Critical Commentary WILD

                                     Critical Commentary WILD

      Megan C. Brown suggests from a New York times article, the thought of a new, “sub-genre”, a self-help memoir. Brown writes, “These memoirs have much to say, to be sure, about physical and psychological self-care, but they also teach readers about the biopolitically linked matters of normative productivity, efficiency, and the management of relationships, particularly as these function within the context of US neoliberalism.” (360)

               

    “The memoir encourages readers to look within and find a way to be productive rather than self-destructive…” (366). I find comfort in this kind of reading, a way to cope, and to deal with similar struggles I’ve encountered. I have a dysfunctional family, I have seen firsthand friends and family struggling with drug abuse, as well as experiencing loss. With all these examples, I can relate to some of Cheryl’s experiences, and reading someone else’s perspective gives me exactly the kind of self-help Brown refers to.

              

     Page 259, Cheryl says she is like a guy sexually. DETACHED. Cheryl admits to her therapist a personal, and emotional secret. This is a time in Cheryl’s book, where she reevaluates her circumstances in comparing herself to a man, sexually. In this part of Cheryl's life, she is searching for a kind of self-fulfillment, an understanding of the way certain circumstances impacted her life. Cheryl sees the resemblance in her gender with the opposite sex. There is nothing wrong with shared gender traits between sexes, and I think Cheryl sees that when she accomplishes the 1,100 mile walk on the Pacific Crest Trail. We should be able to poses the traits of each gender without it being degrading. A woman with a lot of sexual partners is perceived as promiscuous, and has a problem, but a man, well, that’s just normal.

      

       Brown mentions the book Go Ask Alice, my all-time, go-to book as a young teen. I have looked to this particular book for some kind of security, because being able to relate, gives me a sense of liberation. Learning that you are not the only one, that there is a way to get through circumstances you thought would be the end of you, provides a feeling of freedom, of self-awareness, and acceptance. In the thought of a new sub-genre, I agree that it would benefit readers looking for a specific story, for some kind of “self-help”. From familiarity, I have read these types of books, looking for that exact self-actualization in my own life experiences.