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A review by literatureaesthetic
Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-Century French Hermaphrodite by Michel Foucault
read for university — decided to not rate this book
this is a collection of diary entries written by Herculine Barbin, who was an intersex individual in the 19th century. It's a raw, dark and disturbing insight into her life, following from when she was a young school girl, to her sudden reclassifiication as a man, and her eventual suicide at the age of 30.
We watch her slow descent into depression, her struggles with identity and sexuality, the abuse and isolation she faced due to archaic views on her body. It was actually very difficult to read at times, due to how exposed these diary entries are, and how we're witnessing the darkest and most brutal parts of this person's life. It felt extremely intrusive to read this? Especially considering that these were her diary entries, and not an autobiography.
It asks interesting questions on what it means to be masculine or feminine, as well as nicely covers how gender is a social construct and that it's harmful to regulate the way that people live their lives, based on outdated and restrictive societal ideals.
It was insightful and eye-opening, but also difficult af to read because of the sensitive content.
this is a collection of diary entries written by Herculine Barbin, who was an intersex individual in the 19th century. It's a raw, dark and disturbing insight into her life, following from when she was a young school girl, to her sudden reclassifiication as a man, and her eventual suicide at the age of 30.
We watch her slow descent into depression, her struggles with identity and sexuality, the abuse and isolation she faced due to archaic views on her body. It was actually very difficult to read at times, due to how exposed these diary entries are, and how we're witnessing the darkest and most brutal parts of this person's life. It felt extremely intrusive to read this? Especially considering that these were her diary entries, and not an autobiography.
It asks interesting questions on what it means to be masculine or feminine, as well as nicely covers how gender is a social construct and that it's harmful to regulate the way that people live their lives, based on outdated and restrictive societal ideals.
It was insightful and eye-opening, but also difficult af to read because of the sensitive content.