5 FLYING STARS!For a truly unique and in-depth look at the myriad faces culturally entrenched misogyny wears, American Monsters pulls no punches. Author Sezín Koehler digs deeply into the collective consciousness of women across America and flips pile after pile of dirt off the coffins of rape and abuse survivors' fear, shame, guilt, and horror, allowing those ugly and emaciated skeletons to dance again and bare their shunned stories for all to see. And that type of storytelling is what is needed in a culture that still treats the subject of rape as a thing for entertainment and titillation.And this is only part one of American Monsters.In part two, Sezín provides a series of nonfiction analytical essays that unpack a variety of theories on the horror genre in American culture, arguing convincingly that the genre itself is rooted on the victimization and otherizing of women. Using examples from works by the King of Horror himself, Stephen King, as well as many popular movies, Sezín's understanding and explanation of the roots and impact of the genre on women and societal attitudes in general gives readers a fascinating and thought-provoking range of ideas to digest.This book will take you through a roller coaster of emotions—ferocious anger, divine celebration, and marveling thoughtfulness. I highly recommend it to anyone with a uterus, an interest in those with a uterus, and a hunger for a more thorough look at our society's trends and attitudes toward women, specifically as it relates to the horror genre. If you're a fan of the book Cunt by Inga Muscio, American Monsters needs to take the place of honor right beside it on your library shelf.Other recommended reading on feminist, art, film, and the horror genre.
- Imagining the Worst: Stephen King and the Representation of Women by Kathleen Lant and Theresa Thompson
- The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis by Barbara Creed
- Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic by Linda Badley
- Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference by Cordelia Fine
- Fields of Vision: Essays in Film Studies, Visual Anthropology, and Photography by Leslie Devereaux and Roger Hillman
Besides being a fascinating, complex, marvelous, talented, friend and feminist, who is Sezín Koehler? Learn more here.
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