PositiveThe Telegraph (UK)Callard is quite right, and her Socratic conclusion is worth internalising ... It seems rather neat that Socrates would reach the same conclusions as rationalist, atheistic, elite-educated philosophers with bohemian lifestyles. One would be forgiven for perhaps finding these conclusions a little self-serving, although, to her credit, Callard is very keen to be questioned and is clearly joyfully up for disagreeing with you: while we might struggle to emulate Socrates all the time, Callard’s book reminds us that we need more philosophy than ever.
Edited by Roxane Gay
MixedThe GuardianWhile the tone is overwhelmingly confessional, bar Michelle Chen’s essay which provides an overview of sexual violence committed against migrants and refugees, many of the writers understandably steer away from detailed accounts of traumatic events, preferring to focus on the act of telling a story, often after many years, and moving beyond the common rationalizations \'well it wasn’t that bad\' or \'others had it worse\' ... Yet for all the book’s timeliness, and though many of the accounts are moving, there is a sense of uncertainty that hangs over it. By treating \'rape culture\' in its broadest sense, perhaps something is lost. When Aubrey Hirsch writes that \'if rape culture had a downtown, it would smell like Axe body spray and that perfume they put on tampons to make your vagina smell like laundry detergent.\' it is not altogether clear where \'rape culture\' begins and ends and where consumer capitalism begins. But perhaps this is the point.
