Review of "The Female Experience" by Luna Ferguson
- Megan Diedericks
- 3 hours ago
- 1 min read
"feminity is godly but oh so deathly
it is the warmest of demons; harvester of souls" (bloodline)
The Female Experience by Luna Ferguson is like a warm hug from, and a good cry with, someone who understands.
There is an insane darkness that I think lingers in every woman, like Luna wrote in "the things he did": untouched women do not exist—this collection of poetry perfectly captures said darkness; the things that affect and haunt us all.
And between the honesty and brutality of The Female Experience, there's also a feeling of belonging throughout—the beauty that comes from shared experiences, the lighter ones, like braiding each other's hair or whispering secrets.
I highlighted so many passages and titles, it's difficult to say that one poem stands out above the other!
Here are my favorite pieces: "a delicate flower," "the woman in the garden," "brutality," "child mothers," "even in death," "growing pains," "the deals they make," "corrupted girlhood," "feminism ≠ all women," "it's because he likes you," and "her dress."
With powerful lines like:
— "a bear wouldn't defile me for entertainment" (man vs bear)
"even skinless they would hunt for a woman's raw meat" (a woman's guide to peace) —
I think this collection will stay with me for a long time, if not all time!
The Female Experience is worth the read a million times over, even if you do it with tears in your eyes.
