LoveReading Says
I’m always slightly disappointed at how many people never read graphic novels. This one is exceptional; a tough, hard-hitting memoir of abuse set in Yorkshire against the background of the 1977 Yorkshire Ripper manhunt. As this national news story unfolds around her, Una finds herself on the receiving end of a series of violent acts for which she feels she is to blame. This spectacular novel explores gender violence, blame, shame, and social responsibility. Through image and text Una asks what it means to grow up in a culture where male violence goes unpunished and unquestioned. With the benefit of hindsight Una explores her experience, wonders if anything has really changed and challenges a global culture that demands that the victims of violence pay its cost.
Selected by our December Guest Editor, Joanne Harris
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Becoming Unbecoming Synopsis
This extraordinary graphic novel is a powerful denunciation of sexual violence against women. As seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old girl named Una, it takes place in northern England in 1977, as the Yorkshire Ripper, a serial killer of prostitutes, is on the loose and creating panic among the townspeople. As the police struggle in their clumsy attempts to find the killer, and the headlines in the local paper become more urgent, a once self-confident Una teaches herself to "e;lower her gaze"e; in order to deflect attention from boys.After she is "e;slut-shamed"e; at school for having birth control pills, Una herself is the subject of violent acts for which she comes to blame herself. But as the police finally catch up and identify the killer, Una grapples with the patterns of behavior that led her to believe she was to blame.Becoming Unbecoming combines various styles, press clippings, photo-based illustrations, and splashes of color to convey Una's sense of confusion and rage, as well as sobering statistics on sexual violence against women. The book is a no-holds-barred indictment of sexual violence against women and the shame and blame of its victims that also celebrates the empowerment of those able to gain control over their selves and their bodies.Una (a pseudonym) is an artist, academic, and comics creator. Becoming Unbecoming, which took seven years to create, is her first book. She lives in the United Kingdom.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781551526553 |
| Publication date: |
3rd October 2016 |
| Author: |
Una |
| Publisher: |
Arsenal Pulp Press |
| Format: |
Ebook (PDF) |
| Primary Genre |
Non-Fiction Books of the Month
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| Other Genres: |
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Una Press Reviews
'Unflinching, heartbreaking and utterly compelling. Una's story explores how the public silencing of women's voices too often creates a private hell.' - Emma Jane Unsworth
'Male violence against women is a major problem - for all of us. This exploration of blame and shame brings home that fact in an immediate way, but also with great delicacy.' - Mary Talbot
'This is a beautiful, haunting, take on Peter Sutcliffe's reign of terror, and the women and communities he destroyed. The bare fact is, as Una beautifully explores, that females are living under a reign of patriarchal power that requires us to take the rough with the rough. Except we don't. Una illustrates - through prose and graphics - how this fightback is taking place. Consume this book, and be prepared to join the revolution.' - Julie Bindel
'Delicate in construction yet uncompromising in message, Becoming Unbecoming is an astonishing testament to the potency of visual metaphor.' - Andy Oliver
'Make no mistake, this is one of the most important comics works of 2015.' - Broken Frontier: Comic of the Week
'Brilliant, brave and fiercely intelligent... I read it in one sitting.' - Kerry Hudson
'Touching, moving and tackling a really serious subject. A wonderful, wonderful book.' - Jenni Murray, BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour
'Honest, matter-of-fact and absolutely gut-wrenching... shows what happens when women refuse to be silent. Read this. Get angry. Start shouting.' - Emerald Street
'A sensitively rendered yet powerful exploration of the blame and shame culture that surrounds sexual violence... Becoming Unbecoming should be read by everyone.' - Pamreader
About Una
Una is an artist, academic and comics creator whose work aims to explore lived experience within a socio/historical context. Her self-published graphic narratives have covered disability, psychosis, political activism and violence against women and girls. This is her first graphic novel. She lives in Yorkshire.
More About Una
