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jugglingpup's review
2.0
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I grabbed this the second I knew it was a thing. Not only am I a huge nerd when it comes to the feminist movement, but I love graphic novels. So this was surely going to be perfect for me. And it sorta was, but sorta wasn’t.
The good: I learned quite a lot about the first wave of feminism. When I was getting my degree in Women and Gender Studies, we focused mainly on second and third wave feminism. First wave was covered here and there, but it was never the focus of a class. So getting that introduction was quite wonderful. I enjoyed that section, with less issues than I had with other sections. There were a lot of feminist named and a lot of books named. There was room to continue off of this volume.
The bad: the book jumped around a lot. There would be a jump from the 70s to 2017, then back to the 70’s with little structure. There were times when those jumps were pushed off by referencing future pages and then other times when that jump had a weird little chapter, then back to the timeline. There didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason behind which would happen. It was often disorienting. It was also disappointing, because it kept raising my hopes that there would be some critical looks at things, when there really wasn’t any.
There really was no critical look at some of the feminist icons. There was little to no mention of race before it was the sole focus. This lack of coverage really highlighted the issue with racism and how the movement has been historically white, yet it felt more like an accident that this was highlighted considering it was done at the expense of actually covering it. There were multiple times in the first wave section that this could have been talked about, yet it was saved for its own section, which was really aggravating. There was little to no place for women of color in this book. There was even less room for queer people in this book. There was a lot more coverage on the Lesbian Continuum than I expected, especially since it is not named in the book. Most of the coverage for queer people was the lesbian continuum and how others accuse feminists of being gay. Trans people are mentioned only in passing, despite being a huge topic both socially and theoretically in the moment.
The weird: Gloria Steinem was not given her own section despite all that she has done for second wave feminism in particular. She was draw in two or three times and referenced here or there, but not given any real air time. While I am excited that a book didn’t glorify her to the detriment of others, it was also really weird that she was almost erased from feminist history.
Maybe my degree has spoiled me. My program was heavily queer and black. There was room for critiques of what was said and happening. There was room for manifestos. SCUM was something that we all read and had long discussions on, yet there didn’t seem to be any room in this book for manifestos. So many things that read as basic feminism to me were not mentioned at all. I was going to throw a fit from the lack of Crenshaw and hooks, but finally near the end they were given some time. I can’t imagine a functioning feminism without them, yet they were absent for the majority of the book and were only mentioned once race was allowed a spot.
If this book becomes a series and there is more exploration of the history of feminism, then I will gladly change this to a higher rating. I can respect there is only room for so much in a book. I can only hope there are more books. It was such an accessible way to learn.
I grabbed this the second I knew it was a thing. Not only am I a huge nerd when it comes to the feminist movement, but I love graphic novels. So this was surely going to be perfect for me. And it sorta was, but sorta wasn’t.
The good: I learned quite a lot about the first wave of feminism. When I was getting my degree in Women and Gender Studies, we focused mainly on second and third wave feminism. First wave was covered here and there, but it was never the focus of a class. So getting that introduction was quite wonderful. I enjoyed that section, with less issues than I had with other sections. There were a lot of feminist named and a lot of books named. There was room to continue off of this volume.
The bad: the book jumped around a lot. There would be a jump from the 70s to 2017, then back to the 70’s with little structure. There were times when those jumps were pushed off by referencing future pages and then other times when that jump had a weird little chapter, then back to the timeline. There didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason behind which would happen. It was often disorienting. It was also disappointing, because it kept raising my hopes that there would be some critical looks at things, when there really wasn’t any.
There really was no critical look at some of the feminist icons. There was little to no mention of race before it was the sole focus. This lack of coverage really highlighted the issue with racism and how the movement has been historically white, yet it felt more like an accident that this was highlighted considering it was done at the expense of actually covering it. There were multiple times in the first wave section that this could have been talked about, yet it was saved for its own section, which was really aggravating. There was little to no place for women of color in this book. There was even less room for queer people in this book. There was a lot more coverage on the Lesbian Continuum than I expected, especially since it is not named in the book. Most of the coverage for queer people was the lesbian continuum and how others accuse feminists of being gay. Trans people are mentioned only in passing, despite being a huge topic both socially and theoretically in the moment.
The weird: Gloria Steinem was not given her own section despite all that she has done for second wave feminism in particular. She was draw in two or three times and referenced here or there, but not given any real air time. While I am excited that a book didn’t glorify her to the detriment of others, it was also really weird that she was almost erased from feminist history.
Maybe my degree has spoiled me. My program was heavily queer and black. There was room for critiques of what was said and happening. There was room for manifestos. SCUM was something that we all read and had long discussions on, yet there didn’t seem to be any room in this book for manifestos. So many things that read as basic feminism to me were not mentioned at all. I was going to throw a fit from the lack of Crenshaw and hooks, but finally near the end they were given some time. I can’t imagine a functioning feminism without them, yet they were absent for the majority of the book and were only mentioned once race was allowed a spot.
If this book becomes a series and there is more exploration of the history of feminism, then I will gladly change this to a higher rating. I can respect there is only room for so much in a book. I can only hope there are more books. It was such an accessible way to learn.
birdbeakbeast's review
informative
fast-paced
2.0
kinda white feminist-y. a lot of attention for transphobic feminists without acknowledging their transphobia. same for racist feminists..
vitaminbjorner's review against another edition
1.0
This had so much potential, but failed miserably. The graphics are boring and seemingly thrown in in a last ditch attempt. The cover looks great, but that's not the art in the book itself. The information provided, is just fact after fact after fact. I think this book had the chance of taking feminism and its ideology into something that's more accessible and easier to digest for the general audience. Instead it was just dry fact listing youd read in any other book.