Book 49: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Fascinating intersection of science and human interest. We owe a lot to Henrietta Lacks's cancer cells. Will the debt ever be paid?
Book 50: Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy. Had high hopes for this one and some of them were met. Seemed mostly interested in shock value.
Book 51: Whitewashed Adobe by William Deverell. The Mexican past of Los Angeles was largely hidden from view for a long time, even though it's right out in the open. Some light is shed here.
Book 52: Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers by Sady Doyle. See below.
Book 53: On the Clock by Emily Guendelsberger. A modern-day Nickel and Dimed (Barbara Ehrenreich). It's astonishing in a frightening way how much more mechanized and robotic things have gotten in such a short time.
Book 54: Trainwreck by Sady Doyle
The two books I read by Sady Doyle really opened my eyes to just how misogynist America is. These books bring genuine clarity to what was only a hazy impression before. Sure, I know about the gender wage gap, I know about how sexual assault isn't taken nearly as seriously as it should be, I know the current POTUS rode in on a wave of white nationalism and misogyny; but to see how deeply it had been baked into my life from birth was a jolt. There is takedown after takedown of many pieces of entertainment that formed the bedrock of my childhood and identity. Now, seeing them for what they are, it's hard to see how I missed it.
Then again, that's the whole idea of patriarchy. It's not supposed to be seen. It's not supposed to label itself and state its case with clear, cold logic. It can't. Because there isn't any that could stand open scrutiny. It's supposed to make you just hate Britney Spears (or Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift) the woman after she's no longer Britney Spears (or Miley Cyrus or Taylor Swift) the girl because patriarchy holds that women are monsters and need to be controlled but girls are innocent*. Why else does our media machine crucify both Hillary Clinton AND Monica Lewinsky but more or less leaves Bill alone? It's entire intent is to convince women they need to adhere to mens' visions of them even when that vision shifts and changes and takes contradictory forms, one set of men screaming at you to take your clothes off while another screams at you for doing so, even if it was done in what would normally be considered privacy (eg hotel room or at home).
These two books have served as perhaps the largest-yet collective step towards deprogramming patriarchy from my system. The direct illustrations from movies and TV I had somewhat warm feelings towards really drove the point home regarding just how pervasive it is. Hopefully, I can do better.
* -- I was a bit surprised the books made no mention of Madonna.
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