Hags by Victoria smith

[PurpleBugz]

A thread for the discussion of Hags by Victoria Smith.

Copy and pasted summary from Amazon:

In the last few years, as identity politics have taken hold, middle-aged women have found themselves talked and written about as morally inferior beings: the face of bigotry, entitlement and selfishness, to be ignored, pitied or abused.

In Hags, Victoria Smith asks why these women are treated with such active disdain. Each chapter takes a different theme - care work, beauty, violence, political organization, sex - and explores it in relation to middle-aged women's beliefs, bodies, histories and choices. Smith traces the attitudes she describes through history, and explores the very specific reasons why this type of misogyny is so very now. The result is a book that is absorbing, insightful, witty and bang on time.

Do we agree? Is it bang on time? Is it insightful and absorbing?

Discuss

Is this the follow up to the previous thread about “let’s have a book club”?

Oh yes sorry I probably should've said that.

I’m half way through this book. Some interesting points so far.

I definitely resonate with what she says about the divide between younger women with sexual value vs older women without.
I’m not middle aged yet (early 30s) but definitely in the past felt how she’s described and hasn’t until recently considered that I’d BE one of those older women one day. I definitely fell for the “them vs us” mentality.

@SamanthaVimes

I agree the older/younger women divide is a thing. And I'm similar age to you. Not Middle Aged yet.

For the most part I do think the point in the book that this is facilitated and encouraged by the patriarchy is true. However personally I've experienced an element of 'you don't know how good you have got it' from older women. And also was raised to believe feminism had won- we have the vote and equality in law etc while at the same time being expected to and trained to keep the house because that's the woman's role. Any moaning about the inequality I've faced in housework has been met with 'you have it better than me' attitude or 'I did/do it so you should too'. But this is due to the patriarchy shaping the thinking and then feeling feminism is done and now it's this hip trendy thing that should be avoided - like grunge or goth or promiscuity.

If anything I'd say my grandmother was more feminist and understanding of the experience of being woman than my parents generation born in the 40s/50s

I do think there’s truth in the “you don’t know how good you’ve got it” point though. Younger women are often completely unaware what the workplace was like for women a few decades ago and are shocked when they hear about it.

The lack of sympathy for WASPI women is an example. There can be a lazy perception (at least amongst youngsters from middle class families) that all of the older generation are on amazing pensions whereas many women in their 60s are still working because they are skint thanks to the financial impact on them of caring responsibilities, many times followed by a divorce which leaves them starting from scratch.

But similarly older women may be unaware just how horrific pornography has become and what young women are up against when dating these days.

I’m really concerned that things are getting worse not better for women, and driving a wedge between different generations of women will reduce women’s ability to fight back against that, both for older and younger women.

I hope Victoria’s book will be helpful in starting a conversation about that.

I overestimated how quickly I could read it, but I'm ploughing on and hope to have something useful to say. Thank you for this, the book was languishing on my kindle and this was just what I needed to actually get reading it.

I’ve struggled with it because it seems to skip from point to point and base a lot of it’s evidence in a popular culture that is unfamiliar to me (I don’t take any notice of popular culture).

Interview with the author (though annoyingly JCJ dominates)