THE WEEKLY READER
Feminist reads, every Saturday morning.
Joan Didion Taught Us How To Embrace Complication
by Elly Belle
Didion used most—if not all—of her writing as a way to untangle the societal narratives that irked her—that she couldn’t understand. She pulled at the threads until they unraveled. A detective of sorts, she was dedicated to using the craft of writing to more intimately understand the world, and she documented that navigation in real time. Didion’s use of writing as a tool to find clarity doesn’t mean that she was confused or wishy-washy.
1. The desire to set up an intentional space banning other genders is what led second-wave feminists in the ’60s to set up off-the-grid communities known as womyn’s separatist lands. With lesbian relationships unsafe in most parts of the United States, these were places where women could live as their true selves. [Ann Foster]
2. Tourist destinations in the Global South have been historically constructed as “paradise” or as places of “idyllic wilderness,” where tourists are free to explore their more hedonistic side. Sociocultural anthropologist Noel B. Salazar calls these types of constructions “tourism imaginaries” in a 2012 article for Annals of Tourism Research. [Nicole Froio]
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3. The origins of rock ’n’ roll are whitewashed. Too often, white men are credited as the creators and innovators, overshadowing Black artists who birthed the genre and shaped its progression. Black women musicians, in particular, have battled double standards. Since the early days, Black artists were expected to stick to specific genres, while their white peers were praised for taking “risks.” Betty Davis, who emerged in the late ’60s and ’70s, is now regarded as an influential funk-rock visionary, but her talent was misunderstood by the public and mishandled by label heads when she was professionally active. [Faustina Johnson]
