womens studies

This is a story of a very unhappy woman who tended to always put others before herself. Somewhat of a perfectionist in her job, devoting hours daily to her students and always had to look prim and proper, Mary Kay Letourneau made her mistake when she began to have an affair with one of her former students who happened to be 13 years old (a mere 1 year older than her son, Steven). Although I do understand the powers of love and that age should not be a hinderance, we do have laws, and some of our laws are not written but are morally understood. I was very much impressed with the research Gregg Olsen put into this book and, to the reader, this book comes across as non-judgemental. He gives you the choice to reach within your own morality and decide for yourself if she was rapists, just a woman in love, or a woman who just felt she was above the law. In my opinion, the age is a compelling factor here. As a parent, I wouldn't want my child (boy or girl) at the age of 13, sleeping with a former teacher (someone who is supposed to value education and teach a child good morals and values). Young Vili's future has been forever altered. He had to grow up far too fast. At the age of 15 he is a father of 2 and he doesn't even have a driver's license. If she truly loved him, then she should have done the MORALLY correct thing and wait. Let him grow up to be a man and choose some of his own paths in life rather than deciding his fate for him. My biggest questions are this: Might society have felt differently had this been a male teacher and a 13 year old girl? Has anyone thought about the effects this has had on all of the children? If you were the parent of Vili Fualuaa, what would you have done? Would you have wanted her prosecuted or would you have overlooked it? Read this book and see if you can answer the questions.

I, like most sane people, have long thought Mary Kay Letourneau was a nut case. How in the world, I asked myself, could a woman just a year older than I be in love with a 12-year-old, much less have sex with him? After reading this book, I feel a little differently. I still think what she did was wrong, wrong, wrong--but Gregg Olsen shed light on WHY she might've done it. (I disagree with the other reviewers who said differently.)Mary Kay (who actually has gone by Mary for years--the "Kay" was added by the media)was from a priveleged upbringing, but didn't receive a lot of love and support from her parents. Her mother was very cold towards her--Mary's lifelong best friend is quoted in this book as saying she never once saw Mrs. Schmitz (Mary's mom)show any type of affection towards her. Her father, as many of you know, was an ultra-conservative John Birch Society member who didn't practice what he preached--he fathered 2 children by a mistress. Her husband, Steve, who has been portrayed in the media as a poor victim in all this, also fathered 2 children by mistresses while he was married to Mary, not to mention he physically abused her, once hitting her with his car when she was pregnant. In this book, you gradually see how she never really received the unconditional love she craved, from anyone. This is not excusing her actions--but if you read the book, you can kind of see her gradually separating from reality. She honestly saw Vili (the young boy) as her equal--and truly, in her mind, fell in love with him. She believes him to be her soul mate. And Vili was no pathetic little-boy victim. He was a very street-wise young man who bet his friends he could "nail his teacher" (although he professes undying love for her as well). To me, Mary is definitely somewhat disturbed, to actually think the way she does, and to defy the law after she had been given a second chance. I mean, who in their right mind would risk going to jail for 7 years after they got probation the first time? That's not normal behavior. She was just like a petulant teenager, saying, "Well, I'm NOT going to do that." She was not like a normal 30-something wife and mother of 4. It is actually a very sad story. Like I said, I am not defending her, or excusing her actions. But in this case, I don't believe it was rape. I also don't think she would have done this with any other young boy. It was just the situation, and the two people involved, coming together at that time. In reading the book you learn who Mary Kay Letourneau is, and what makes her tick. I was a fan of Gregg Olsen's after reading "Bitter Almonds" several years ago, and I became more of a fan after reading this book. I think he is an excellent true-crime author on the level of Ann Rule. Read this book, and see if it doesn't sway your opinion just a little bit. Even if it doesn't, it's definitely worth the read.

I thought this book was wonderful! not just the information given to us that the media had left out, but it was able to give me my own informed opinion and not just one the media gave me. I felt after reading this book that although I would never do such a thing I believe they really did love each other at the time, as much as a 13 yr old could and that she was no more sick than a 70 yr old man with a 50 yr old woman. Before I had read this I had the opposite idea. I would recomend this book highly as an unbiased representation of the facts. A very good, cant put this book down read!