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Friday
Mar162012

Gender Studies Professor Observes MCs

What a gripping book.  I typically have trouble reading nonfiction, but I coudn't put this down.  Ms. Johnson, the honesty and courage of your story and its telling are inspiring.  While I was raised in a secular family, I found a lot to relate to in "An Unquenchable Thirst", as will other intelligent, dutiful girls and women who worry their looks make them unlovable.  A particularly bright student of mine in an American literature survey course once observed that the dynamic the Puritans imagined between themselves and God resembles an abusive relationship, and I couldn't help but think of this as I read about the rigid hierarchy, orthodoxy, and seeming masochism of the Missionaries of Charity.  

...From Melissa Strong.  Melissa Strong is an English professor specializing in American literature and gender studies.