I was thrilled to announce last month that I’m going to be attending and speaking at #BookNetFest September 1st-2nd in Orlando! This weekend, I’m taking over the Instagram, so come check it out! It would be awesome to see some of you there! Registration is already open. 🙂
Day: July 29, 2017
he’s coming to get you
he’s coming to get you
he’s coming to get you
he’s here
he got you
DOG DOG DOG DOG DOG
A HEALING VIDEO
WHOLESOME CONTENT
Sarah Reads: The Upside of Unrequited
The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli
Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful.
Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess. Meanwhile, Molly’s totally not dying of loneliness—except for the part where she is. Luckily, Cassie’s new girlfriend comes with a cute hipster-boy sidekick. Will is funny and flirtatious and just might be perfect crush material. Maybe more than crush material. And if Molly can win him over, she’ll get her first kiss and she’ll get her twin back.
There’s only one problem: Molly’s coworker Reid. He’s an awkward Tolkien superfan with a season pass to the Ren Faire, and there’s absolutely no way Molly could fall for him. Right?
FIRST THOUGHTS
Date Started: July 28th, 2017
Acquired: Public Library
Why I Picked it Up: I’ve seen a lot of buzz about this book this year, and it sounded like a really cute premise! Plus, I’m always here for more fat representation. I’ve read a lot of fantasy recently, so I thought I’d hop back into contemporary for a bit now that I’m on break.
Why I Kept Reading: HOLY HECK THERE ARE SO MANY INTERSECTIONS IT’S LIKE THERE ARE FIREWORKS GOING OFF IN MY BRAIN. I love it!!! I’ve read 50 pages and we’ve already got interracial lesbian Jewish parents, a fat Jewish protagonist, a gay sibling and an East Asian pansexual love interest. And somehow I still think I’m forgetting things! All of this is introduced so seamlessly without it being a Big Deal, only important for the characters. The narration is super sweet–Molly is a witty and thoughtful character, and I’m interested to see how her story unfolds. Also, the dialogue is pitch-perfect; it’s exactly the kind of thing that I would expect to hear in real life, quirks and all. I actually relate to Molly so far, even though I’m several years older, so I can’t wait to read the rest and see how the rest of the book goes.
See My Review Here!
Would you like to buy an ice cream?
Okay, so it’s even the small things. The way she eats the ice cream. She just eats it. No coy lick or self-conscious taste. There’s no male gaze here. No oral/sexual pleasure of the viewer. Just she eats the ice cream and it’s the kind of sloppy big bite of someone who is not self-conscious of eating, who hasn’t been trained from birth to think about how she looks as she does everything, even eating. Hasn’t spent her life being told that her purpose is in being attractive, even as she does a vital daily thing like eating. Doesn’t have a voice in her head saying, oh but ice cream, it’s kind of fatty, and what will people think.
She’s just, wow, this thing is delicious, I think it’s great, the person who makes it deserves to be told how great their skill is. How great their actions that have lead to this product are. Even in this she demonstrates valuing people by their actions and abilities and choices and who they are, not what they look like.
Fuck. This is agency. And the fact that is so rare and startling and obvious to me, the fact that Diana Prince eating ice cream moves me so much is So Terrible and makes me despair for our civilization and (nearly) all media produced before this.
And during the shot when she takes the first bite, Steve is reaching his arm out to pay the ice cream seller. That movement is much bigger and more eye-catching than Diana eating the ice cream. This scene normalizes females eating on screen (which shouldn’t have fucking been a problem in the first place), through both subverting the erotic eating trope and allowing women to eat and enjoy whatever they want without feeling self-conscious. Kudos to Patty Jenkins.
Yes! Excellent point!
And even more, Steve isn’t looking at Diana as she eats. A big part of the male gaze is that the default POV of films is generally that of the straight, white, male viewer. And generally Steve would be the stand in for that default gaze, but he doesn’t even look at her! He doesn’t buy it for her so he can watch. And he doesn’t even pull some Nice Guy bullshit like, I did something nice for you now do something nice for me, even as a vague joke or subtext. He isn’t trying to get anything out it. He just thinks she’s probably never had it and might enjoy it. It’s about her enjoyment, not his. Despite everything trying to tell us that women feed appetites but aren’t meant to have any of their own.
Apparently I am never going to get over Diana Prince eating ice cream.
Buy Sarah Viehmann a Coffee. ko-fi.com/sarahviehmann
Hey everyone! If you’re on my main page now, you might notice a little button over with my Official Links on the sidebar. It’s my new Ko-Fi account!
As many of you know, I’m a graduate student by day, and it is not exactly a well-paying gig. Because of the way the semester goes, I will not be paid again until the beginning of September. Unfortunately, I have bills to pay before then. In what free time I have I cobble together as many little odd-jobs as I can manage (driving for Uber, donating plasma, grading exams, you name it), but I also spend a lot of time maintaining this blog. I love it so much, and I would hate to have to set it aside because of financial concerns.
No one should feel any obligation whatsoever to contribute, but if you have a couple of dollars you’d like to throw my way to show your appreciation, I would be incredibly thankful. It’ll help alleviate a little bit of the stress and ensure that I can still keep up with regular book reviews, blog posts, and monthly content.
Thank you all so much! You’re all the best.
Sarah Viehmann 