Sweatshop Women: Volume 2 by Winnie Dunn

Sweatshop Women: Volume 2 Reviews

• 
  Natasha (jouljet)

  The second collection of prose and poetry from the Western Sydney Literary Movement. The fresh, diverse anthology shares new voices from this area where I live, bringing place, foods, smells, and the tapestry of languages to the page.
  
  Stories about womanhood, coming of age, and the quest or avoidance of getting married. About school bullies, the taunts from White Aussies, and the rising above. Of honouring heritage, and being embarrassed of difference.
  
  One of the highlights, along with this gorgeous cover art, is Amani Haydar's collection of contributor portraits in the middle of the collection. There was such an extra sense of connection when flipping to the face of the writer of the words I had just read, after each piece.
• 
  Isabella Chilvers

  Winnie Dunn returns with her second instalment of works from Sweatshop Women a collective multicultural literary group from Western Sydney. This second collection explores self identity, personal journeys and discoveries, heritage, home and heart in evocative pieces that tell narratives for the current and future generation. These women are from a range of backgrounds and continue to shatter glass ceilings sharing stories and challenging minorities. Sexuality, racism, white culture, the male gaze, consumerism, traditional fairytales, bullying at school, literacy and language are all issues explored in Volume 2. It is interesting to note the reference to the wise and wonderful Dumbledore and how a person with power and magic can hold such a presence to their followers. I also come to think of the quote from Romeo and Juliet "what is in a name?" with a few of the writers discussing the discrimination in relation to first and last names from different cultures and how no one with an Asian name has their name engraved on a trophy or won't be selected for leadership positions in school. It is the white Australian girls who are chosen, pretty and on the front of magazine covers and billboards. But it is these women of colour who are painted in all their glory in the middle of the book, who work hard, raise children, pass on traditions to the next generation, fear for their hometown and cook up a storm of exquisite cooking that makes these women so superior to the rest. Their stories are ready to tell and there for us to listen. Special thanks to Simon for getting this book for me to read I am very grateful and Liz Hammang. I had never even heard of these books till I saw you were reading them on your page Liz. I thought I'd give them a try and they were so worth it. These books have enlightened me to a new way of thinking a diverse scope of poetry and prose.
  
  Favourite quotes:
  "And we ruled these streets back then."
  "We were not quite Wogs, something more, something else and also something lesser."
  "We floundered in our youth."
  "Ask us who we are, where we are from, and indeed who we are now."
  "Homelands, kin and ourselves."
  "Our parents arrived saddled with the visible and invisible scars of imperialism, conflict, persecution and poverty."
  "And then there is marginalisation, humiliation, discrimination and hatred."
  "This was and always will be Aboriginal land."
  "Sweatshop women is a book for those who craved a different type of narrative."
  "This book is a testament to the importance of stories. Those written, done and those yet to come."
  "These women are challenging the idea that they aren't valued."
  "They are religious, immigrants, indigenous, secular and from other collectives."
  "Many of these women have gone on to win literary awards or sign book deals."
  "We love the struggle. We love the folk. We love ourselves."
  "Aye sis. Here we are. Let us always be moved in you."
  "They just want to evict you for getting a noun or conjunction wrong. Congratulate me when I speak broken English. I am still waiting."
  "Dumbledore's voice rumbles and the train sways left and right. His long white beard and long white face look like that of the wizard. This gives him credibility. What is it with white magic men and yelling out idioms. What I would do to bang a staff, stand on cliff's edge and change the storm."
  "Just a heads up, some bomb has gone off in Colombo. My kid's easter bunny chocolate in shards on the kitchen floor."
  "Churches are now darkened like my living room but with the blackened smoke of charred flesh in faith."
  "Before with the bodies in the same hue as mine were crowned in Sunday best in light of a stained glass virgin Mary."
  "Slowly, in Sydney's inner-west, I pull myself back. Sri Lanka quietly fades, several clicks and flicks away to the back page.
  "Phone between her chin and shoulder. Her arms were arm deep in the kitchen sink."
  "I was bound to my younger sister. I floated above her when she took her first steps. I sat in her shirt pocket when she went to school in an oversized checkered shirt or perched on her at uni. I resigned to my own ghost body."
  "They have the New Idea magazine out with a white blonde woman on the front."
  "Watching mother and grandmother gave her muscle memory."
  "No way, she doesn't do it right."
  "She refused to share the same bath as me scared that my tan might dirty her pearly smooth skin."
  "Is wanting someone whose vocab isn't bruh or cuzy kind of stuck up."
  "My dark hand drifts in the mix as smooth as paint that sets it on fire."
  "With shiny blonde barbie hair and skinny teased me that I couldn't be Goldilocks. You don't even look like her."
  "A 17c Aldi crawler nappy and a mickey mouse 35c walker nappy."
  "There was never an Asian name on any school trophy."
  "Those with white teeth like Ariel have a special type of white privelege."
  “Instead o spending my last dollars at Sephora, I go to Chemist Warehouse.”
  “Brown skin is really different. I doubt my skin, my heritage was tested. I think they were worried I would shoplift. I would rather steal from Sephora though.”
  “So I buy flowers instead. Baby’s breath and carnations.”
  “And there I go for my breast cancer check.”
  “The jasmine in India and the star jasmine at lewisham.”
  “I am not sure if I can afford the toll but its fresh.”