have been shut down for offering a much milder version of this opinion when I was in university. Studying Atwood was always weird, because it was more like an old-fashioned appreciation class than the usual literary criticism, where students are allowed to say things like, “I understand why this book is on the curriculum but I didn’t like it, and here’s why.”
I was warned as an unpublished fiction writer attending workshops never to say anything bad about Atwood.
I still believe a less adoring consideration of her work would be more respectful than this notion it’s daring to say anything which contradicts her. She’s written multiple dystopias, for pity’s sakes.
Well, I was never a huge Atwood fan to start with, but I know that there are a few people on this board who are.
And I know it’s hard when an admired person gets criticised. But I also thought that this was an important thing to highlight and amplify. It’s very easy for me to fall into the trap of thinking that because something seems good for the group I belong to, that it’s good for all. But wanti things to be good enough for me (in my largely privileged bubble) isn’t good enough.
Sometimes it’s good to say “wow, I had a huge blindspot. Maybe I should pay more attention before I drive over someone standing in it.”
I totally agree, but let’s face it, there are certain people and things, definitely in Canada but elsewhere too, which you Do Not Criticise.
I’m thrilled (and yes also scared, but overall thrilled) that this seems to be changing.
My only caveat is that I hope this doesn’t turn into “My Hero Isn’t Perfect So Now They’re Dead to Me”, because then the only ones that will be left are the unexamined and the phonies.
I agree. Just as crucial I think is having criticism be actual critique - discussion teasing out the nuance of to what extent aspects of a person’s ideology or work may or not be helping. And resisting the temptation to simply pass cursory judgement. Everyone has something to them of worth, just as everyone has room for learning and improvement. But finding the baby for the bathwater can (and should) at times lead to some introspection which may at times be awkward or uncomfortable.
It is not a free pass to acknowledge that each person is a product of their environment, it is a necessity for placing their work in context.
She may be super white but Margaret Atwood rocks my world. Her poems are divine. Was so excited to have them quote in The Handmaid’s Tale one of my favorite poems of hers. I recited it out loud at Offred thought it.
I am currently reading The Heart Goes Last. And I like it… but man, she cannot write men, at least not this guy. Which is weird, cuz Alias Grace was AMAZING and the men in that were fantastic! (I’ve yet to watch the show I wanted to read it first, but also she had historical sources for that one so maybe thats why its so good?)
I think she, like all WASPy Feminists (myself included) deserve all the scrutiny we get! Its her double-downing and defensive responses that are so disappointing. She’s an excellent writer and she writes tales about women so well. But as @gadgetgirl said, its only certain types of women. And thats ok. Those stories should be told too. But, they are not the be all and end all of Canadian Literature.
This isn’t make much news outside of Toronto, but her and her husband are leading a NIMBY charge to prevent a developer from building a condo in her neighbourhood. And OMG that more than anything has polarized the love/hate Atwood lines in Toronto. If Toronto is good at one thing, its NIMBYism, and also hating NIMBYism. We’re a complicated people. LOL
This book needs to jump ahead in my reading stack. I have been told by many people to read this book, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.
Yep. When I was reading The Handmaid’s Tale, I found the book very feminine so it was hard for me to wrap my head around it, but I was glad I did.
That’s my take exactly. Western feminism typically only represents upper-middle-class white women, and I think this needs to change. However, I don’t think feminism is bad, or worse, that feminism should be dismissed because it’s not intersectional enough. I don’t want upper-middle-class white women to drown out the voices of poorer minority women either, so they shouldn’t tell these women what they think would be best for them. The best solution would be to advocate for issues that affect oneself, but create an atmosphere where those with different but related issues can advocate for theirs.
Agreed. Started reading a little of Gloria Steinem and was, like, wow is this a white lady. The book I started reading talked about her experiences at a spa. Ah yes, the life of the downtrodden!
