People were crazy on the subject of color, I knew, and it was true that one or two of the cousins had kinky hair and took some teasing for it, enough that everyone was a little tender about it. Except for Granny, people didn’t even want to talk about our Cherokee side. Michael Yarboro swore to me that Cherokees were niggers anyway, said Indians didn’t take care who they married like white folks did. [54]
Note: This is not a book review, but I feel compelled to share some thoughts. The little girl who is tough as steel is Bone, who was born illegitimate since her grandma ran her father out of the house. Anyway, Bone grows up with her mother, who works as a waitress at a diner. My first impression of the book is the striking resemblance to Their Eyes Were Watching God, except these are white folks in South Carolina. Women strive to establish independence from men, at least emotionally. Issues of race inevitably come up almost in any American literature that sets in the south. The blond wants to be a brunette, the dark wants to be light-skinned or at least fair. The straight hair craves the curly perm. Why can’t people just be comfortable with their own skin? Which brings me to my point, and this is digression from the reading. The Chinese weekly magazine makes me sick to the stomach when I turn page after page full of (deceptive) ads about weight loss, laser brow plucking (whatever that means), fat suction, skin whitening, skin bleaching…What happens to natural beauty? All you see are these kinky, anorexic-looking, straight-hair, LV-clutching, tofu-eating, unnaturally pale robotic clones that are just scaffold of bones. These new standards of beauty are in my opinion corrupting the society. Why can’t women just age gracefully? Why all these Laquivas, Biancas, and Valentinas?
Filed under: Babble, Books, Reading | Tagged: Bastard Out of Carolina, Books, Personal, Reading |
A Guy's Moleskine Notebook 
Preach on, Matt! (Also, I really hope you’ll review this book soon because I’m planning to read it soon and would love to know what you think about it.)
I think the book is well-written and raw; I understand that a harrowing experience of a young girl always touch readers’ sore spots. This book is alot of drama but it’s really not to call home about.
Oh, that’s a bummer….but I still have to find out for myself!
I’m glad I read it, although it won’t be on the re-read shelf.
I absolutely agree with you Matt!!!!
I was worried that the post might offend some of the ladies! I’m surprised everyone is with me! 🙂
It would be good to have you around Matt! I happen to agree. There are a whole bevy of women that I know that are frantically doing things to keep them looking young. Can’t we just age gracefully? Can’t I just be at peace with my crow’s feet and my bigger-than-size-2-butt? I just shake my head, knowing that after laying down all that cash, they are still getting older. You can only hold it off for so long.
What matters, Sandy, is to stay healthy. I think exercise and eating right are the best formula for delaying aging. Everything else is extraneous and waste of money. It takes courage to come to terms of one’s aging.
Brilliant post, Matt. I completely agree.
I’ve only just gotten to love myself for who I am. I used to want to be tanned and skinny and blonde and all that. But now I embrace the fact that I’m a creamy ivory colour and will never tan. I embrace that I’m curvaceous. And I love myself for it. It’s a shame not everyone has the same confidence about themselves – especially in Britain where more than half of all girls visit tanning salons and cake themselves with make-up.
Doesn’t cosmetics make the skin age faster? I think it’s fine to age as far as we stay healthy. I used to want to be white and have blonde hair, but now I just embrace what my parents have given me. It’s a gift.
Excellent post, Matt!! I’ll be looking forward to your review… have been curious about this book for a long time.
It’s good read about nothing to call home about. 🙂
I couldn’t agree with you more. As a middle-aged woman I am led to believe (by the media) that I am supposed to want to look like I am still in my 20’s. The whole thing just isn’t realistic and leads to those freakish looking people we see on TV. And why it is okay for men to age gracefully and not women? Well that is a whole other subject that we could go on and on about!
I totally hear you! The whole consumer and popular culture is about capturing that look when you’re 20. Look at all the cosmetic products, the magazine covers, the reality TV shows—everything is about that vanity and desire to look substantially younger than one’s age.
BTW, thank you so much for my award yesterday. I am passing it on today and have the post timed and ready to go out!
Btw…Matthew is referring to “EastWeek”, the weekly gossip rag out of Hong Kong.
Hehehe… 🙂
I think that women have been more prone and influenced than men (but I could be wrong) to try and always be more younger, prettier, thinner and ageless than the next woman. It has become more than a competition between women – it has become a competition between our media, women and their current relationship. If there is no confidence in a woman and their current relationship, then it will fall back upon what the insidious media projects as beauty and there is no mention of intelligence, compassion, loyalty or grace. Thank you very much for mentioning this. I wish that differences mattered instead of being something to be shunned. And yes, I have a college education, am a size 10, have a blackbelt in karate, love to cook and read, and am in a very loving and healthy relationship.
Connie, I cannot agree with you more. What the media portrays can be very shallow and untrue. Beauty on the outside doesn’t mean everything, but unfortunately, we’re buying into the idea that all it matters is to have a good body and be a looker. There are so many things in life to be cherished, like family, friendship, loyalty, kindness, and love.
Well said. In fact people often look absurd or even grotesque when they try to disguise their age or strive to attain an appearance or manner that’s been marketed insidiously. Low self esteem, fear of loneliness or rejection, desperately wanting to belong — all these can make us vulnerable to all sorts of manipulation.
Men over 45 who wear Ed Hardy’s t-shirts for which they don’t have the body always creeps me out. So I guess this is not just for women alone! Fear of loneliness and low self-esteem are the big ones. I just think many people console their loneliness with buying stuffs and making themselves look great.