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lauradoesnothing's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.0
I re-read this after Roxane Gay's 'Bad Feminist' because... I'm actually not sure why. I've been meaning to re-read (and review) all the books in my collection and having sworn off feminist essay collections after Gay's book, I guess I figured I should get on with this one so it wasn't hanging over me, and I had fond memories of reading it a few years ago when I got it, so maybe I thought this might be a palate cleanse?
Regardless, I re-read it and... meh. Scarlett Curtis set out to commission a diverse bunch of women to write a short piece each on their personal perspectives on feminism, so the critique this book gets for not being "educational" enough isn't completely fair in my opinion. That said, there were only a few essays that I remembered when going back for this read, and those I remembered more because I was already familiar with the writer than because of their literary skill. Actors are massively over-represented in this book; if we pretend that this is a completely accurate cross-section of womanhood (which is ridiculous, but let's pretend anyway) we can infer from this that 31% of all women are actors.
This book was also written in that period in the mid-2010s where - despite #MeToo, #TimesUp, etc. giving feminists plenty of reasons to be angry, it seemed more important to put feminism in an appealing package (are we seeing the irony?). You can wear dresses and makeup! You can like boys and the colour pink! You can even laugh at jokes, that's allowed! It's overwhelmed by heartfelt blog posts and Buzzfeed-style listicles, and while this is inevitably going to be a by-product of a group of (mostly) non-writers writing in a style they're familiar with, it has the (presumably) unintended side effect of coming across like they're just trying to convince people that feminism isn't scary. But anyone who needs convincing won't be picking this up, so it's just a bit of a rudderless affirmation for people who already identify as feminists.
ON THE PODIUM...
BRONZE MEDAL: 'Woke Woman' by Gemma Arterton
I wasn't expecting a James Bond parody in this book, but there it was and I'm thankful for it.
SILVER MEDAL: 'The Weaker Sex' by Keira Knightley
A raw and bloody tale of childbirth, the only essay from this collection that I've typed up so I can read it back after I leave this book on the swaps shelf at work. It's my favourite of them all, but I have to admit it's not as polished as...
GOLD MEDAL 'The Question' by Lolly Adefope
Lolly must answer a simple question: what word best describes her, "black" or "woman"? Perfect blend of comedy and rage, flawless satire, 5/5 no notes.
Regardless, I re-read it and... meh. Scarlett Curtis set out to commission a diverse bunch of women to write a short piece each on their personal perspectives on feminism, so the critique this book gets for not being "educational" enough isn't completely fair in my opinion. That said, there were only a few essays that I remembered when going back for this read, and those I remembered more because I was already familiar with the writer than because of their literary skill. Actors are massively over-represented in this book; if we pretend that this is a completely accurate cross-section of womanhood (which is ridiculous, but let's pretend anyway) we can infer from this that 31% of all women are actors.
This book was also written in that period in the mid-2010s where - despite #MeToo, #TimesUp, etc. giving feminists plenty of reasons to be angry, it seemed more important to put feminism in an appealing package (are we seeing the irony?). You can wear dresses and makeup! You can like boys and the colour pink! You can even laugh at jokes, that's allowed! It's overwhelmed by heartfelt blog posts and Buzzfeed-style listicles, and while this is inevitably going to be a by-product of a group of (mostly) non-writers writing in a style they're familiar with, it has the (presumably) unintended side effect of coming across like they're just trying to convince people that feminism isn't scary. But anyone who needs convincing won't be picking this up, so it's just a bit of a rudderless affirmation for people who already identify as feminists.
ON THE PODIUM...
BRONZE MEDAL: 'Woke Woman' by Gemma Arterton
I wasn't expecting a James Bond parody in this book, but there it was and I'm thankful for it.
SILVER MEDAL: 'The Weaker Sex' by Keira Knightley
A raw and bloody tale of childbirth, the only essay from this collection that I've typed up so I can read it back after I leave this book on the swaps shelf at work. It's my favourite of them all, but I have to admit it's not as polished as...
GOLD MEDAL 'The Question' by Lolly Adefope
Lolly must answer a simple question: what word best describes her, "black" or "woman"? Perfect blend of comedy and rage, flawless satire, 5/5 no notes.
feelingpeachygreen's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.5
This is aimed at teenagers first discovering feminism and for them, it's probably a 5* read and rightly so.
If this isn't you, I wouldn't bother.
It's for people attracted to the big names that feature, to convince them to find out more about feminism.
Some of the essays are genuinely really insightful - I particularly enjoyed Lolly Adefope's essay on being black and a woman on a gameshow, and the essay on personal experience of FGM (flicking through, I can't find which one it was!)
Some of it is appallingly written though. Amy Trigg's essay was so unbelievably awful.
I feel like I need a rating system to highlight the 5 essays that were insightful and provocative and the rest which were just...flat with 0 weight to the words.
2018 wasn't that long ago so WHY is the online slang throughout this book by some of the essayists so CRINGE 😭
Lots of these women aren't writers (and they don't need to be - they do fantastic work in industries where they're movers and shakers)
BUT some of the writing is so incredibly weak that it's painful to read.
It's also trying quite hard to be intersectional, but the history of feminism in the last section is solely anglophone.
Sure, a world history would make the book far too large but there's only ever a brief mention of other areas of the world, before returning back to the history of women in the UK and US.
This probably goes back to the target audience though - teenagers in those countries and for them, this is a great, feel good, starter book.
If this isn't you, I wouldn't bother.
It's for people attracted to the big names that feature, to convince them to find out more about feminism.
Some of the essays are genuinely really insightful - I particularly enjoyed Lolly Adefope's essay on being black and a woman on a gameshow, and the essay on personal experience of FGM (flicking through, I can't find which one it was!)
Some of it is appallingly written though. Amy Trigg's essay was so unbelievably awful.
I feel like I need a rating system to highlight the 5 essays that were insightful and provocative and the rest which were just...flat with 0 weight to the words.
2018 wasn't that long ago so WHY is the online slang throughout this book by some of the essayists so CRINGE 😭
Lots of these women aren't writers (and they don't need to be - they do fantastic work in industries where they're movers and shakers)
BUT some of the writing is so incredibly weak that it's painful to read.
It's also trying quite hard to be intersectional, but the history of feminism in the last section is solely anglophone.
Sure, a world history would make the book far too large but there's only ever a brief mention of other areas of the world, before returning back to the history of women in the UK and US.
This probably goes back to the target audience though - teenagers in those countries and for them, this is a great, feel good, starter book.
popczyk's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
lousnewchapter's review against another edition
5.0
"At a time when we are too often being reminded of what divides us, there is common ground to be found when we share our stories" - Emma Watson
I have been calling myself as a feminist for quite a while now, I can't pin point the exact moment when but after I truly realised what the movement was really about (and not the negativity that can sometimes surround it in the media) that was when I decided.
However I've recently been thinking that I know very little about feminism which is why I set out to do some extra reading on it and came across this particular book.
Now this book isn't a textbook telling you every little thing you need to know about the movement and how to be a feminist and overloading you with facts and information (although there is a history section towards the end which is very interesting!). It's a collection of essays from several incredible women describing what femisim means to them and each sharing their stories. This book is very powerful and just shows you how differently people can connect with feminism. It was a great starting point for me on my feminism educational journey.
I found this book very eye opening and would highly reccomend to all feminists or anyone who just wants to find out more about it.
I have been calling myself as a feminist for quite a while now, I can't pin point the exact moment when but after I truly realised what the movement was really about (and not the negativity that can sometimes surround it in the media) that was when I decided.
However I've recently been thinking that I know very little about feminism which is why I set out to do some extra reading on it and came across this particular book.
Now this book isn't a textbook telling you every little thing you need to know about the movement and how to be a feminist and overloading you with facts and information (although there is a history section towards the end which is very interesting!). It's a collection of essays from several incredible women describing what femisim means to them and each sharing their stories. This book is very powerful and just shows you how differently people can connect with feminism. It was a great starting point for me on my feminism educational journey.
I found this book very eye opening and would highly reccomend to all feminists or anyone who just wants to find out more about it.
lolajayne_'s review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
amu_pdf's review against another edition
1.0
Maybe I’m just a misandrist instead of a feminist but I was just not impressed with the essays included in this book. They were overall very boring. Most of the the authors came across as not caring about feminism until it benefited them and nearly every single author did not once mention anything about intersectionality. There was one particular essay which was basically telling women it was their responsibility to make sure men view women as people instead of providing ways men can educate themselves. One author also said her feminist icon is JK Rowling? Which is an insane icon to have and honestly once I read that essay I gave up on trying to like the book.
emasvingerova's review against another edition
3.0
Trochu mě mrzely překlepy kterých je v knize překvapivě hodně, některé "eseje" bych za eseje úplně nepovažovala, ale některé mě potěšily, mile překvapily a inspirovaly. Taková ideální knížka která se dá číst i ke knize jiné. :))
abbyinthebooks's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0