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Sand Queen Helen Benedict 9781569479667 Books

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Sand Queen Helen Benedict 9781569479667 Books

I teach at a small, rural community college in southwestern New York. It's a job that provides me with an opportunity to meet and learn from quite a few veterans of our Middle Eastern wars. I just finished a summer course that included five vets in a class of twenty, two of whom were female. When I ask my female students who have served overseas about gender issues in the military during war, I hear the same story, one detailing a systematic, relentless, pattern of harassment. (And I hear this only when I ask; otherwise, these students are typically silent on the issue.) These young women are often subject to combat situations, without the official recognition or public awareness that they are; they are in many ways not fully accepted into our male dominated military, without adequate official recognition or public understanding that this is so; they are routinely burdened by degrading gender-based stereotypes and are too frequently threatened or actually assaulted, without any just recourse; upon return to civilian life, they are seldom treated to the token "thank you for your service" greeting from fellow citizens (one given countless times to our male veterans) who are unable to perceive them as warriors; when they break down, they are less likely to be understood and, when they are treated, are subject to relatively unhelpful care modalities that were developed for males.
For several years now I've wondered how and if any of this will change. I've assumed that for it to, the men who control our military institution will have to want that change, and that our public will have to encourage them to want it. My optimism that this transformation is possible has been bolstered by Helen Benedict's Sand Queen. My hope is that it becomes required reading for those responsible for structuring our military organizations, and that it is read as well by all who believe our courageous young women in the military deserve to be treated fairly.
Sand Queen is, though, much more than a vehicle for potential change in the military. Its fundamental humanness and the political questions raised by that perspective encourage the reader to also consider the ends to which our huge and powerful military is used. In addition, it is a creatively told story about sympathetic, well-drawn characters whose lives parallel and intersect in ways that hold the reader's interest until the book's end.
Now, when the war's toll is finally beginning to be felt by more of us, when clarity is beginning to replace frenzy, we may be ready to assess and address the issues raised by this important novel. I hope you read it. I hope you encourage others to do so as well.


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Sand Queen Helen Benedict 9781569479667 Books Reviews

I'm only on page 70 but so far it has been very interesting. A page turner for sure.
I'm a fool for taking so long to read this. It's too late for the Iraq war, but we need to remember how many innocent people suffer for freedom???
And we train our,soldiers to kill.....how do we expect them to behave when they get home
If you care about women, if you care about the experiences of women in the military, if you care about what it is to live in a warzone, Sand Queen is a must read. You will smell and feel and see Iraq through the lens of two women from different sides of the conflict there.

I cannot say enough good things about this book, but I can tell you that I have been working on a multi-platform project about disabled female veterans for two years, I have been working with veterans for 7 years, and I was ambushed by the emotional intensity and intellectual depth of Sand Queen.

This book will push your deepest buttons. Land mines come to mind.
I read this book as a writer myself, interested in the craft issues of how true stories can be successfully fictionalized. Taking inspiration from her work on The Lonely Soldier (essays), Benedict has fictionalized some of her interview subjects' stories in her essay collection and turned it into a compelling, heart-breaking novel in Sand Queen.
This was a powerful book about women in wartime--very grim account of how badly American women GIs were treated by their fellow soldiers in early years of Iraq war, with parallel story of how the war impacted Iraqi women too. Altogether and unrelievedly grim tale, but believable and well-written. Could be the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the 21st century, if enough people cared about the issue to read this book. I read it as women were finally officially approved for combat in the US military--but the book makes it abundantly clear that women HAVE BEEN on the front lines for years, and fighting off the incredibly sexist abuse by their superiors and fellow soldiers as they fight the enemy. Not an easy read, but an important one.
Really gritty. Very hard story but seemed almost too real
I think it's really importent to be shown the negative side of war- really easy to swallow the hype of the neo-cons who generally never served yet have never seen a war they didn't like, at least from a distance. That being said, although there were things I liked about this novel I found the characters rather one-dimensional and lacking in any kind of character development. Plot elements relied strongly on coincidence. Love interests were written in the adolescent soap opera vein. The primary male heroic {?} figure seems to me just a slicked up sleazy version of the bulk of the male soldiers, which, if I thought it was intentional I would appreciate much more.
What I liked about this story was the way the perspective of the Iraquis was presented. I liked the interplay between the two story lines. I was surprised the ending worked well, for me at least.
Having served in Nam, I know a bit about serving in war. That politically correct term "warrior" never occured to any of us as far as I know- we were just kids counting the days. The Iraqui invasion had to be worse than what we faced. Extended deployments. Uncertainty of who the bad guys were. The lack of preparation before we were sent in. Having women serving along side men- which I support- providing a whole different dynamic. These are importent things, and should have been fleshed out more in this novel. That being said, the author did at least provide a taste of Iraq which was more satisfying than the bunk we are usually asked to swallow.
I teach at a small, rural community college in southwestern New York. It's a job that provides me with an opportunity to meet and learn from quite a few veterans of our Middle Eastern wars. I just finished a summer course that included five vets in a class of twenty, two of whom were female. When I ask my female students who have served overseas about gender issues in the military during war, I hear the same story, one detailing a systematic, relentless, pattern of harassment. (And I hear this only when I ask; otherwise, these students are typically silent on the issue.) These young women are often subject to combat situations, without the official recognition or public awareness that they are; they are in many ways not fully accepted into our male dominated military, without adequate official recognition or public understanding that this is so; they are routinely burdened by degrading gender-based stereotypes and are too frequently threatened or actually assaulted, without any just recourse; upon return to civilian life, they are seldom treated to the token "thank you for your service" greeting from fellow citizens (one given countless times to our male veterans) who are unable to perceive them as warriors; when they break down, they are less likely to be understood and, when they are treated, are subject to relatively unhelpful care modalities that were developed for males.
For several years now I've wondered how and if any of this will change. I've assumed that for it to, the men who control our military institution will have to want that change, and that our public will have to encourage them to want it. My optimism that this transformation is possible has been bolstered by Helen Benedict's Sand Queen. My hope is that it becomes required reading for those responsible for structuring our military organizations, and that it is read as well by all who believe our courageous young women in the military deserve to be treated fairly.
Sand Queen is, though, much more than a vehicle for potential change in the military. Its fundamental humanness and the political questions raised by that perspective encourage the reader to also consider the ends to which our huge and powerful military is used. In addition, it is a creatively told story about sympathetic, well-drawn characters whose lives parallel and intersect in ways that hold the reader's interest until the book's end.
Now, when the war's toll is finally beginning to be felt by more of us, when clarity is beginning to replace frenzy, we may be ready to assess and address the issues raised by this important novel. I hope you read it. I hope you encourage others to do so as well.