Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Devil: My Life and Times in a Racist, Imperialist Society - Inga Muscio. I've put off writing about this book for over 2 weeks, because it annoyed me so much I didn't even want to pick it up again to delineate why.
First of all, Muscio's writing style is "fucken" (as she would say) annoying. And I don't think her rants are particularly useful for persuading anyone who doesn't already agree w/her. Seriously--who is the audience for this book?
Anyway--one of the first things she does that pisses me off is refer to Bush as "Arbusto" ("bush" in Spanish). Why? Because she thinks Bush's name has too much power in the world & that somehow using the Spanish word instead, when everyone knows you're referring to Bush, will mitigate this.
Which brings me to another point of annoyance: her continual dropping of Spanish throughout the book. A word here, a phrase there, the way she refers to herself as "Inga La Gringa." She seems to actually have a reasonable understanding of cultural appropriation & how white American culture feels licensed to take whatever they want on a whim. So why is she using all the Spanish? Is there some reason she feels that it is different than, say, Gwen Stefani sticking on a bindi (ie. because she thinks it's cool & fun)? She mentions her ethnic background & she doesn't seem to come from Spanish-speaking roots. I wish she would explain why she chooses to use Spanish--hopefully not just because it's an exotic spice.
Hm, next corner I have folded down in the book... she says, "The resistance in my heart for what my country is doing to people in the Middle East consumes every moment of my life." Really, Inga? When you're taking a shit or having an orgasm or thinking about what to order for lunch? Your melodrama serves no one, least of all the people you say you care about.
Next up: an excruciatingly bad poem called, "Somewhere, Someone Can Hook You Up." It's all about how no one should ever have to shop at a chain store or purchase from a large corporation. Which is great, yeah. But I don't think she's very sympathetic to, say, a parent working multiple jobs who may not have time to "put up flyers or advertise online and find [someone to start a chicken co-op with]." Or to "Make sure all the kids in your neighborhood know how to swim. Exchange this for the love and gratitude of parents who cannot afford swim lessons for their children." Nice sentiment, but what kind of privileges are denied folks who just CANNOT do this? (plus, oh, the poem is just so bad)
At some point, she also uses the word "retarded" as an insult, which I despise.
Okay, next: she's talking about a storefront in her neighborhood that displayed the Homies figures, with a white child mannequin lording it over them. She's explaining to the clerk why this is offensive, & says, "I am telling you that almost anyone who grew up in an environment similar to the one represented by Homies would be outraged at that window." Er, thanks for speaking for them, Inga. Sigh. (Need I add that of COURSE we need white allies to speak up about jacked-up shit--& that, sadly, a lot of white folks will listen to other white folks more on this topic? But her phrasing just seemed so very very over-the-top &... white woman speaking up for all the poor brown folks.)
Next: she talks about how most folks in this culture are in denial about the many things that are wrong, sad, & hurtful in our history. Yes, yes. But instead of reckoning w/this, she says, we go to a doctor & get a prescription for antidepressants. Way to totally invalidate the experiences of the many people who DO have a chemical imbalance & do have genuine mental illness & do much better on antidepressants--not because they're medicating themselves into dozy oblivion, but because they have a medical problem! Have you been hanging out w/Tom Cruise?
Oh--& here is the thing that came out of nowhere & filled me w/rage. She's talking about her cat (whom she gave a Spanish name, btw) & how when he came to live w/her, people told her to get him neutered. She flips out, because this is just a way that we're trying to make animals fit into our notions of what they should be. Which I can see in some instances: for example, declawing. But! What about the millions of animals that are put to sleep every year because no homes can be found for them? Her comment on pet overpopulation is to say, "Researchers have never spent time finding noninvasive herbal ways to keep animals from getting pregnant." I actually laughed out loud at this point. Because they've spent so much time researching that stuff for human beings, right? And because owners who abandon their animals or who, for whatever reason, don't administer the herbal contraceptive steadily to their pets, won't add to pet overpopulation? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? I am furious that she's putting forth this irresponsible, asshatted view in public, & am glad that someone had already neutered her cat before she got to him. She's also really cavalier about the possibility of him, as an outdoor cat, getting hit by a car: "Look, he's living his life. If that involves getting hit by a car then that will suck, but it's his fucken life." Nice one.
Next in Inga's Treatise on How to Live with Animals: she's never had a roach problem, because when she sees them in her apartment, she tells them:
Look, mighty cockroach clan, I am a clean person and you will be hard-pressed to find food in my home. If you like, I will leave you cookies in the corner of this cupboard, but I ask you to stay away from the rest of my home, please.
She says that her technique has never failed. Well, great. In addition to making women feel guilty because they can't visualize their way into an abortion (see
Cunt), now we can feel shitty because we haven't gotten a mystical connection w/the roaches in the cupboard.
Gah. I could go on & on--but yeah. This book sucks. I'm so glad I didn't buy it last year at WisCon, even though the money would've gone to A Room of One's Own. I noticed this year they had the book on sale--trying to fob off their last copies, maybe?
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