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441 reviews for:
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America
Morgan Jerkins
4.03 AVERAGE
441 reviews for:
This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America
Morgan Jerkins
4.03 AVERAGE
A little more, uh, explicit than I was expecting, and a bit more academic, too. But still fun and fascinating.
4.5 stars. This is a book that spoke to my soul. I felt like the author was a close friend of mine and new exactly what it was like for me growing up in the area that I did. She talks about SO much. The fact that some people think it's okay to say "you're not like the others", or "you're a good one" is a big problem. I'm happy I'm not the only person who thinks so. I am going to purchase this book; it is definitely worth re-reading.
I finished this book wanting... more. I appreciated Morgan's candor and openness to talk about challenging, often hidden things that are discussed when it comes to Black womanhood. However, I finished the book feeling like there was more that wasn't explored.
Incredibly powerful. Everyone should read this. Extremely excited to see what else Morgan writes, she is quite a force.
Taken as a whole, this is an evocative and challenging collection of essays.
This was an interesting and well-written collection of essays exploring the intersectionality of womanhood, feminism, and blackness. As a memoir, it reflects Jenkins’ own experiences, centering herself, and black women, in the prose. A thought-provoking and worthwhile read.
My feelings are mixed about this essay collection by Morgan Jerkins, a 25-year-old, black, female writer. As in most essay collections some chapters are stronger than others. Jerkins is an accomplished young woman with a degree from Princeton, an MFA in creative writing from Bennington, and she's a polyglot, speaking several languages fluently. In these essays, she tries to explore the intersection of being black and female. I'm not sure she succeeds in her goal. I think this book is an honest and brave memoir which depicts her experiences growing up and navigating life after college. Some of her views about men and marriage do not equate to a feminist point of view and are very unique to her religious background and disposition. However, she regularly makes leaps and generalizations connecting her experiences to that of all black women. There are plenty of interesting observations in this book, and I admire her willingness to describe painful moments in her life, but I must have missed what all the buzz is about in this collection. She certainly has potential, so I look forward to her growth as a writer. [Trigger warning: certain chapters are quite sexually explicit which some may find difficult to read.]
good read about intersectional feminism with bits of Jerkins' life thrown in!
For those looking for an intro to intersectionality this could be your book. Jerkins leaves no rock unturned in this in-depth exploration of self and what it means to be a black woman today. Her opinions are strong, but the voice is a great addition to conversations on race and identity. This is an honest story (maybe too much so for some), but I appreciated her willingness to put it all out there for the world to see.
Jerkins writes herself out of boxes, out of expectations, out of shame, out of self-hatred, and into truth and love and light. I read this book as a triumph, as Jerkins undoing what the oppressive and repressive society we grew up in started doing to her when she was too young to realize what was up. Morgan's story and mine have many similarities (shoutout to lightskinned black girls raised in small town South Jersey who grow up being told not to emulate the black folk they see and then struggle to navigate black spaces later in life, at Princeton and beyond), but her story isn't mine. It's hers, and we should all be honored that she has chosen to share herself with us. I'm hype for her not only because she's my friend, but also because I don't feel like black girls get to tell these stories and I am glad folks are eating hers up.