Grace BlakeleyĪ beautiful book about the intimate lives and bold ideas of a range of Communist women, people who built their revolutionary dreams into reality. Required reading for anyone seeking out an alternative to #girlboss feminism. The women Ghodsee profiles are committed socialists who realise that women's liberation is incompatible with capitalism, and who also frequently struggle against the centralisation of power within their own countries. Red Valkyries is a fascinating alternative history of the feminist movement, told from the perspective of the east rather than the west. Can we still imagine this, in our era obsessed with victimization? Slavoj Zizek The five figures analyzed were fighters who pursued the feminist cause through their full engagement in revolutionary political struggle. Ghodsee's Red Valkyries is exactly the book needed to correct this misperception and help feminism to rejoin its radical past. In our historical moment, quotas of women in power positions and correct manners or expressions are obfuscating the long historical link between feminism and radical politics. Written with clarity and zest, Red Valkyries is an illuminating introduction to the extraordinary lives of prominent socialist women in the Soviet Union and Bulgaria. Kristen Ghodsee breaks down the wall liberal feminism built in women's history, bringing to life a vision of emancipation that continues to be worth fighting for. We've needed this book longer than we know: celebrating and learning from revolutionary socialist women, Red Valkyries gifts us with models essential to today's struggles. In brief conversational chapters–with plenty of concrete examples from the history of the state socialist countries in Eastern Europe and contemporary reflections on the status of women in the world today–Ghodsee renders the big ideas of socialist feminism accessible to those newly inspired by the emancipatory politics of insurgent left feminist movements around the globe. Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to force their sometimes callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these five women pursued novel solutions with lessons for activists of today. Their lives were filled with inner conflicts, contradictions, and sometimes outrageous privilege, but they still managed to move forward their own political projects through perseverance and dedication to their cause. None of these women were "perfect" leftists. By examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the 19th and 20th centuries–the aristocratic Bolshevik, Alexandra Kollontai the radical pedagogue, Nadezhda Krupskaya the polyamorous firebrand, Inessa Armand the deadly sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko and the partisan turned scientist turned global women’s activist, Elena Lagadinova–Kristen Ghodsee tells the story of the personal challenges faced by earlier generations of socialist and communist women. The very ending of the film felt rather overly silly though, which is my only criticism but its not enough to knock any marks off my rating.Through a series of lively and accessible biographical essays, Red Valkyries explores the history of socialist feminism century Eastern Europe. In fact I would sum this up as a Stephen King type horror story for the family. This film reminds me of my favourite old dark fable movies with child protagonists such as Night of the Hunter, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Lost Boys. The soundtrack was pretty bombastic (reminiscent of Michael Giacchino "Roar" track from Cloverfield) which was great but perhaps a little too over used when a bit more subtlety was needed in certain moments of the film. With a couple of good twists and a sprinkle of humour thrown in the mix. How he eventually grabs their attention will have you cheering like hell. The child antagonist was absolutely superb playing the typical "why won't the grown ups listen to me" role. But there were a few people in my audience who chuckled loudly and as for me, I did so, quietly, and fleetingly wanting to just watch the film unravel its mysteries. It wasn't a big deal to the on screen characters and I suspect somehow that the film makers are not expecting it to be a big deal with us either. Bizarelly, there is quite a bit of male nudity but its in such a way that you should think nothing of it. Its not gory as this is one of those less is more type of films but it is quite creepy. This was an excellent little Christmas horror film but good enough for older kids above 13 to watch. Just seen this at a Preview Screening in London.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |