Asking For It by Louise O'Neill and a Mother/Daughter Trip to Dublin, Ireland
In June, my mother and I had the privilege of presenting on the panel together at the Transatlantic 3: Women of the Green Atlantic Conference. If you haven't traveled with your mom yet, I would highly recommend it. My mom and I both have literary interests, so we both enjoyed going to see Ulysses at The Abbey Theater, walking along the water, scouting local book shops, touring Trinity College, and taking a tour of the coast line and Malahide Castle. Ireland is a beautiful country, and I encourage others to enjoy its mystic presence on the other side of the ocean.
At the conference, I discussed Asking for It by Louise O'Neill, which was published in 2016. O'Neill's critically acclaimed novel touched on issues pertinent to the #metoo movement before the movement took full force one year later. Emma, the 18 year old protagonist, endures sexual assault. She receives support from some family members and friends, but living in a small Irish Catholic town intensifies Emma's experience after the life-changing night's incidents. Many people in the town, including the local priest, side with Emma's attackers over her. She also faces cruelty on both Facebook and Twitter, oftentimes from people who do not even know her personally. Since most people know each other in Emma's small town, Emma's parents face career and personal pressure because of the incident, which takes an emotional toll on Emma, who is already trying to overcome trauma. I am at work on a longer paper about the novel, which I hope to publish in an academic journal.
Asking for It, in my opinion, could be considered either YA or New Adult due to the content and to the age of the protagonist. I would recommend it to high school and college students, as well as to adult women, but it may be too explicit for middle school classrooms, particularly as a whole class read. That said, I admire the author's activism as shown in writing this novel and in sparking an important conversation about sexual assault, consent, and the potentially harmful effects of the misuse of social media. Today's adolescents and adults alike need to consider consent issues and related civil rights. The #metoo movement has empowered survivors of sexual assault to speak out about their experiences. Hopefully, O'Neill's novel will also empower young women who have endured sexual assault and help them to realize that they are not alone.
At the conference, I discussed Asking for It by Louise O'Neill, which was published in 2016. O'Neill's critically acclaimed novel touched on issues pertinent to the #metoo movement before the movement took full force one year later. Emma, the 18 year old protagonist, endures sexual assault. She receives support from some family members and friends, but living in a small Irish Catholic town intensifies Emma's experience after the life-changing night's incidents. Many people in the town, including the local priest, side with Emma's attackers over her. She also faces cruelty on both Facebook and Twitter, oftentimes from people who do not even know her personally. Since most people know each other in Emma's small town, Emma's parents face career and personal pressure because of the incident, which takes an emotional toll on Emma, who is already trying to overcome trauma. I am at work on a longer paper about the novel, which I hope to publish in an academic journal.
Asking for It, in my opinion, could be considered either YA or New Adult due to the content and to the age of the protagonist. I would recommend it to high school and college students, as well as to adult women, but it may be too explicit for middle school classrooms, particularly as a whole class read. That said, I admire the author's activism as shown in writing this novel and in sparking an important conversation about sexual assault, consent, and the potentially harmful effects of the misuse of social media. Today's adolescents and adults alike need to consider consent issues and related civil rights. The #metoo movement has empowered survivors of sexual assault to speak out about their experiences. Hopefully, O'Neill's novel will also empower young women who have endured sexual assault and help them to realize that they are not alone.
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