Okay, I truly don't mean to constantly hate on Coetzee. I really did try with Youth. I was all primed to give it a chance, I swear. And then the stuff with Jacqueline happened. First, let's get something out of the way. It is ALWAYS wrong to read the private writings (emails, texts, diaries) of someone else, and EVERYTHING is private until you are told otherwise. It can only end in tears. So yes, she is awful. Fine. But why does Coetzee have to make women so uniquely awful?
Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying real women are easier to get along with. I'm not even saying that I am easier. I am quite sure that I am an extremely difficult person to deal with, live with, love. But who isn't? I have my hang-ups, fears, obnoxious quirks, moments where I'm so far less than my best self (which, how great is that best self to begin with anyway?). But who doesn't? That happens because we're all human, not because women are uniquely difficult/infantile/selfish/awful as a gender.
Yes, you could argue that Coetzee's protagonist is male and he doesn't have to view women as fully human. And I would say, I don't care. Yes, fine, men as the privileged group get to view women as less than human, they get to be oblivious to women's experiences in a way that women don't get to with men. Same is true for me as a white person. That does not make it okay.
At a time when we're facing a very real, raw, terrifying, and tragic reminder of why street harassment (and even just getting hit on) is not flattering but incredibly scary, my patience for casual misogyny is at an all time low.
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