In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in. It mustn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own.
Rachel CuskRead
Shame is something you'll find a lot of - particularly Catholic - girls feel about their bodies, about their sexuality, about their diet, about anything you like. Shame is the way you keep them down. That's the way to crush a girl.
Interpretation
Shame can be a powerful tool for oppression, particularly for women regarding their bodies and choices.
This quote by Rachel Cusk highlights the pervasive nature of shame, especially in the context of societal expectations placed on women, particularly within certain cultural or religious frameworks. It suggests that shame operates as a means of control, preventing individuals from embracing their own identities and experiences, ultimately stifling their potential and freedom.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a discussion on body positivity and the impact of societal pressures on women.
In memoir, you have to be particularly careful not to alienate the reader by making the material seem too lived-in. It mustn't have too much of the smell of yourself, otherwise the reader will be unable to make it her own.
As writers go, I have a skin of average thickness. I am pleased by a good review, disappointed by a bad. None of it penetrates far enough to influence the thing I write next.
There is always shame in the creation of an expressive work, whether it's a book or a clay pot. Every artist worries about how they will be seen by others through their work. When you create, you aspire to do justice to yourself, to remake yourself, and there is always the fear that you will expose the very thing that you hoped to transform.
I have no sense of a model or predecessor when I write a memoir: For me, the form exists as a method of processing material that retains too many connections to life to be approached strictly and aesthetically. A memoir is a risk, a one-off, a bastard child.
It seems to me that 'women's writing' by nature would not seek equivalence in the male world. It would be a writing that sought to express a distinction, not deny it.
We who were born were not witnesses to our birth: like death, it is something we are forever after trying to catch sight of.
With the rise of chiefdoms around 7,500 years ago, people had to learn, for the first time in history, how to encounter strangers regularly without attempting to kill them.
If the other persons behavior is not in harmony with my own needs, the more I empathize with them and their needs, the more likely I am to get me own needs met.
The most serious point in the case is the disposition of the child." What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining insight as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have frequently gained my first real insight into the character of parents by studying their children.
There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too.
It was never my intention to marry anybody. Economics are basically the only reason to get married, but I'm very glad I did it.
I saw men whom thirty years had changed but slightly; but their wives had grown old. These were good women; it is very wearing to be good.
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