The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit (June 2017)
In one of her final essays, Solnit defines a great book as one which lifts people out of their preconceived identities and forces them to extend themselves out into the world. After applying this definition to her collection, I'm ready to conclude The Mother of All Questions was a great book.
One way she accomplishes this is by consistently describing the problems of misogyny in ways an individual can address. Rather than lamenting institutional forces, getting lost in the details of history, or focusing on the actions of specific high-profile individuals, she writes plainly and forcefully about simpler everyday problems a reader can begin addressing immediately. Solnit's solutions to these problems include calling things by their proper names, encouraging witnesses to step forward and speak the truth, and rejecting narratives grouping people into easily-digestible categories.
Silence is one of the ideas Solnit returns to time and again. A person without a voice does not participate in the storytelling process required of a shared humanity. For Solnit, giving another a voice to speak up, be heard, and be counted is among the most important gifts one person can give another.
Perhaps the best way to give a voice is to focus on every artist's most vital task: identifying the truth. There are so many examples of half-truths out there; that domestic violence (often perpetrated by men) is a "women's issue", that movies where women do not speak to each other (unless about men) are 'mainstream films', that women who are paid less for their work (often due to salaries set by men) are being granted 'equal opportunity' in the workplace. At what point will certain colleges (those where women are at a far greater risk of sexual assault than men) admit 'coeducational' is more philosophy than practice at their institutions?
Just by taking the time to describe and name what she sees, Solnit equips readers old and new with the vocabulary to describe the truth and speak on the behalf of the silent. Any person inspired by her writing can do this. Over many hundreds and thousands and millions of readers, these small daily actions will accumulate to push forward the movement towards equality and inclusion she has already contributed so much to through her lifetime of work.
