Scan barcode
jugglingpup's review against another edition
3.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
Hothead Paisan is an angry homicidal lesbian who wants to destroy not only the patriarchy, but all men in general. The only one who is spared her anger and sees her as a sweet person is her cat, Chicken. This high dose of rage and violence at first attracted me to the Hothead series, but it in the end pushed me away. The author opens the book by saying that Hothead was her way of expressing anger and that she is not as violent as her characters, but my issue is the character is so violent and so much of a second wave separatist lesbian that it easily fuels the idea of feminazis.
Much of the reasoning behind Hothead’s views are sound and I can easily say that any sane person should agree that rape is bad, white privilege is bad, male privilege is bad, etc. The problem is the way she wants to deal with it by terrorizing people who may or may not be aware of their privileges and some that are just minding their business. She kills first and never bothers to ask questions. Her friend, Roz, is a much more sane version of Hothead. She sees the same issues, but she sees a different way of going about fixing them. Instead of killing all men and straight people, Roz would rather educate and deal with them in an intellectual manner. She often takes care of Hothead after an “episode” (word from the book that just makes Hothead seem more psychotic than before).
While I like that the views of the author and of many others are getting out there, I don’t agree with the violent or separatist message. I do however love Chicken and will continue to read Hothead and pass it along to friends. While I may have my issues about how Hothead handles situations or about the author herself that does not change that the comic is something I am glad is around as it shows many different ways to solve problems, feminism in many different forms, and has Chicken.
I am grateful for the author starting a dialogue on the issues raised by Hothead (though some of these discussions were started much earlier and have continued with no mention of Hothead). I would consider Hothead on the same level as S.C.U.M Manifesto and other angry though satirical lesbian writings that bring joy and solidarity to many of us feminists.
Hothead Paisan is an angry homicidal lesbian who wants to destroy not only the patriarchy, but all men in general. The only one who is spared her anger and sees her as a sweet person is her cat, Chicken. This high dose of rage and violence at first attracted me to the Hothead series, but it in the end pushed me away. The author opens the book by saying that Hothead was her way of expressing anger and that she is not as violent as her characters, but my issue is the character is so violent and so much of a second wave separatist lesbian that it easily fuels the idea of feminazis.
Much of the reasoning behind Hothead’s views are sound and I can easily say that any sane person should agree that rape is bad, white privilege is bad, male privilege is bad, etc. The problem is the way she wants to deal with it by terrorizing people who may or may not be aware of their privileges and some that are just minding their business. She kills first and never bothers to ask questions. Her friend, Roz, is a much more sane version of Hothead. She sees the same issues, but she sees a different way of going about fixing them. Instead of killing all men and straight people, Roz would rather educate and deal with them in an intellectual manner. She often takes care of Hothead after an “episode” (word from the book that just makes Hothead seem more psychotic than before).
While I like that the views of the author and of many others are getting out there, I don’t agree with the violent or separatist message. I do however love Chicken and will continue to read Hothead and pass it along to friends. While I may have my issues about how Hothead handles situations or about the author herself that does not change that the comic is something I am glad is around as it shows many different ways to solve problems, feminism in many different forms, and has Chicken.
I am grateful for the author starting a dialogue on the issues raised by Hothead (though some of these discussions were started much earlier and have continued with no mention of Hothead). I would consider Hothead on the same level as S.C.U.M Manifesto and other angry though satirical lesbian writings that bring joy and solidarity to many of us feminists.
600bars's review against another edition
2.0
As the title suggests, Hotheaded Paisan is a Homicidal LesbianTerrorist who spends all her time isolating in her house chugging coffee watching TV and getting so furious at the media that she works herself into a frenzy. If she ever goes outside she engages in extreme cartoonish violence toward nearly any man she sees. I get that the over the top violence is cathartic and cartoonish (she does things like pull dude’s spines out of their body through their asshole) but it does get pretty repetitive. Hothead isolates herself and only feels anger, because she doesn’t really have a community or anywhere positive to channel her (justified) anger at the misogyny and homophobia of the world. She gets so angry watching TV that she paralyzes herself. She has one friend, Roz, a friendly older butch who is blind, who constantly tries to get her to stop watching TV and go touch grass. Obviously I get why Hothead’s so enraged all the time, there are so many -isms in the world. She doesn’t feel she can do anything about the problems of the world other than despair, with occasional moments of catharsis through violence. Hothead is reminded by Roz and by a little lamp that represents her superego that this defeatism is what the powers that be want and she’s playing right into their hands. Hothead is the precursor to people who sit on twitter all day and work themselves into a frenzy of anger that goes nowhere and helps no one. (I’m occasionally guilty of this! We all are)
I try to keep in mind that this was made almost 30 years ago and gender discourse is very different and this is supposed to be over the top etc etc, but I was uncomfortable with some things here. The misandry is VERY focused on penis mutilation. Near the end of the collection she meets Daphne and they begin to fall in love. I thought this was going to be a real turning point for Hothead, because she was in dire need of love and friendship. I thought the implication was that Daphne was a trans woman and I thought that was going to throw a wrench in Hothead’s whole anti-penis biology based hatred. Daphne’s gender is intentionally left ambiguous, but I read after finishing that the author has made some womyn-born-womyn comments so I think my interpretation might be wrong. Hothead has such contempt for femininity that she often sounds just as misogynistic as the men she hates so much. The superego figures, the lamp and the 4th wall breaks with the author, and Roz, all criticize Hothead pretty often for the fact that she frequently replicates the same type of hatred she ought to be fighting against. So it’s clear that Hothead is meant to warn against becoming so isolated and angry that you can’t function. Alas I wanted to like this much more than I did, I mean Hothead is demonstrating an important lesson about how/why the oppressed can oppress, and I like the drawing style, but it became pretty tedious to have Hothead get violent over and over again, learn from Roz/Lamp etc why that outburst was unproductive, and then never change in the next installment.
I try to keep in mind that this was made almost 30 years ago and gender discourse is very different and this is supposed to be over the top etc etc, but I was uncomfortable with some things here. The misandry is VERY focused on penis mutilation. Near the end of the collection she meets Daphne and they begin to fall in love. I thought this was going to be a real turning point for Hothead, because she was in dire need of love and friendship. I thought the implication was that Daphne was a trans woman and I thought that was going to throw a wrench in Hothead’s whole anti-penis biology based hatred. Daphne’s gender is intentionally left ambiguous, but I read after finishing that the author has made some womyn-born-womyn comments so I think my interpretation might be wrong. Hothead has such contempt for femininity that she often sounds just as misogynistic as the men she hates so much. The superego figures, the lamp and the 4th wall breaks with the author, and Roz, all criticize Hothead pretty often for the fact that she frequently replicates the same type of hatred she ought to be fighting against. So it’s clear that Hothead is meant to warn against becoming so isolated and angry that you can’t function. Alas I wanted to like this much more than I did, I mean Hothead is demonstrating an important lesson about how/why the oppressed can oppress, and I like the drawing style, but it became pretty tedious to have Hothead get violent over and over again, learn from Roz/Lamp etc why that outburst was unproductive, and then never change in the next installment.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
4.0
Surreal, full of non-sequiturs and random tangents, but lots of fun, and definitely a great wish-fulfillment tool at times. (Honestly, I would enjoyed even more violence by HH. Her revenge on the rapists was one of my favorite bits.)
meganmilks's review against another edition
5.0
hothead! roz! daphne! CHICKEN!!!! i love this book and its characters. i think this could be the most personally significant book i've read since blood and guts in high school, i mean on the grounds of channeling so strongly its politics and aesthetic approach. and it's so self-aware too. maybe i'll put some more articulate thoughts together some other time. all i wanna do now is gush. this book is a genius and therapist to many.
thomasroche's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, so apparently I'm not supposed to like Hothead Paisan, partially because Diane DiMassa is reported to be transphobic. I guess I can see that, plus the whole hating men and wanting to kill them thing. I'm not saying I approve. I'm just saying I laughed. But then, I'm a bad person.
kathleenish's review against another edition
3.0
As part of an in depth, navel-gazey return to everything I liked in the 1990s, I reread this book.
mvprince's review against another edition
5.0
Hothead Paisan (homicidal lesbian terrorist) is such a cute little nutball. She's been driven insane by our sexist crap culture, and it has driven her to acts of terrorism (or justice, depending on how you look at it ... maybe "vigilantism" would be a more accurate term). This book is funny, thought-provoking, and it makes me feel better when I'm pissed off at the world.
tvancort's review against another edition
5.0
This was one of the very first things I ever bought on Amazon (with a gift certificate) and it shaped my first few months of "Recommended for You" suggestions hilariously. I regret nothing, and this book is hella cathartic.
More...