Thursday, April 13, 2006

Sandra Tsing Loh reviews "Mommy Wars"

If you somehow managed the patience to read my previous neverending post, and you feel like washing the icky feel of Catharine MacKinnon out of your system, I suggest Sandra Tsing Loh's astute review (from the Atlantic Monthly, via Powell's Review-a-Day) of the recent essay collection "Mommy Wars". In stark contrast to MacKinnon's bizarre, reality-free jumble of innuendo and overheated rhetoric, Tsing Loh's sensibility is firmly moored in real problems faced by women. Also, (1) she writes with a light and witty touch, and (2) when she chides someone for intellectual sloppiness, she does it firmly yet gently --- two qualities that, erm, I possess in somewhat lesser degree.

Which isn't to say that the central conceit of her review --- i.e., that a collection of essays by privileged upper-class women evinces a few blind spots w.r.t. race and class --- is a particularly subtle or penetrating insight. But I believe there's some value in marshalling evidence in the service of obvious conclusions sometimes. At least, I'd better believe that, because the vast majority of what I write on this blog basically consists of pointing out the obvious.

1 comment:

  1. One thing I've always loved about Loh is just how moored in reality her writing has always been despite living in Los Angeles and working in entertainment. It's strange, but I still feel like her stuff is down to earth especially when compared to MacKinnon's drivel.

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