Ah, the feminist rant. How humorous you are. (Seriously, this book adds to the growing proof.)
I was drawn to this book by the pop-art cover picture, but soon found Cynthia Heimel's scathingness more than a little somewhat subversive. A little background search on the author led me to believe she wrote "for decades" a column in Playboy. Her "Women" column was finally cancelled in 2000 when the publishers were concerned her feminist attitudes were off-putting to male readers.
This book is a collection of her essays and column-fodders, including chapter bookends, Q&A-style, where she answers questions and passes along advice under the moniker "the Problem Lady".
It starts with a seemingly-unawkward forward written by her son (who appears in several stories and seems to be rather well-adjusted for the child of a single mother who writes feminist articles for Playboy). The articles themselves are often funny, sometimes sad, reflections on such topics as Why Lesbians Have It So Good, Why Some Moms Are So Bad, and How the Battle of the Sexes Turns So Ugly.
Granted, I didn't need to know about her first IUD or her uterine infections (what the hell are those?!), but with each section down, I began to realize more of her Big Picture, and really started to like her. Halfway through, I started to understand why her son was the way he was (you see a lot of his early childhood) and how great a mom she really must have been.
Written in 1993, some of the topics feel a little dated. Heimel was a flower child and her personal style (she often describes clothes as if they were extensions of her personality) reflects that aesthetic. She also rails against ANSWERING MACHINES.
Even though the points she makes are often given over to wishy-washiness, she does have a keen eye on things developing around her (her feelings monitored so closely, she may as well be hooked to electrodes). She doesn't dislike the Male, but she doesn't fully trust them either. And trusts herself around them even less.
In her defense (as a male reading this book) she doesn't BLAME men, but rather Nature. Nature, she says, is no feminist.
Mother Nature must be a tranny.
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This was one of the books my mom attempted to keep hidden from me when I was wee. Along with Mimi Pond's "Secrets of the Powder Room", "Shoes Never Lie" and "The Valley Girl's Guide to Life". However, having a rather bright 8 year old who can climb bookshelves and who also has an acute visual memory is rough on the best of parents.
ReplyDeleteI should probably read this again now that I'll actually understand what the hell she's talking about. At the time I remember I got bored pretty quick because it didn't have comics of naked people like the Mimi Pond books.
I've had this one on the bookshelf for years, and you're right, it's dated a little. I also find it amusing that her son's basically a middle finger salute to all those hysterics writing letters to the editor about Those Women Who Are Destroying Civilisation (yet another chapter in a book that includes Gays, Immigrants, Atheists and People Who Like Rap Music).
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed her chapters on LA. The mental image of industry people screaming abuse in a dark movie theatre still tickles me.
Aaaah I used to love Cynthia Heimel's columns in Playboy (it's true, I DID buy it for the articles!). I suppose a lot of her stuff would seem dated now, but back in the day, she was the bitchy, scathing, witty feminist I aspired to be.
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