The Heroine's Journey
Feb. 8th, 2011 09:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reviewthatBook: The Heroine's Journey
By: Maureen Murdock
Pages: 232
Release Date: June 23, 1990
Stars: 2
This book is an examination of what it takes for women to survive in a male dominated society, and the sacrifices that they make for that survival. There is also a great deal of examination on what the author believes is needed to heal not only society as a whole, but women specifically (with many examples from not only her own life, but the lives of women that she has come into contact with).
I got this book as a gift, whether it was for my birthday or Christmas, I can't remember anymore, and it is no longer important.
While there are bits of the book that are almost interesting, the book as a whole left me feeling wanting. I had gone into it thinking that it would be an academic examination of female figures in mythology and folklore, and how they not only survived the stories that they were in, but they also ended up being winners in the end (or even if they could be considered that at all). This is what I was expecting, but it was also what I was wanting from this book.
Instead, what I went through felt more like a cross between a self-help book, a self-examination of the author (and her trying to figure out what she actually thought, but which could have been done in a much more interesting way), and one that was attempting to espouse the virtues of pagan religions. The sparse sprinklings of mythology and folklore felt far less academic than I would have liked, and left me hungry for something far more intellectual in its subject. Though, the author would probably say that I was not in touch with the feminine, because I enjoy intellectual pursuits (since she seemed to suggest that those who are biologically female, and who enjoy the intellectual are out of balance with themselves and the feminine). But I'm not sure that gender or sexuality work that way, and there is nothing wrong with wanting your mind to continue to be stimulated.
I also had a bit of an issue with the author's apparent feeling that the only "healthy" way to be when you are biologically female is to identify female and be heterosexual. While I say yes for myself to the first part, and yes for myself to the second part, I do not say yes to the third part as I am asexual (and lean very heavily toward aromantic). I have also never wanted children, and guess what? I don't feel like I am missing out in any way by saying no to sex, romance or children. Instead, I feel like I am able to gain a bit by being able to have more time for friends, writing, and things that stimulate me intellectually.
By: Maureen Murdock
Pages: 232
Release Date: June 23, 1990
Stars: 2
This book is an examination of what it takes for women to survive in a male dominated society, and the sacrifices that they make for that survival. There is also a great deal of examination on what the author believes is needed to heal not only society as a whole, but women specifically (with many examples from not only her own life, but the lives of women that she has come into contact with).
I got this book as a gift, whether it was for my birthday or Christmas, I can't remember anymore, and it is no longer important.
While there are bits of the book that are almost interesting, the book as a whole left me feeling wanting. I had gone into it thinking that it would be an academic examination of female figures in mythology and folklore, and how they not only survived the stories that they were in, but they also ended up being winners in the end (or even if they could be considered that at all). This is what I was expecting, but it was also what I was wanting from this book.
Instead, what I went through felt more like a cross between a self-help book, a self-examination of the author (and her trying to figure out what she actually thought, but which could have been done in a much more interesting way), and one that was attempting to espouse the virtues of pagan religions. The sparse sprinklings of mythology and folklore felt far less academic than I would have liked, and left me hungry for something far more intellectual in its subject. Though, the author would probably say that I was not in touch with the feminine, because I enjoy intellectual pursuits (since she seemed to suggest that those who are biologically female, and who enjoy the intellectual are out of balance with themselves and the feminine). But I'm not sure that gender or sexuality work that way, and there is nothing wrong with wanting your mind to continue to be stimulated.
I also had a bit of an issue with the author's apparent feeling that the only "healthy" way to be when you are biologically female is to identify female and be heterosexual. While I say yes for myself to the first part, and yes for myself to the second part, I do not say yes to the third part as I am asexual (and lean very heavily toward aromantic). I have also never wanted children, and guess what? I don't feel like I am missing out in any way by saying no to sex, romance or children. Instead, I feel like I am able to gain a bit by being able to have more time for friends, writing, and things that stimulate me intellectually.
