Sunday, April 11, 2010

Book Club Talk: Week Two

The Dirty Girls Social Club

3. Elizabeth is the only foreign-born of the sucias and yet she spends the least amount of time thinking about her Latin identity. There are two big reason for this. What do you think they are?(Sunshine)Elizabeth has expressed that she is never more at home then when she is in Columbia. She finds the city alive and colourful and she feels that all cities should be like this. Elizabeth is a lesbian (I know big shock) and in Columbia being who she is would be an impossibility. There is not even a word for lesbian in their vocabulary. Elizabeth is also a news anchor. She has an incredible job and she is well respected in the community. She is not just a woman who is a mother or a cook (that is all that she could be in Columbia) she is free in her American world. Free to dream and to achieve and be anything that she wants to be. However, she carries with her a big burden. Her celebrity status and the lack of understanding for her being a lesbian in her mother's world and in her current work place make her hide behind her sad mask. She is in a relationship with Selwyne but she wishes that Selwyne were Lauren. Lauren is her deep and longing love but she has never been able to reveal that to anyone outside of herself out of pure fear. What is she so afraid of? I think that it is humiliation and rejection by her colleagues, her fans the sucias, her best friend Sara, her mother, Selwyne and most of all Lauren. I feel really bad for her. On the outside she appears to have it all, but on the inside she is depriving herself of real happiness. Well, now will Elizabeth's world come crashing down or will it pave the way to freedom. (Carolin)I think it is very interesting that we live in a time of supposed enlightenment and acceptance (this is what the entertainment world tells us anyway) but that same world is the first to try to embarrass one of their own. Because I have always lived in the same area I don't understand the desire to live in one place but wish you could live back where you came from. Elizabeth is caught between worlds. She will have to make the hard decision to trust at some point. Why is it that you can be friends with someone for years, close friends and still have secrets????

4. Sara seems to feel some responsibility for what is happening in her home life. do you agree that she is partly to blame? Why, or why not?Sara's story made me very sad. People like Sara hold onto this secret from almost everyone. In Sara's case, her live-in housekeeper knows the truth and so do the boys to some extent. My heart aches for Sara and the way that she is treated. She is always made to be demeaned in some form or other. The physical and emotional abuse that she endures on a daily basis is horrible. I think that in Sara's world she justifies it because it's easier and because she feels that she is deserving of the treatment that she is getting. There is no one there to tell her that this is wrong and that she deserves better. There is no one there to tell her that her children cannot continue to live in such a disfunctional place. Sara hides behind all of the gifts. I think that secretly she would love Roberto to change and she knows that there could still be passion between them without physical violence and emotional abuse. Will Sara understand and free herself from this torture? Maybe for the sake of her children. I am afraid for Sara and her children and I worry for her unborn child. Sara really wants the baby to be a girl but I cannot imagine what life this girl would have with a father who has such a skewed view of how all women in the world are to be treated. I hope that Sara tells Roberto about being pregnant before he ends up hurting Sara and the baby. Sara is a victim of circumstances but for the sake of her children, she needs to make a drastic and immediate change. Out of all the sucias we have met so far I would say Sara is the one I would least like to be friends with. Though I do not condone the abuse she gets from her husband (the jerk) I have a hard time with the, "well, the broken or busted lip was worth it cause I got a new car or remodelled bathroom out of it." She is such a materialistic spoiled person I don't know if she will ever see that what is happening is going to end up killing her. I have never figured out the, "battered wife syndrome." She justifies the abuse to a point by saying she is just as abusive. So far I feel all of these ladies are living false lives. I do not believe any of them are happy. They all come from disfunctional backgrounds and this book is pretty predictable at the moment. I hope there is a twist at some point, soon!

5. Do you feel Amber's anger is justified and is she getting her message across? Amber, I think that she is a complete and utter nut. She spends so much time getting her message out to others that she herself forgets to live. She will not rest until the world sees things her way. Good luck with that. There are other views and opinions in life and that is to be respected. How can people try to understand her when she tires to understand no one. Its her way or the highway. It seems to me Amber wants to be different so bad that she will do just about anything to not look main stream. I am interested to see what her reactions will be if she is offered a record deal and will she eventually 'sell out'. I guess I am assuming that the meeting is about a record deal. Maybe not. I also think she is working way too hard at being who she is outwardly and not feeling the same on the inside. Again, I still feel we are in the set up stage and I am hoping this book gets better, fast.

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