REVIEW: MONICA McCLURE – MALA

mala-web-cover

 

from Petocha

Virginity is $$$

in a vintage velvet pouch

Touch her if you can for virginity is

no real

but she is wanting

to be touched

 

Not being a woman, and not having a daughter of my own, I think that I look at Monica McClure’s Mala (Poor Claudia) from a completely different perspective. In a way, it makes me take a look at how I’ve noticed women over my lifetime, and at what age I went from innocent glances to stares of desire – even if at an early age I wasn’t really sure of it was I desired.

I was always brought up to treat women with absolute respect, but reading through this chapbook makes me wonder if that was always the case.

This beautifully written, hard-hitting chap, takes aim at the hyper sexualized culture we’ve grown so accustomed to over the last few decades, but more importantly at her own culture, and their sense of what it means to be a woman – and maybe just how much of a woman one is allowed to be.

Split into four sections, we get the story of a young girl growing into herself, into her sexuality, and away from some of the pressure of her culture. As a girl, she is taught to be pure, taught to understand shame. She longs to be touched, but remains untouched for so long it’s as if she’s going to burst. It’s a powerful transition from young and pure to flirty, to knowing about her own sexual prowess, and understanding exactly how to use it.

Grab a copy of Monica McClure’s Mala at Poor Claudia’s website.

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