A timely and heartfelt collection of essays inspired by the #MeToo movement, edited by acclaimed author Janet Gurtler. Featuring Beth Revis, Mackenzi Lee, Ellen Hopkins, Saundra Mitchell, Jennifer Brown, Cheryl Rainfield and many more. When #MeToo went viral, Janet Gurtler was among the millions of people who began to reflect on her past experiences. Things she had reluctantly accepted–male … accepted–male classmates groping her at recess, harassment at work–came back to her in startling clarity. She needed teens to know what she had not: that no young person should be subject to sexual assault, or made to feel unsafe, less than or degraded.
You Too? was born out of that need. By turns thoughtful and explosive, these personal stories encompass a wide range of experiences and serve as a reminder to readers that they, too, have a voice worthy of being heard–and that only by listening and working together can we create change.
more
“You Too?” is a collection of 25 essays, mostly by published authors, with an introduction by editor Janet Gurtler, who also includes her own story. “In 2018, #MeToo stories began exploding across my social media feed, bringing back memories of the harassment I experienced as a young woman coming of age in the late seventies and early eighties.” As such, she “set out to collect stories from a diverse group of writers who were willing to share their personal encounters.”
Most of the authors tell their stories for the first time in these pages, often feeling that what they experienced wasn’t “bad enough” to be included in this anthology. It’s tough reading about the verbal and physical abuse experienced by these girls (and one boy) via the words and actions of boys and men, not only because of their sex but for their color, nationality, sexual orientation, even body size. They were made to feel like they had done something wrong and were left feeling both fear and shame. They reflect on these incidents and regret not having acted at the time and reporting the behavior of their abusers. This is the message they wish to convey to the young readers who may be experiencing the same sort of abuse:
“I should have been using my voice and standing up to harassment. […] Call out harassers. Speak for those who are too afraid, and let others speak for you when you can’t. There can be consequences for harassers and predators of all types – and there should be.”
On a positive note, these women all came out stronger because of what they endured. And, guess what? Me too.
Should be compulsory reading for all teens – both girls and boys – and their parents.
Warnings: coarse language, sexual references, rape, incest, LGBTQA themes.
Full blog post (8 January): https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2020/01/you-too-edited-by-janet-gurtler.html
This collection of short stories reveals a sad truth about our society where young women are still objectified, and in some cases, abused. Each story is different, but there are underlying themes that run though many of them. “It’s the woman’s fault” is one, guilt is another, and shame.
Some made me cry, some made me angry, but all of them made me aware.
**WARNING: This book does contain trigger themes involving rape/incest/sexual harassment/abuse.**
You Too? is a collection of short stories and it gives us all a good dose of reality: In today’s world, it is far too common that females from childhood to the teenage years, (as well as oft documented adulthood) are still objectified, and in way too many cases, abused. As if the experiences themselves weren’t nightmarish enough, the message they often receive is “It’s the girl’s fault”, that they should feel guilty and worse yet, ashamed of themselves.
As the mom of teenage girls, this breaks my heart. I believe that all teenage girls should be given the chance to read it. The fact that this book helps to bring the issue into the light and lets the girls know that they are not alone, is the first step to handling, treating and correcting the problem.
#MeToo #YouToo
5
A huge thank you to Inkyard Press, Net Galley and Lola’s Blog Tours for providing me with this copy to read. I am voluntarily leaving my review and all opinions are my own.
Because I have my own #MeToo story, I was definitely interested in reading this book and being able to recommend it to others. While I didn’t completely finish the book, it’s not because it wasn’t worthwhile to read. It’s because after a while the stories started to depress me a bit. Yes, I definitely connected with and felt so much about the stories and authors was true for me as well. And I do think it is an important book to have and for others to read. But for me I couldn’t keep going because in the end, I just was getting more and more depressed. However I still will try to purchase it for my school library, because I think it is helpful to read and know that other people have dealt with situations that still today we don’t always feel we can talk about or actually confront those who have done these things to us. There was even something in one of the stories that was very much that thought, that she wondered if she had only spoken up sooner or even done more if she could have saved others who might have had to go through what she did. There was also in one story something that really stuck out to me because it is something I have struggled with as well. There was a guy I who was a part of a group of friends I had from my part time job about 10 or so years ago. He said something that really stuck out to me, about how a girl only thinks a guy flirting is creepy when she is not attracted to him. In the one story that made me think of this comment, the author talked about how her boss, a boy that was like 19 when she was still 16 or 17, who was her boyfriend, did treat her special at work because she flirted back with him and let him touch her. Gave her extra time off, better jobs to do, etc. She quit when they broke up because it was too hard to see him every day. Her next job she found and was told shortly after that she’d only been hired because of her large chest. She was also told by those same fellow female coworkers if she would just flirt back and play along with the much older male manager’s flirting and advances, she would again get lots of special privileges like easy tasks, more weekend days off, and the like. But with this much older man, it was creepier to her and unwanted. And in the end, when she did not give in, she ended up losing her job, and the other women who did use those tactics to their advantage were not happy with her putting up the resistance and causing problems.
Another big topic that came across and really stuck with me was about how we are taught as women not to be rude or make a big deal out of things. I currently work with a man who is about 20 years older than me, and he has always done things or said things that kind of are creepy in a sexually forward manner at times. But because it isn’t anything major, no touching or any threats because he’s not in a role of power to me, and other than those occasional comments he’s really a pretty nice guy, I don’t do anything. Even though other girls, younger than me, making him at least 40 years older than them, have expressed similar feelings about it. I should say something, I should, right? But is it worth it? That’s the way our society works. And I hate it. But am I still a part of the problem not saying anything myself? So those are the things that made me not finish the book for myself. Although I did read through a few of the stories of authors that I have read before and wanted to support them as well.
I do highly recommend it. Just know that it will be a hard read for a lot of it, but worth it, and these stories deserve to be heard.
Like Roxane Gay’s “Not That Bad” for teens, this collection of essays reflects on the harassment, assault, and brushes with rape culture that these authors had when young (kids or teens) – and the lifelong effects those experiences had. The stories were incredibly heart-wrenching and powerful, but many of the essays ended with platitudes and cliches that diluted that power (although, I know this was written for teens, who maybe aren’t savvy enough yet to get the messages without direct statements like that).
You Too? was not an easy read–and it absolutely shouldn’t be. It made me uncomfortable, it made me cry, and it made me think. It made me remember things I didn’t really want to remember, and it made me want to give a copy of this to every young person I encounter, male and female.
There are authors in here I already knew, and authors who were new to me who I’m absolutely going to be looking for more from. There was even an author I’d watched in a viral video in 2018. (It made me cry then, and I cried again reading her story here.)
You Too? is a book of secrets, of confessions, and of truths. It’s not an easy read, but it’s a book that demands to be read, shared, and discussed. Bring tissues.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
1 in 3 girls. 1 in 5 boys. Sexual abuse and assault needs to be talked about.
You Too? releases today! 25 authors share their #MeToo stories, with essays by me, Ellen Hopkins, Beth G Revis, Mackenzie Lee, Janet Gurtler, Jennifer Brown, Patty Blount, Jess Capelle, and more!
This is a powerful, honest, validating anthology that tells survivors of sexual abuse, rape, sexual assault not they are not alone, and helps people who don’t have those experiences see just how widespread it really is.
Survivors need to know that they’re not alone. They need to know that they’re not to blame. This anthology can help.
Every teen should have access to this book. Every school and library should have one.