Second-wave feminism: The Multiverse edition - When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill (Review)

 A/N: This review contains mild spoilers for When Women were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. This is your spoiler warning. 

The two most important revelations I’ve had over the course of reading this book (it was quite a journey) are that I’m terrible at botany- I have looked at random vegetation and wondered if giant cilantro was a thing and the casual misogyny my parents must face on a daily basis considering they have daughters. I think they’ve heard it all, from - “You must save money for the marriage of your daughters.” to “Oh. You have daughters” said in the way you express condolences for a relative’s death. I have massive respect for how my parents have dealt with all of this in the 21st century without a complaint. This is important to note because it will be referenced later. Now let’s get on with my review for the hard-hitting piece of literature that Kelly Barnhill’s ‘When Women Were Dragons’ turned out to be.

When I picked this book up I wanted to read about female rage and justified vengeance against all the casual and purposeful misogyny in the world, enacted upon by fierce, fire-breathing dragons. Well, that was NOT what this book was about. For the most part at least.

It’s set in the 1950s and is an allegory for the second-wave feminism that had erupted in the US during this era. The book is written as a personal account accompanying historical documents, research paper extracts and government document snippets revolving around a fictional event called the Mass Dragoning of April, 1955. It tells the story of the events before the dragoning and the aftermath left in the wake of such a chaotic metamorphosis that changes the working structure of their society.

The ‘Mass Dragoning’ is an event where a large population, mainly consisting of women, turn into dragons and leave their house and domestic lives to fly away into the horizon (and beyond in some cases as you come to know later). The personal account part is the fictional autobiography of Alex Green, the protagonist of the book as she lives through a society where everything feminine, including a creature as majestic as a dragon, is considered to be gross to research or even talk about. It follows her childhood as she grows up in a very normal seeming household in the fifties when women were expected to keep house as their husbands went to work and frolicked around with secretaries under the guise of business trips. The story starts when her aunt, Marla deserts them after turning into a dragon and eating her drunkard husband before flying away. Alex’s family takes in Beatrice, Marla’s daughter as their own and vows to never speak of Marla again. 

What follows is a frustrating read about how the world treats the vanishing act with such misogyny. The news articles surrounding the event are destroyed, the government treats the whole situation, which was clearly witnessed by the other half of the population that did not vanish, as a giant hoax. Talking, researching and publishing about it soon becomes un-American and taboo. People looking into the matter are arrested, research articles destroyed, media outlets are closed and labs are ransacked. The dragons become an uncomfortable topic that are spoken in hushed tones and never in public.

Alex narrates the tale of growing up with a mother who is a genius mathematician reduced to a housewife because her father is a terrible, terrible human being.

When her mother passes away from cancer, her father abandons Alex and Beatrice and moves in with his pregnant assistant and starts over. And then proceeds to mail them money monthly to run a household by themselves while being a horrible father. This is where I’d like to call attention to my previous statement about how grateful I am for my parents because he could die and be reborn a million times and never even come close to being ten percent like them. Honestly. 

The amount of rage I felt at him for abandoning his children, cheating on his wife, then proceeding to be a complete and total buttface by saying things like Alex should just marry someone nice instead of going to college had me stress crying on my daily commute to work. So if you ever catch a person reading this book on the metro and weeping, be nice. 

Alex is portrayed as a confused child, who doesn’t understand why femininity is uncomfortable, who grows up to be a teenager uncomfortable with her own femininity. It shows you how ideas from the media and society affect children and their perspectives of themselves. She’s taught to avoid conversations about her body and dragons and aspire to be nurturing and timid by nature. The saving grace for Alex comes in the form of Mrs. Gyzinska, the headstrong librarian of their town's library. She helps her study and excel at academics and plan her future while juggling the task of raising her sister Beatrice all by herself.

Mrs. Gyzinska provides a safe space for Alex and also as it turns out to be- everyone running from the government because of their research involving dragons. She's the best character of all time and I aspire to be like that fiery old lady if I have the good fortune of growing old.

As to why you should read this book about women suffering in the 50s- it's the characters. As much as I advocate educating oneself with history by reading allegorical literature it's rather hard to face such depressing issues and acknowledge their presence in current society without the pleasant experience of fascinating characters. 

There's Beatrice, the sweet young kid who lives with no care in the world, bouncing around with the energy of a supernova. Her mother Marla, who worked as a car mechanic before turning into a large reptile with glittering scales. Marla had been a pilot in love with another woman called Edith. There's the librarian whose character I do not want to spoil for you because it is hilarious to discover the quirks of this sweet old lady by yourself.

The book has magical realism with elements like metamorphosing into dragons and magic knots. It's well written and the representation is pretty good- though the main focus is on white, American women for the most part. While I know a common criticism would be that you cannot talk about feminism without being intersectional, which I do agree with. I also feel that it is unfair for us to expect every author to write about all classes and races of women within a single book. The human experience is vast and no matter how much is written about it, I feel like it still fails to encompass every single individual's journey through this cosmos.

What follows is a considerable spoiler for people who like their literature to be surprising and unexpected so please don't read it if you're one of them. 

For the ones who don't mind, the best part of the story is the last third, when the dragons return. It felt like vindication and that was so sweet after all that suffering and patriarchy. The dragons come back and are stubborn and integrate themselves into lives with humans. Alex reunites with Marla and her partners. And it was just wonderful. I loved the ending, it brought me so much peace and hope.

Here are some of my favourite parts of the book:

‘Beatrice and I were made for each other. We were the paired wings of a dragonfly, or lightning with its necessary thunderclap, or the spinning dance of binary stars.’

‘I learned much later that in 1955, he, too, came home to a dragon-destroyed house. I also learned that there had been a message burned into his front door, left for all to see. It’s said I considered eating you, but I couldn’t risk the indigestion. Thanks for nothing.’

‘Bertha Green the paper read. I found myself mouthing my mother’s name, rolling it over my teeth and tongue. I had never said her name out loud before. Her name was only mother. What else had been taken away from her, I wondered, besides her name.’

‘In a brief, wild moment, I imagined it filled with dragons. Burning houses. Burning buildings. Swallowing men whole. I imagined the entire Mass Dragoning happening again, but bigger this time – every city, every town, every block, dark wings and sharp jaws and bright scales crowding the sky. I imagined myself unleashed, unhooked, unravelled, an explosion of heat and rage and frustration.’

‘From his present cell, Mr.Wyatt wrote another epic poem about a brave engineer who single-handedly attempted to quell the beastly nature lurking inside girls and mould them into what Christendom requires – that they be chaste, industrious, obedient, and good. And despite his tireless efforts, monstrous nature prevailed.’

‘And I moved in. With my sister. And four dragons – Marla, Clara, Jeanne and Edith.

Clara the singer. Jean the construction specialist. Edith the caretaker. Marla, who made sure that everything worked.’

‘Sometimes, I feel that we’re all tricked by love, and its rigid requirement of pain. In any successful marriage, one partner must face the reality of being very old, and very alone. What is grief, but love that’s lost its object?”

Shit Alex’s dad said that made me want to strangle him.

‘What use is a college diploma for a person who is perfectly happy keeping a lovely home? Foolish use of money, if you ask me. And time. And for what, really? She took a spot at the university that could have gone to a smart boy with a bright future who would likely have gone on to produce something of value. Seems like a waste to me.’

‘Your mother did it. Without anyone showing her how. Your mother's sister did it too, after your grandparents passed, she finished raising your mother all by herself. It’s not that big of a deal. Anyone can do it. It’s just, you know. Nature.’

‘I thought I made myself perfectly clear on the subject of a university education for young ladies. But since there is still some confusion allow me to clarify:

No, I will not fund, assist, or in any way support any attempt at higher education for you, past high school.’

‘Your teacher informed me that he wrote you a recommendation to attend the university. Under duress, I am assuming. You know how I feel about your continued education. Waste of time. Waste of resources. You’re ready to be a productive citizen right now, do your part in this great American economy. Also, this is how girls land good husbands, and isn’t that what you want?’

A/N: There’s so many more things this book has that I wish I could discuss, but that would make the review 48 pages long. I’m going to spare you the details so that you can enjoy them if you decide to give the book a read. 

Thank you for reading the third installment in my ‘Women of Words’ series where I read feminist literature by a new feminist author each month. Though feminism doesn’t only pertain to women- I named the series so that the acronyms could be WoW because I thought that was funny.

To read the previous installment, here’s my take on The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson.