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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
I'm blown away. So beautifully written. Will be reading again.
I want to have my kids read this when they are old enough to understand.
Update: I've now read this book 5 times, and I'm still in awe of how beautiful and honest it is written.
I want to have my kids read this when they are old enough to understand.
Update: I've now read this book 5 times, and I'm still in awe of how beautiful and honest it is written.
Morgan Jerkins is an extraordinarily talented and brilliant young writer. Her voice is fresh, passionate, precise and defiant. If you enjoy first-person essays that will challenge you and make you think, pick this book up!
DNF
I really tried. I love Roxanne Gay's writing, and she very enthusiastically recommended this writer. But where Roxanne Gay has the wisdom and nuance of experience, Morgan Jerkins... doesn't. She comes off as quite young, unaware of her enormous class privilege, and in her eagerness to Make a Point, unable to view people through complex lenses.
And she just... absolutely lost me in her long, rambling "thirsting for dick" chapter. The pages and pages of her describing her tastes in violent pornography (apparently the only thing that gives her the best climaxes of her life) left me cold.
Then there's her strange insistence over multiple chapters that only black and Latina women ever get assaulted or raped (apparently white and Asian women are protected from this?). Her repeated, violent, anti-black fantasies toward black people she views as beneath her.
I just... I really, really wanted to like this book. I think that Morgan Jerkins has promise as a writer, and with more years of experience behind her, that promise might come to fruition. But she's not there yet.
I really tried. I love Roxanne Gay's writing, and she very enthusiastically recommended this writer. But where Roxanne Gay has the wisdom and nuance of experience, Morgan Jerkins... doesn't. She comes off as quite young, unaware of her enormous class privilege, and in her eagerness to Make a Point, unable to view people through complex lenses.
And she just... absolutely lost me in her long, rambling "thirsting for dick" chapter. The pages and pages of her describing her tastes in violent pornography (apparently the only thing that gives her the best climaxes of her life) left me cold.
Then there's her strange insistence over multiple chapters that only black and Latina women ever get assaulted or raped (apparently white and Asian women are protected from this?). Her repeated, violent, anti-black fantasies toward black people she views as beneath her.
I just... I really, really wanted to like this book. I think that Morgan Jerkins has promise as a writer, and with more years of experience behind her, that promise might come to fruition. But she's not there yet.
What an incredible book. This was critical to my understanding of why feminism looks different for white women and black women. While I will never be able to fully comprehend what a black woman’s experience in this world will be, Jerkins gave us dissected pieces in the form of short essays that are honest and raw thoughts and examples of her own life. She’s a powerful writer, and one that I look forward to learning more from.
3.75/5
Morgan is a seriously gifted writer. On a sentence-by-sentence level, this book just sings. And she REALLY goes for it in this collection of essays. She writes more honestly about sex/relationships, religion, and black girlhood than just about any writer I've encountered. As other reviews have praised, I really love how this book WASN'T "one size fits all" and made to appease the wide (mostly white) readership. Morgan's words and thoughts can speak to everyone, but they're not FOR everyone. That's a bold choice, and it totally pays off. My main qualm with these essays is the balance of the academic vs. the more memoir-oriented, anecdotal voice/content. I found Morgan's voice really shone when she was deep in her personal stories, her memories, the family stories, the stories from high school, her grappling with loneliness, body issues, and fear. While there aren't many missteps in her actual arguments, I found some of the essays did feel overly academic/distant? But overall, this is super readable, really incredible first collection of a writer who is one to watch.
In her own prophetic words, you should have known she was coming.
Morgan is a seriously gifted writer. On a sentence-by-sentence level, this book just sings. And she REALLY goes for it in this collection of essays. She writes more honestly about sex/relationships, religion, and black girlhood than just about any writer I've encountered. As other reviews have praised, I really love how this book WASN'T "one size fits all" and made to appease the wide (mostly white) readership. Morgan's words and thoughts can speak to everyone, but they're not FOR everyone. That's a bold choice, and it totally pays off. My main qualm with these essays is the balance of the academic vs. the more memoir-oriented, anecdotal voice/content. I found Morgan's voice really shone when she was deep in her personal stories, her memories, the family stories, the stories from high school, her grappling with loneliness, body issues, and fear. While there aren't many missteps in her actual arguments, I found some of the essays did feel overly academic/distant? But overall, this is super readable, really incredible first collection of a writer who is one to watch.
In her own prophetic words, you should have known she was coming.
This is a powerful collection of essays and a great intro to this author. She writes about the struggles of growing up black, female and feminist. And her words resonate deeply and highlight just how much of a challenge it is to be any of those identities, let alone all three. I especially liked her essay about Michelle Obama. And she has a particularly powerful one about her desire to be a white female cheerleader.
This is a good book to read if you are wanting to know more about what it is like to be black and female living in white spaces. She is very harsh and willing to pull no punches in describing her experiences. I appreciated her candor. As a white person, it made me rethink how I will engage with black women from now on. And it made me reevaluate how I have interacted with them in the past and whether or not my interactions with them were unintentionally racist.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection of essays. Worth checking out for sure. Jerkins has a great voice and a lot to say. I hope we continue to hear more from her.
This is a good book to read if you are wanting to know more about what it is like to be black and female living in white spaces. She is very harsh and willing to pull no punches in describing her experiences. I appreciated her candor. As a white person, it made me rethink how I will engage with black women from now on. And it made me reevaluate how I have interacted with them in the past and whether or not my interactions with them were unintentionally racist.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection of essays. Worth checking out for sure. Jerkins has a great voice and a lot to say. I hope we continue to hear more from her.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
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"An emotionally inexpressive black girl child is one that keeps herself alive."
"When she finally enters those prized spaces that you told her about as a child, she'll have everything she'll need to succeed: looks, deference to man, suppressed sexuality, silence."
"On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, white people chose white supremacy. They chose to ignore how Trump incited white nationalists and called for surveillance reminiscent of those from Nazi Germany. They chose to ignore the many women who accused Trump of sexual assault. They chose to ignore Trump gloating over doing so. Why? For one, most of his terrifying plans do not affect them. They can turn down their lips and bow their heads in pity, but they will never be targets. They wanted to make America great again by turning the hands on the clock backwards; they wanted everyone to know their place; they rendered the racial and social hierarchies of our country even more calcified. In essence, on Election Day, they chose themselves because historically they always have.
And as for the white women who voted for Trump, I suppose that they left their vaginas at home before they went to the booths. Again, these white women believed that their proximity to white men would allow them to partake in white male privilege. These white women chose their race without taking into account the implications of gender."
"We cannot come together if we do not recognize our differences first. These differences are best articulated when women of color occupy the center of the discourse while white women remain silent, actively listen, and do not try to reinforce supremacy by inserting themselves in the middle of the discussion."
"When she finally enters those prized spaces that you told her about as a child, she'll have everything she'll need to succeed: looks, deference to man, suppressed sexuality, silence."
"On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, white people chose white supremacy. They chose to ignore how Trump incited white nationalists and called for surveillance reminiscent of those from Nazi Germany. They chose to ignore the many women who accused Trump of sexual assault. They chose to ignore Trump gloating over doing so. Why? For one, most of his terrifying plans do not affect them. They can turn down their lips and bow their heads in pity, but they will never be targets. They wanted to make America great again by turning the hands on the clock backwards; they wanted everyone to know their place; they rendered the racial and social hierarchies of our country even more calcified. In essence, on Election Day, they chose themselves because historically they always have.
And as for the white women who voted for Trump, I suppose that they left their vaginas at home before they went to the booths. Again, these white women believed that their proximity to white men would allow them to partake in white male privilege. These white women chose their race without taking into account the implications of gender."
"We cannot come together if we do not recognize our differences first. These differences are best articulated when women of color occupy the center of the discourse while white women remain silent, actively listen, and do not try to reinforce supremacy by inserting themselves in the middle of the discussion."
"An emotionally inexpressive black girl child is one that keeps herself alive."
"When she finally enters those prized spaces that you told her about as a child, she'll have everything she'll need to succeed: looks, deference to man, suppressed sexuality, silence."
"On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, white people chose white supremacy. They chose to ignore how Trump incited white nationalists and called for surveillance reminiscent of those from Nazi Germany. They chose to ignore the many women who accused Trump of sexual assault. They chose to ignore Trump gloating over doing so. Why? For one, most of his terrifying plans do not affect them. They can turn down their lips and bow their heads in pity, but they will never be targets. They wanted to make America great again by turning the hands on the clock backwards; they wanted everyone to know their place; they rendered the racial and social hierarchies of our country even more calcified. In essence, on Election Day, they chose themselves because historically they always have.
And as for the white women who voted for Trump, I suppose that they left their vaginas at home before they went to the booths. Again, these white women believed that their proximity to white men would allow them to partake in white male privilege. These white women chose their race without taking into account the implications of gender."
"We cannot come together if we do not recognize our differences first. These differences are best articulated when women of color occupy the center of the discourse while white women remain silent, actively listen, and do not try to reinforce supremacy by inserting themselves in the middle of the discussion."
"When she finally enters those prized spaces that you told her about as a child, she'll have everything she'll need to succeed: looks, deference to man, suppressed sexuality, silence."
"On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, white people chose white supremacy. They chose to ignore how Trump incited white nationalists and called for surveillance reminiscent of those from Nazi Germany. They chose to ignore the many women who accused Trump of sexual assault. They chose to ignore Trump gloating over doing so. Why? For one, most of his terrifying plans do not affect them. They can turn down their lips and bow their heads in pity, but they will never be targets. They wanted to make America great again by turning the hands on the clock backwards; they wanted everyone to know their place; they rendered the racial and social hierarchies of our country even more calcified. In essence, on Election Day, they chose themselves because historically they always have.
And as for the white women who voted for Trump, I suppose that they left their vaginas at home before they went to the booths. Again, these white women believed that their proximity to white men would allow them to partake in white male privilege. These white women chose their race without taking into account the implications of gender."
"We cannot come together if we do not recognize our differences first. These differences are best articulated when women of color occupy the center of the discourse while white women remain silent, actively listen, and do not try to reinforce supremacy by inserting themselves in the middle of the discussion."
This is not a terrible book, but it's not a great one, either. It has its moments; there are lines and essays that I like. I enjoy Jerkins' writing most when it's more literary and prose-y, such as the "How to be Docile" essay. Her personal reflections, though, tend to meander and lose focus. I appreciate that she shows us all her vulnerabilities, such as her judgment of another black girl growing up, her porn habit and her labiaplasty, but she doesn't do a great job at showing the connections between them and larger issues such as feminism and racism.
As she says in her book, though, these are her stories and she can only speak for herself. So, if you are a non-Black woman reading this collection, please be include other voices in your TBR.
As she says in her book, though, these are her stories and she can only speak for herself. So, if you are a non-Black woman reading this collection, please be include other voices in your TBR.