“There is a feminist proverb I learned from my mother: The personal is political. There's a powerful literary stereotype that men write about war and politics and public life, while women confine themselves to family and food and personal life.” MenWritingWarPoliticalMotherPowerfulFeministStereotypePersonal LifePublic Life Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“We're taught that domestic life is not a "serious" political topic, like war and peace, but the fact is that we spend most of our lives doing everyday things: at the dinner table, in the kitchen, washing dishes, grocery-shopping, commuting. These things make up the fabric of our lives.” WarFactsPoliticalLife IsOur LivesTaughtSeriousTablesEverydayDinnerKitchenShoppingDishesFabricTopicsGroceriesWashingDinner TableGrocery ShoppingDomestic LifeEveryday ThingsWashing DishesCommuting Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“I chose to write about food: food is inherently political, but it's also an essential part of people's real lives. It's where the public and private spheres connect. I wanted to show readers that the larger politics of war and economics and U.S. foreign policy are inextricably bound to the supposedly trivial details of our everyday lives.” PeopleWritingWarRealShowsWantedPoliticalPolicyReaderEssentialsEconomicsEverydayBoundsDetailsReal LifeSpheresForeign PolicyEveryday Life Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“For my generation - the "Children of Nixon," as I call us in the book - the Lebanese civil war was an iconic event. Downtown Beirut became a metaphor for so many things: man's inhumanity to man, what Charles Bukowski called "the impossibility of being human." It shaped our perceptions of war and human nature, just as Vietnam did for our parents. We used it to understand how the world works.” MenWorldHumansChildrenBookWarUsedParentGenerationsEventsHuman NaturePerceptionMetaphorCivil WarVietnamBeing HumanImpossibilityMy GenerationIconicDowntownInhumanityBeirutLebaneseInhumanity To Man Author:Annia Ciezadlo
“But how can you understand a war without any knowledge of the society where it happens? It's like trying to understand birth without knowing anything about pregnancy or conception. Or like trying to understand our current economic collapse without knowing what a derivative is.” TryingWarHappensKnowingEconomicBirthCurrentsPregnancyConceptionCollapseDerivativesEconomic Collapse Author:Annia Ciezadlo
