Asking For It
Kate Harding
Rating : Great
Missoula
John Krakauer
Rating : Good
Non-Fiction / Feminist / Culture / Sexual Assault / Legal
*** quick note before I get started : this is my first time rating non-fiction (particularly sensitive topic non-fiction) just want to make it clear that I am NOT rating the topic. That is all about the writing / read-a-bility
I am going to try and merge these two reviews together, I picked up both of them for the same reasons. April is sexual assault awareness month.
I meant to get to a bunch of these non-fiction rape culture / sexual assault awareness texts read last year, and it just didn't happen. Like so much else these ended up on my TBR for next year. Both books address the issues surrounding rape culture; Missoula focusing on the town of the same name, where date rape and college rape were really mismanaged by officials (on all kinds of levels) and not only on how rape culture effects the victims but how it can really benefit the predators (specifically football players).
Asking For It; a reflection on the sum of rape culture, rape myths, and the domino effects of the whole rape situation. It was the perfect follow up read, to Missoula, because most of the problems I had with Missoula where "fixed" or addressed in this novel, it reflected positivly back onto Missoula and raised my opinion of the text.
The things that Krakauker mishandled in my opinion are, pretending or insinuating that his text was an unbiased report on the cases - Harding was very open that she is a feminist and having her bias out there expressed as such gave her extra credibility (in my thoughts anyways). Missoula did have some very dry text, lots of legal terms - very much Krakauer's style - that made the reading more difficult than I felt it had to be, obviously I am a strong reader but I think these kinds of texts should be marketed towards "the average bear" and this is a point where so much informative important nonfiction texts fail, and again this was a point where Asking For It, shinned. It was all very layman, it was pretty short, I didn't get too much information but I don't feel like Harding missed anything or didn't extrapolate on something she should have either. Harding had a very sassy tone of voice, the irony made me smile and laugh out loud a few times. I've heard Kate Harding speak as well (thanks youtube), and she is not a great speaker but her writing reads as a fun speech, or debate dialogue vs Krakauer's legal text / lawyer voice.
These books are really going to be your cup of tea or not, Id like to think they are everyones (because we are all good reasonable humans right?) but sadly the reality is otherwise. It would be interesting to know if they are using Asking For It in any college courses.
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