Sunday, November 6, 2016

TOW #8 – IRB: Eating Fire, My Life as a Lesbian Avenger by Kelly Cogswell (Part II)



In the second half of Eating Fire, My Life as a Lesbian Avenger the lesbian activist group has officially started to disband. The rumors of the group being racist and exclusive have ruined the reputation of the organization. All of the original leaders have distanced themselves from the organization in order to protect their own person reputations, Kelly Cogswell and her girlfriend Ana were some of those leaders. Upon leaving the group Kelly and her girlfriend decide to live in Paris for a few years. They feel that a brief hiatus from America will help them find who they are again.
            Kelly’s primary audience is minorities and people who are unsure of who they are. After finishing the book, I no longer believe that Kelly’s purpose is to speak the truth of the Lesbian Avengers. Instead I believe her purpose is to teach her audience that it’s important to find your identity.
The end of the book is less about the activist group and more about Kelly herself. Due to the group disbanding because of rumors of white supremacy and exclusion Kelly felt like she lost who she was at the beginning of the group. This is why the whole second half is more about her than the group. 
Kelly achieves her purpose through her use of personal anecdotes. Kelly retells her struggle of trying to remember who she was before she helped created the Lesbian Avengers. With the help of her girlfriend Ana she travels through Europe and rediscovers her identity as a lesbian and an activist.

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