A raw, unflinching memoir by a former US Marine Captain chronicling her journey from dutiful daughter of immigrants to radical activist effecting historic policy reform.
After a lifetime of buckling to the demands of her strict Indian parents, Anuradha Bhagwati abandons grad school in the Ivy League to join the Marines—the fiercest, most violent, most masculine branch of the military—determined to prove herself there in ways she couldn’t before.
Yet once training begins, Anuradha’s G.I. Jane fantasy is punctured. As a bisexual woman of color in the military, she faces underestimation at every stage, confronting misogyny, racism, sexual violence, and astonishing injustice perpetrated by those in power. Pushing herself beyond her limits, she also wrestles with what drove her to pursue such punishment in the first place.
Once her service concludes in 2004, Anuradha courageously vows to take to task the very leaders and traditions that cast such a dark cloud over her time in the Marines. Her efforts result in historic change, including the lifting of the ban on women from pursuing combat roles in the military.
A tale of heroic resilience grappling with the timely question of what, exactly, America stands for, Unbecoming is about one woman who learned to believe in herself in spite of everything. It is the kind of story that will light a fire beneath you, and inspire the next generation of indomitable female heroes.
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“Forthright and uncompromising, Anuradha Bhagwati narrates her memoir with same strong voice that her prose exhibits. Bhagwati takes listeners through her life as a Marine after graduating from Yale…She recounts intense and painful experiences during her service…Her direct approach to this audiobook is a service to all listeners. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“Powerfully depicts the forces that shaped and drove her as an unrelenting advocate for women in the military…and of the work that is yet to be done.”
— Phil Klay, New York TImes bestselling author of Redeployment“Bhagwati’s book stands out most as a chronicle of overcoming psychological trauma…[and] about who she became in response to the violence the military trained her to commit.”
— New York Times Book Review“Every person interested in how the military should recruit, train, and retain women must read Unbecoming. And..to better understand how misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexual assault hurt the all-volunteer force.”
— Military Times“[Bhagwati’s] one-of-a-kind voice plumbs multiple avenues for social justice.”
— Yusef Komunyakaa, Pulitzer Prize–winning authorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!