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bookslifeandeverythingnice's review against another edition
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Phyllis Chesler for an ARC copy of the ebook for review. As always, an honest review.
My rating is actually 2.5 out of 5 stars, but since there isn't half stars I always round up.
I jot down notes while I read books, things that I want to remember for later to write my book reviews. For this book I had such conflicting notes written that I had a hard time figuring out what I thought overall. But it comes down to these two things. Number 1: I appreciate and respect the advances the author made in the feminist movement. Number 2: I disliked the tone the book was told with. Too angry and judgmental.
Starting out with the positives, because we could all use a little more positivity in our lives. The author's voice is strong, clear and powerful. There's no mistaking who she is and what she stands for. Her book tells her story as a feminist over the years, working to make things better for others. Looking back on how our society used to be for women makes me extremely grateful for the feminists before me. All the hard work they put in allows the women of today to have the rights we do. I learned a lot about feminist history in the U.S., especially when it pertains to the author's life story.
However, the tone of the book makes it much less pleasant to read than it could have been. There's a lot of judgment and anger. It's understandable given the circumstances, but it doesn't appeal to me. There's also a lot of information, and it can be a bit too much at times. Maybe if your'e extremely familiar with feminist history, this won't be the case for you. Also more of the book than I would like was the drama between the feminists. Not my cup of tea.
Overall Phyllis Chesler did a lot of good in her lifetime, but the writing feels angry and unapproachable. Informative, authentic, but not for me.
My rating is actually 2.5 out of 5 stars, but since there isn't half stars I always round up.
I jot down notes while I read books, things that I want to remember for later to write my book reviews. For this book I had such conflicting notes written that I had a hard time figuring out what I thought overall. But it comes down to these two things. Number 1: I appreciate and respect the advances the author made in the feminist movement. Number 2: I disliked the tone the book was told with. Too angry and judgmental.
Starting out with the positives, because we could all use a little more positivity in our lives. The author's voice is strong, clear and powerful. There's no mistaking who she is and what she stands for. Her book tells her story as a feminist over the years, working to make things better for others. Looking back on how our society used to be for women makes me extremely grateful for the feminists before me. All the hard work they put in allows the women of today to have the rights we do. I learned a lot about feminist history in the U.S., especially when it pertains to the author's life story.
However, the tone of the book makes it much less pleasant to read than it could have been. There's a lot of judgment and anger. It's understandable given the circumstances, but it doesn't appeal to me. There's also a lot of information, and it can be a bit too much at times. Maybe if your'e extremely familiar with feminist history, this won't be the case for you. Also more of the book than I would like was the drama between the feminists. Not my cup of tea.
Overall Phyllis Chesler did a lot of good in her lifetime, but the writing feels angry and unapproachable. Informative, authentic, but not for me.
amarrymeinbostonacademic's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
dmccarthy620's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this book. Phyllis shared so many interesting personal stories about the people I learned as the founders of feminism. Hearing her talk about the struggles Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem had was so fascinating to me. These movements are so complicated and everyone has their own agenda, even the leaders. It was incredible to hear it from her perspective.
pagesandnights's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.0
I purchased this book under the impression I would be receiving a history of the second wave feminist movement in the USA from the viewpoint of people from the movement. I missed entirely that this was primarily a memoir from one of the people in this movement. Phyllis did not hold back any opinion or gossip or bias in this book, which provided some insight into the real lives of the women of the movement. I believe the information in this book has some value to it, though am no longer under the impression it is unique or all together accurate. I also found her writing obnoxious, dry, and often rude, making it difficult to sympathize or like her. Perhaps read strictly as a memoir or from the perspective of a more knowledgeable feminist, someone could enjoy this, but I did not, and I would not recommend it.
mgraham04's review against another edition
3.0
This is an interesting account of second wave feminism as it was happening and as it grew into third wave feminism. It touches on all of the controversial happenings of the 60’s-90’s and Chesler’s generation of feminists. The book gave interesting insight to the actual realities of many second wave feminist’s lives.
The biggest issue i have with this book is the mild (?) islamophobia. While i can kind of understand where she was coming from (given that she was held against her will by her afghan husband and his family in afghanistan for several months and experienced first hand the sexism in islamic countries) in saying that hijabs and niqabs are oppressive, in places with freedom of religion, from my understanding at least, it is generally the woman’s choice to decide to cover herself up and is a spiritual journey that takes years to become comfortable with. I don’t think her opposition to woman’s choice in non-islamic countries was justified at all and it just didn’t sit with me right? i don’t know if this is politically incorrect or religiously incorrect but from the knowledge i currently have, the statements made about hijabs and the likes are islamophobic, and coming from a generally cultured woman and vehement feminist, i was not expecting these kinds of words.
Otherwise the book was well written and generally informative, had a little bit too much drama included for my taste but a good insight into late 20th century feminism.
The biggest issue i have with this book is the mild (?) islamophobia. While i can kind of understand where she was coming from (given that she was held against her will by her afghan husband and his family in afghanistan for several months and experienced first hand the sexism in islamic countries) in saying that hijabs and niqabs are oppressive, in places with freedom of religion, from my understanding at least, it is generally the woman’s choice to decide to cover herself up and is a spiritual journey that takes years to become comfortable with. I don’t think her opposition to woman’s choice in non-islamic countries was justified at all and it just didn’t sit with me right? i don’t know if this is politically incorrect or religiously incorrect but from the knowledge i currently have, the statements made about hijabs and the likes are islamophobic, and coming from a generally cultured woman and vehement feminist, i was not expecting these kinds of words.
Otherwise the book was well written and generally informative, had a little bit too much drama included for my taste but a good insight into late 20th century feminism.
elizabethjstewart's review
3.0
I'll hold my hand up to start with, I picked this book up mainly because the sub-title caught my eye, I'd never actually heard of Phyllis Chesler but born in the 1940s New York she has an incredible journey to share, and her new memoir A Politically Incorrect Feminist doesn't seem to hold much back.
More than anything, I found this book genuinely interesting; it wasn't always the most thrilling or compelling read but it was always interesting. Chesler was there to witness and play a large part in a part of feminist history I (embarrassingly) know very little about, so I am glad I've read it. It definitely accessible, I went into this pretty blank and didn't feel like I was missing out by not being her number one fan.
There are a lot of names in this book, for people who have follow Chesler's career or been around during the times she's describing they may well be familiar to you but I found it quite confusing at times. There was also what felt like hundreds of references to her many previous works, obviously she's written a lot of books and they have been a massive part of her life and career so it can be expected that they'll come up but it started to feel a bit repetitive with the phrase "In my book..." appearing in every other paragraph; I ended up giving this three stars as I was quite lost in places.
More than anything, I found this book genuinely interesting; it wasn't always the most thrilling or compelling read but it was always interesting. Chesler was there to witness and play a large part in a part of feminist history I (embarrassingly) know very little about, so I am glad I've read it. It definitely accessible, I went into this pretty blank and didn't feel like I was missing out by not being her number one fan.
There are a lot of names in this book, for people who have follow Chesler's career or been around during the times she's describing they may well be familiar to you but I found it quite confusing at times. There was also what felt like hundreds of references to her many previous works, obviously she's written a lot of books and they have been a massive part of her life and career so it can be expected that they'll come up but it started to feel a bit repetitive with the phrase "In my book..." appearing in every other paragraph; I ended up giving this three stars as I was quite lost in places.
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