A serial murderer, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, is at large in West Yorkshire and the police are struggling to solve the case. 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. Becoming Unbecoming explores sexual abuse, gender violence, blame, shame and social responsibility. In graphic novel format, Una asks what it means to grow up in a culture where male violence goes unpunished and unquestioned,challenging a global culture that demands the victims of violence pay

Becoming Unbecoming

Maggie Gordon

"I have to wonder why so much courage is expected of girls and women in this world."

I borrowed Becoming Unbecoming from the library. The day I read it, I left my house and bought a copy of it as I absolutely needed it in my personal library. 

The book is a surreal memoir of a girl growing up in the 1970s dealing with sexual abuse. Using often bizarre imagery, she tells the story of how she was abused and what it did to her as she matured. She then ties what happens to her into the larger conversation of women's equality and sexual exploitation. She uses the story of a serial killer to tie the narratives together, discussing how society fixates on male violence, erasing the stories and existence of female victims, blaming them for the harm that they went through, or denying that abused happened. It's a stark, uncomfortable, difficult book with hard truths that will leave readers feeling hollowed out. 

The book ends with Uma pondering what the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper would be doing if they were alive, filling the last pages of the book with portraits of them engaging in daily activities as if they had been allowed to grow older and live their lives. Instead of memorialising the killer, she puts the women who were killed back into the center of the narrative, demanding readers to think about misogyny and the violence it causes.

Amanda Wells

This took me a very long time to read. I don't think I was consciously avoiding it - but now I think about it, the subject matter was very sensitive for me given recent events in the lives of those I love. 

I picked it up again this week, and I am so happy I did. I would not in any way call this a happy story. It is the story of Una, and how key events in her life mirror and coloured key events in Yorkshire at the time, as well as general societal attitudes towards sexual violence and women in general (continuing to this day). 

I loved the way Una tells her story. The text is lyrical at times, and often uniquely presented. The images are a wonderful mix of symbols and simplistic depictions of scenes and situations. The very sparing use of colour really makes you focus on the pages where it is used. 

All in all, a powerful book with a powerful message. Not something that's never been said before, but certainly something that I haven't seen said in this way - and that's always good. Since the message is one that needs to be repeated, volume way up.

Becoming Unbecoming

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