What do you think?
Rate this book
Wrong Face In The Mirror: An Autobiography Of Race And Identity
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
3 people want to read
About the author
Lolo Houbein
10 books3 followersBorn in Holland, Lolo Houbein came to Australia at 24 with her husband and children after growing up in an atmosphere of war. She studied the University of Adelaide, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Australian Literature, Anthropology and Classics in 1975. She later studied at the University of Papua New Guinea, and gained a Graduate Diploma in Teaching from the Adelaide College of Advanced Education in 1978.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 3, 2019
It's hard to know how to rate this very strange mix of sense and nonsense. I like the hippy pacifism that runs through and the strongly anti-racist tendency but the way she exoticises other races is a bit off-putting as well as her lack of substantive insight into her own privilege. I think I will rate it quite low because it was so hard to read, it seemed to jump all over the place, especially in the beginning and was oddly reticent about what I assume (from the hinting) were romantic relationships- although in a way I loved that sex and romance were secondary to the real businesses of thinking and being.
There was a gender essentialism that she occasionally wrote out of and it was hard to see how much (if any) of that was tongue in cheek. Decentring males in her life though seemed a good move when she finally got around to it. I have to remember this was published in 1990. It was written when I was still growing up and its overly positive projections for a future I probably would have even shared back then. At least she mentions the need to be more environmentally conscious.
It's peculiar, dated...possibly someone older would enjoy it more than I did. Or possibly they would be more impatient with it as I might have put my irritation to one side at times because this was a very old person talking, one that I would potentially meet in a food co-op or a consciousness raising group or women's life-writing circle.
Anyway I am glad she got time to make choices, reflect and write her thoughts.
There was a gender essentialism that she occasionally wrote out of and it was hard to see how much (if any) of that was tongue in cheek. Decentring males in her life though seemed a good move when she finally got around to it. I have to remember this was published in 1990. It was written when I was still growing up and its overly positive projections for a future I probably would have even shared back then. At least she mentions the need to be more environmentally conscious.
It's peculiar, dated...possibly someone older would enjoy it more than I did. Or possibly they would be more impatient with it as I might have put my irritation to one side at times because this was a very old person talking, one that I would potentially meet in a food co-op or a consciousness raising group or women's life-writing circle.
Anyway I am glad she got time to make choices, reflect and write her thoughts.
Displaying 1 of 1 review