Sakura of DOOM

This is a collection of essays by First Nations writers on Native sex and sexuality, as noted in the subtitle. Unfortunately, I read this book over the span of a month or so and procrastinated on writing it up, so my memory is really fuzzy.

In terms of representation, I think there was a 60/40 male/female split, a handful of essays by two-spirit or LGBT people, and one or two by older people. I don't particularly recall essays that focused on disability or class, although I could also be remembering wrong.

The essays I remember most are the one on boarding school abuse and its affect on the author's sexuality, one on a Native woman choosing to striptease to earn money, and one on older Native sexuality. I also very vaguely remember one citing a myth on incest and hide-and-seek.

Wow, my memory is teh suck!

Oh wait! There was an absolutely hilarious one on the stereotype of Native sexuality in romance novels, and even though the collection is from Canada, I think many of the romances are either the same or extremely similar. That one I did have context for and therefore found it extremely amusing and insightful; I'm guessing many of the rest would have been as well had I known enough. Except possibly the stripteasing one, which I don't think fully encompasses the potential for abuse in the industry, even as women (usually of a higher class) can choose to participate for empowerment. I don't dismiss the potential for empowerment, but I also don't think that's all there is to the story.

Overall, I don't think I got as much as I could have out of the book, largely because I lack the right background knowledge and context to appreciate much of it. Still, that's on me and not on the book, and at least it has given me some places to start with, and many more questions than I have answers.