Rating: 4 out of 5

I picked this book to read in episodes after enjoying that format when reading the micro seasons book (Light rains sometimes fall). So I’ve read an article every three or so days since February. As this is a collection of standalone articles anyway this has been an appropriate way to read it and has (usually) left me smiling as I consider the joy being described wondering if I’d consider a joy as well.


I highlighted the following from the article “Pockets” as it’s a shared frustration!

“Pockets are a feminist issue. Pockets are a class issue. Dedicated histories have been written on pockets. Research has been conducted. I appreciate all of it, because I simply adore a pocket. Even Ötzi (born 3345 BCE), popularly known as the Iceman (so popular in fact that Brad Pitt got a tattoo of him, loved a pocket. In his case, to carry flint and dried tinder fun-gus. Pitt probably loves a pocket.”

“Women, too, love pockets. And yet, we are continually stifled. It is thought it was circa the seventeenth century when pockets began to be sewn into clothes. Men’s clothes, that is, not women’s. (Although the word ‘pocket’ is a reference to the pouches women wore around their waists.) Pocket inequality remains: a 2018 study by website The Pudding found that pockets on women’s jeans were 48 per cent shorter and 6.5 per cent narrower than those on men’s. Often, garments for women don’t even have pockets. Worse is the trend for fake pockets. I don’t know who invented this charade, but I wish them a life of standing barefoot on upturned plugs.”

Originally posted to my Goodreads account