I missed yesterday’s question, so I’m doing what any sensible person would do and combining two questions into one post.
Today, July 13th , we continue the discussion for the Beyond Busy Global Monthly Book Club’s fourth book.
Anyone who has read our current discussion book can participate by commenting. You can also join our public BBGMBC Facebook group, if you would like to join us in reading one excellent quality book per month and then discussing it here.
And without further ado, let’s keep the discussion of Imagine: How Creativity Works by Johah Lehrer going.
I had a major disappointment with this book. There were no examples of creative women in the book. None. How many examples of creative men? And no women. He mentioned Julia Child in passing. Why not use her as one of the examples?
Lehrer could have interviewed Karen Karbo, an author who is working on her fourth book tackling the subject of creative women. Thus far she has covered Katherine Hepburn, Coco Chanel, Georgia O’Keeffe, and now Julia Child. Don’t any of these creative women sound like they could have expanded the conversation around a book like this?
I am disappointed in the author. But moreso I am disappointed in the editors and the publishing house. Surely there was a woman working at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt who noticed this oversight.
No?
Seriously?
So therefore the conclusion that we are to draw from this book is that creativity, or at least the only creativity worth talking about on a global level is accomplished by men and corporations. I guess we are out of luck, gals. And frankly I think that stinks. And I hope the author will amend this mistake the next time he writes a book for people not just men and corporations.
What about you? Did you notice that the book did not use women as examples of outstanding creative thinkers? I believe the few who were mentioned were mentioned in passing and were employees of corporations. But check my work. I’d love to be corrected.
Okay. Having said all of that. I still like the book. I think it’s well written. I think it’s thoughtful and creative. I was pulled in to stories about corporate creativity despite myself. And I agree with most of the conclusions.
So question number one is did you notice that there were barely any women cited in this book as examples and question number two is what do you think about this and how does it make you feel?
I think we are all clear about how I feel about it. Maybe I need a reality check, though. You tell me.
I am not interested in attacking Jonah Lehrer. I believe he has been attacked enough in recent days. And I would also suggest that this is not merely an issue in this book but an issue that seems to permeate the entire industry.
I’m interested in your thoughts and comments!
