The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

[teleen_fiction]

I generally don't do book reviews - the "book review" tag was created for this entry - but in this case I'm making an exception.  Also, you'll notice that this is not so much a review as a comment on the reflections on society that this book has provoked within me. 


I never knew I was a second-class citizen. 

I've only begun to realize it in the last few years.  I honestly never understood how much men feel that they have a right to my body, whether I'm willing or not, a right to my attention, whether I'm willing or not, a right to ME, whether I'm willing or not.

It sucks.

It sucks to understand that because of no other factor than my gender, I'm automatically considered not quite good enough.  My opinions hold less weight.  Men are permitted to treat me like a child and at the same time aren't held responsible for their actions if they should do me harm. 

The double-standard is so pervasive that it's utterly staggering.

Most women who are reading this aren't surprised by my observations - they've known all of this for years.

Why didn't I?

Naivete is one reason.  Upbringing is another.  But in truth, it's "just the way the world works," and has been for thousands of years.  For thousands of years, women have been considered less, probably because (sorry, men), from a purely biological standpoint, we're more.  Men realized very early on that they simply weren't as necessary as women (from a "survival of the species" standpoint, FAR fewer men than women are needed to keep us from going extinct) and so they put in artificial blocks to keep us dependent upon them.

They made themselves indispensable.  They made themselves needed.  

They did it by subjugating women.

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" puts all of this in stark relief.  It gives an in-depth look at the mind of the worst of men and how they feel about women.  "Cunt," "slut," "whore," "bitch..."  All of these pervade the book in the minds of the antagonist misogynists.  And even the main male protagonist, who is generally a cool guy, is guilty of thinking, "How the hell could someone as little as Lisbeth ever fight back?"

And that's what this book is about.  Women fighting back.  Strong women surviving alone in a world that is designed to make them need a man for survival and support.  

There are also stark statistics at the beginning of each section of the book:

"Eighteen percent of the women in Sweden have at one time been threatened by a man."

"Forty-six percent of the women in Sweden have been subjected to violence by a man."

"Thirteen percent of the women in Sweden have been subjected to aggravated sexual assault outside of a sexual relationship."

"Ninety-two percent of the women in Sweden who have been subjected to sexual assault have not reported the most recent violent incident to the police."

And Sweden is supposed to be one of the most egalitarian societies in the world. 

And reading this article, it turns out that the Swedish title of the book translated as, "Men Who Hate Women."  Which makes sense, as I couldn't imagine Larson calling Lisbeth Salander a "girl".  At the very least, this book should have been translated as, "The Woman With The Dragon Tattoo."

If you think of the differences in images one's mind conjures up between "woman" and "girl," one can immediately see which one should have been Lisbeth's epithet.  A woman is mature, powerful, and strong.  A girl... is not.  As a side note, I've been really working on calling every female over the age of 18 a "woman," regardless of how mature she acts.  Except at work, because where I work, men don't want women.  They want girls.  I've starting using "dancer" everywhere I can, but I still find myself asking customers, "What sort of girls do you like?" and feeling more and more uncomfortable as I do so.

Getting back to Lisbeth - our English-speaking culture needed to keep her small and helpless.  Hell, all of the previews I've seen for the new movie portray Lisbeth as some helpless-looking shrinking violet.  Yes, in the book her helplessness is an illusion, but I find myself wondering if the strength of her character will come through in the movie or if she'll simply be a sidekick to Daniel Craig?  

In the book, Lisbeth Salander is the most badass character I've ever seen.  If you piss her off, she WILL fuck your shit up.  And her moral code is of the black-and-white variety, so very similar to how I, myself, think and feel.  There are very few shades of gray in Lisbeth's world.  You're either a good person or you're not.  

And if you're a misogynist, no matter to what degree, you're not.  If you treat women as less than men, you're not.  If you treat women as children, you're not.  If you feel that men hold no accountability for their actions towards women because women are always at fault for the poor behavior and judgement of men, you're not.  

Women are human beings.  We have the same frontal lobe as men do.  Yes, men and women are different, but the differences are so small as to be completely unimportant, especially as technology bridges the gaps.

Cis-men have more muscle mass.  Female-bodied persons can have babies.  

Those are basically the only differences.  People go on and on about how "men and women think differently," about women being "nurturers" and men being continually horny and at the mercy of their hormones while at the same time being more rational and logical (DOUBLE STANDARD), all of which being used to delineate gender roles that have no place in an egalitarian society.  

A man can be a better parent than a woman.  A woman can use tools to lift heavy things.  

In fact, the only thing that a cis-gendered man can't do that a female-bodied person can is have a baby.  

That's it.  

And it's that difference that I believe has been the direct or indirect cause of all of the subjugation of women throughout the centuries.   

Men have bone-deep feelings of fear, envy, and uselessness when it comes to childbearing.  They know that they provide absolutely none of the actual mechanical energy required to bring a new human being into this world.  In the area of childbirth, they're relegated to the background, providing a supporting role only, with women taking center stage.

And so they've done everything in their power to make everything feminine, everything integral to the survival of our species, seem weak.  They've been subtle about it by saying that because of our vulnerable state during pregnancy, we need their "protection."  Because no woman has ever given birth and gone right back to work.  Or worked right up to the last hours of her pregnancy.  

Here's the thing - when infant and maternal mortality were at their zenith, I can see the argument for said "protection."  I can see the argument, but it doesn't mean that I don't loathe the misogyny that's come out of it.

We don't live in that world anymore, though.  We live in a world where a woman can have control over whether or not she contributes to the gene pool.  We live in a world where martial arts and guns and tasers and Mace can help to level the playing field when it comes to a woman protecting herself.  We live in a world with medical technology that means there are actually too many humans than are needed for survival of the species, which means that anyone who wishes to be a parent (male or female) can adopt a child.

In all of the previous statements, you'll notice I said "can," NOT, "is allowed to."  

The last 150 years or so have been very confusing for men, especially the last 50 or so.  In their minds, women are telling them, "we don't need you."  That's not the same as, "we don't want you." Our patriarchy is having difficulty seeing the difference and so, in a lot of cases, men have actually become MORE misogynistic in some ways.  

They see the sexual revolution as a threat and so are doing everything they can to hold onto their power.  

Sex trafficking still happens in every country in the world.  Forced marriages still happen in every country in the world.  Rape still happens in every country in the world.  Victim-blaming still occurs in every country in the world.  Reproductive rights are threatened in every country in the world.  Women aren't paid the same as men or given as much political power as men in every country in the world.  There is literally no place on Earth where misogyny is not the norm. 

"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" points this out in stark relief.  It shines a light on everyday misogyny, on the ways that our patriarchy still treats the female gender as a whole as incompetent children who need men to look after them.  And it points out how any woman who dares to fight back is treated as someone who secretly wants to be a man or is abnormal or other such nonsense. 

I honestly thought I had gender dysmorphia.  It's only just now hit me that I don't.  I am a bisexual woman and have no desire to change the body into which I was born.  What I want to change is not my gender identity, but how my gender is perceived.  I want to change the idea that women are weaker, less intelligent, less capable... less.  I want to be respected as a human being.  I want to know that my opinions, thoughts, and feelings matter because I am intelligent and capable and have something to add to the conversation.  

I want "woman" to be a synonym for something other than "weak."  

Finally, to be very clear, I love men, but I loathe how they're socialized.  I loathe the patriarchy that excuses every grope, inappropriate advance, rape joke, misogynist comment, and bad behavior in general.  I loathe that if I don't want men to approach me, I have to wear a chattel mark - excuse me, "wedding ring."  I loathe that if I'm the primary breadwinner, my husband gets shit from our friends for it.  I loathe the "men's rights movement," something that always makes me throw up in my mouth a little because men already HAVE all the rights.  Period.  (Note: anyone bringing up women who've "trapped" men by getting pregnant and/or "cried rape to ruin a man's reputation" or other similar bullshit will have their comments screened and be banned from this journal.)  I loathe the idea of "misandry" - as if women are in any sort of position to systematically oppress men in the way that we're systematically oppressed. 

I loathe that I could lie on my resume and say I've been a housewife for the last twelve years and it would probably be more readily accepted than my being a stripper.

I loathe that the strip club industry is dominated by men even though women are doing most of the work.  I also loathe that a coffee shop that features women wearing skimpy outfits is automatically considered to be "non-sexist" because a woman is running it.  I loathe that even though I like my job, I'm considered both "anti-feminist" and a "fallen woman" for doing it - I literally can't win on either side.  

I loathe my father for telling me that the only place where a woman could dominate the industry was in a sex-based job, essentially because women lack the basic drive to be the "best" anywhere else ("A woman is defined by who she is; a man is defined by what he does," are words I heard often growing up), but in areas such as porn, stripping, etc., they have a natural advantage because men are horny.

Even having this for context, I still love my job.  I love the freedom of it.  I love having all of these "mini-relationships" with different men.  I love the feeling of power I get when I dance.  It is very empowering, if the woman is strong enough to make it so.  When I'm dancing, I'M IN CHARGE.  No one touches me without permission and if they do, I can enforce consequences.  If I don't like what someone says, I get up and walk away.  I both demand and TAKE respect while I'm at work and I feel it's something that will serve me well moving foreword in life.

Not every woman with whom I work is so lucky, which is why I can understand why some feminists are opposed to what I do.  In some ways, I'M beginning to be opposed to it, at least in the way it stands now, where it's the only place left where sexual harassment is not only legal but encouraged.  

But I digress. 


If you consider yourself a feminist, whether you are male or female, I highly recommend "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."  Not only is it a wonderful murder mystery, but it may provoke deep thoughts as it has for me, :).