When I saw Iliza Shlesinger promoting her books on Celebrity Jeopardy!, I knew that I would read them. Not only do I love books by comedians, but Shlesinger's first, Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity, has a foreword written by none other than Celebrity Jeopardy! host Mayim Bialik. So when the husband gave me a copy for Christmas, I was psyched.
In Girl Logic, Shlesinger shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes showing why we women think and act the way we do and why that both helps and hurts us. Yet it's Shlesinger's more serious commentary toward the end that most gripped me:
"Point is, from the get-go, it's been excruciatingly difficult for women to be strong and make our way in this world. We've had to fight hard for everything we've achieved. And sometimes we've had to fight each other. We're taught to do it, we're trained to do it, and our most reactive, base-level Girl Logic tells us we HAVE to do it to get what we want." (192)
I read that and thought, oh my goodness, she's right. Women are taught to fight with each other. That's where the whole mean girls thing comes in. And why if you, for whatever reason, lack that killer instinct, then everything from playing musical chairs to competing for the corner office will rip you a new one. Thankfully, Shlesinger goes on to say that we don't have to play this evolutionarily-rooted and socially-sanctioned game. (Whew!) We can be better than our biology and the men who try to control it:
"Though the irregular, sometimes-irrational headphone cord knots of GL might kick into freak-out mode and tell us other women are out to get us, it's on us to choose how to react -- to take the high road and attempt to act from kindness instead of fear or pettiness." (Shlesinger 192)
Take that, Regina George! (Not that Regina didn't already learn her lesson, what with getting hit by that bus.)
So yeah, I heart Girl Logic: The Genius and the Absurdity. Because I'm always here for hard truths sugar-coated in comedy.
Next stop (at some point!) Shlesinger's, All Things Aside: Absolutely Correct Opinions.
I'm sure it will be absolutely awesome.