Hollow: A Memoir of My Body in the Marines
Bailey Williams
Nov 2024 · Abrams
Ebook
320
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
infoThis book will become available on November 19, 2024. You will not be charged until it is released.
About this ebook
A powerful, coming-of-age memoir of one girl’s struggle, adrift in warrior culture
At eighteen, Bailey Williams bolted from her strict Mormon upbringing to a Marine recruiting office to enlist as a 2600 — a military linguist. But the first language the Marine Corps taught her wasn’t Arabic, Farsi, or Dari. It was how Marines speak to, and about, women. There are only three kinds of women in the Marine Corps, she was told: you can be a bitch, a dyke, or a whore.
Determined to prove she’s not whatever it is the men around her believe a woman to be, Private Williams turned to an eating disorder, intending to show her discipline through the visible testament of bone. She ran endurance distances on an increasingly Spartan diet, shoving through her own body’s resistance. Pushed to the brink by a leadership and a culture that demands women shrink themselves, she finally looked to the girls around her, and began to wonder what else she’s losing. Quietly but inexorably, the power of other women’s stories whispered an alternative path to what it means to be a woman, and a warrior.
Hollow is a story for anyone whose identity has been prescribed to them— and has dared question if there is another way to live.
At eighteen, Bailey Williams bolted from her strict Mormon upbringing to a Marine recruiting office to enlist as a 2600 — a military linguist. But the first language the Marine Corps taught her wasn’t Arabic, Farsi, or Dari. It was how Marines speak to, and about, women. There are only three kinds of women in the Marine Corps, she was told: you can be a bitch, a dyke, or a whore.
Determined to prove she’s not whatever it is the men around her believe a woman to be, Private Williams turned to an eating disorder, intending to show her discipline through the visible testament of bone. She ran endurance distances on an increasingly Spartan diet, shoving through her own body’s resistance. Pushed to the brink by a leadership and a culture that demands women shrink themselves, she finally looked to the girls around her, and began to wonder what else she’s losing. Quietly but inexorably, the power of other women’s stories whispered an alternative path to what it means to be a woman, and a warrior.
Hollow is a story for anyone whose identity has been prescribed to them— and has dared question if there is another way to live.
About the author
Bailey Williams is a storyteller and yoga teacher. She served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2008-2011 and attended university at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. When she’s not in the mountains with her very large dog, she can be found in her tiny cabin reading and baking scones. She is grateful to live in Alaska, specifically on Lingít Aaní, the beautiful homelands of the T’aaku Kwáan people.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
