Meghan's 2013 Master List Review #1: The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti

Wow. This book is a total wow.

I've been wanting to read it for a while, and it far exceeded any expectations I had! It opened my eyes to the many issues surrounding female purity and virginity in the US, drawing attention to many inherent biases and ideas I didn't even realize I possessed.

Valenti pulls back the curtain on some prevailing patriarchal elements of society we don't even realize. For example, she connects women's obsessions with aging and weight with the desire to look younger--a desire that comes from the societal assumption that women should appear young, fragile, and eternally infantilized. I had never connected my ideas about weight with this larger picture. Now that I realize that these ideas are based around the core purpose of keeping women from power, I am able to look at my own assumptions a lot more objectively.

But even more than I valued these revelations, I valued the main message of this novel: the morality of an individual, man or woman, should be based on their ethical or virtuous actions, not their level of sexual experience. Though this seems pretty obvious, what this novel ultimately problematized was the way our society teaches women that their morality does depend on their lack of sexual experience. This deeply entrenched attitude that is exposed in The Purity Myth is a must-read for all women, and any man who loves a sister, mother, female relative or friend.

Recommended to: every feminist, people questioning their views on sexuality and purity, those who are interested in the legal, moral, and political issues surrounding female sexuality.


Release Date: December 29, 2009  Pages: 272 Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased Publisher: Seal Press Buy It: Book Depository

This is a review by Meghan. You can find her here on Goodreads or on Twitter @meghanc303

Meghan's Ultimate To-Read List for 2013

My Goodreads account is practically an epic love poem to all the reading goals that I have, but I figured laying them out with a little more specificity won't hurt.

Most of these have received some sort of acclaim or notice in the past year or two, which is how they made it to my list. Some of them are just new gems I've discovered and want to explore. An asterisk (*) indicates that this is a book a friend or family member loved and recommended to me.

Here it is, the best of the best, my reading goals of 2013:

• Nonfiction
• General knowledge 
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (*, my grandpa)
• Feminism
• The Purity Myth by: Jessica Valenti
• Cinderella Ate My Daughter by: Peggy Orenstein
• Memoir
• Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Suzannah Cahalan
• Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by: Jenny Lawson (*, Amanda, who shares my sense of humor and romanticism)
• The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by: Alice Ozma
• Wild by Cheryl Strayed
• Fiction
• Historical fiction
• The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty (if this woman has a son, I would like to marry him, please--check out that fantastic last name!) 
• Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• The Age of Miracles by: Karen Thompson Walker
• Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by: Robin Sloane 
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz 
• Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green
• The Leftovers by Tom Perrota 
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (*, Addie, my little sister)
• A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 
• I Have Blinded Myself Writing This by Jess Stoner
• Poetry
• Life on Mars by Tracy K Smith (2012 Pulitzer Prize Winner) 
• B by: Sarah Kay (TED conference video--must look this up) 
• A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (Goodreads Choice Awards Winner for Poetry, 2012)
• Tinkers by Paul Harding (*, my brilliant musician and writer friend, Madison)
• Mystery
• The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
• Plays
• Aloha Say the Pretty Girls by: Naomi Iizuka (*, Elyse, one of my current roommates and the director protege of the Denison University Theatre Department) 
• Tigers Be Still by: Kim Rosenstock (*, Elyse again)
• Young Adult
• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 
• Easy by Tammara Webber
• Warm Bodies by Issac Marion
• The Invention of Hubo Cabret by Brian Selznick (*, Ellen, the YA expert) 
• Wonder by RJ Palacio 

• Short Stories
• The Last Girlfriend on Earth and Other Love Stories by: Simon Rich
• Sherlockian Obsession
• Sherlock's Home: The Empty House edited by: Steve Emecz

Zoe's 2013 Reading Goals

I always find it fun to see what people's reading plans are, so I thought I'd share some of my own. I didn't do an awesome job meeting my 2012 goals (found here), but they are really just guidelines for inspiration and with that in mind I'm happy with what I accomplished. I'd rather read things I love than follow some list, but I still adore making lists, so here I am again.

General Goals:
    •    Read at least 5 books of poetry
    •    Read at least 5 novels in verse
    •    Read at least 5 classics (Aesop's Fables by Aesop; )
    •    Read at least 2 plays
    •    Read at least 3 books of non-fiction (Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott; )
    •    Read at least 2 memoirs
    •    Read at least 5 middle grade novels
    •    Finish at least 5 series I've already started (Unearthly Trilogy by Cynthia Hand;)
    •    Read a steampunk book

   •     Read at least 10 YA debuts (Bruised by Sarah Skilton; Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati; If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch; )

    •    Read at least 100 books

Some Specifics:

    •    Read a book by Scott Westerfeld
    •    Read a book by Mandy Hubbard/Amanda Grace
    •    Read a book by Tera Lynn Childs
    •    Restart and finish reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
    •    Read a book by Ellen Hopkins
    •    Read a play by William Shakespeare
    •    Read a book by Libba Bray
    •    Read a book by Haruki Murakami
    •    Read a book by Sarah Ockler
    •    Read a book by Jessica Martinez (Virtousity)
    •    Read a book by David Levithan
    •    Read a book by Abby McDonald (The Anti-Prom)
    •    Read a book by Katie Kacvinsky
    •    Read a book by Neil Gaiman

Do you have any 2013 reading plans? Is there anything I must read in the upcoming year and should therefore add to my list? Let me know :)