They, these are women, often young, who, in public spaces, under the gaze of those who leer at them, question them, care for them or touch them, see their identity reduced to that of the body; their breasts, their buttocks, their legs, their uterus. In the video clubs where they work alone, under the viaducts that they have to cross at night, pepper in their pockets, in the bed of the person who shares their life, on public transport, in the doctor’s office, that they remain silent or whether they appear free or exuberant, they are rebuffed, put “in their place”, that of femininity as defined by men, with what it implies of fear, shame, of abuse. With this confusing collection, Montreal writer Pier Courville weaves a quilt of stories about the ordinary and sexist violence that women experience on a daily basis. The stories, although independent of each other, accumulate, organize themselves, enter into relationships; disparate pieces forever torn from their owner, which now form a fragmented body, symbol of all oppressions. Impactful.
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