A review by eren_reads
Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda

3.0

Theoretically this book should be perfect for me with it being a collection of short stories that are retellings of Japanese folklores with a feminist twist. However, I found that whilst I didn't necessarily disagree with the feminist messages in the short story collection I found that it lacked subtlety when discussing these issues.

For instance, the short story Smartening Up focuses on the politics of shaving. I felt that whilst I didn't disagree with the issues the author brought up around shaving it felt as though there was no subtlety to it. Particularly in this quote:

It seemed to me unquestionable that it looked better. But when had it become better? Who had first been struck by the notion that skin would be more attractive if it was shaved? Who had been the first woman to shave? How had other people around them been convinced by their logic and begun shaving themselves? Why had I, born such a long time after them, come to think the same? Why, in the twenty-first century, did I have to fork out huge sums of money to go to the hair removal clinic? 

It felt as though the author was just telling me how they feel about shaving rather than showing it. 

In other stories I felt as though they ended fairly abruptly and that they could have been longer.