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235 reviews for:
Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters
Jessica Valenti
3.78 AVERAGE
235 reviews for:
Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters
Jessica Valenti
3.78 AVERAGE
Important to read, important to argue for and against and a book every teenager should be given along with every college student! I believe it is that important and that impactful and it will FOREVER change how you view the world.
A lot of this seems outdated, and that's keeping in mind that I read the 2nd edition, which was published only 4 years ago. While most of the outdatedness is harmless, of the sigh-inducing "remember when we thought Dubya was the pinnacle of stupid presidents?" type, one piece stood out for me as potentially dangerous. Towards the end of the book, Valenti tells young women to praise any man who identifies as a feminist, because such a man is like some sort of diamond in the rough or something. Sadly, the last few years have shown that some men identify as feminists specifically in order to garner women's trust and sympathy. Their words say one thing, providing a distraction, while their behaviour is nothing but feminist. For young women especially, this can be a dangerous trap to fall into, because emotional and psychological manipulation is the sort of thing that sneaks up on you, making the disconnect between words and behavior difficult to spot from the inside. Jian Ghomeshi and Louis C.K. both identified as feminists, and gained women's trust that way.
Very easy to read book about why society still needs feminism. A very empowering book!
Like a 2.5. There were some good points and the conversational tone would probably be good for people just getting into feminism, but I found parts of it to be condescending and kind of against the whole right-for-you-not-for-me thing that I find so great about feminism.
I wish I could give this book a higher rating but Valenti's voice is just too harsh and narrow minded - she seems to think her feminist views are the only right ones. Even though I agree with most of her views, I don't like the way she presents them - people are never going to listen to your ideas and learn from if you're telling them how "fucking dumb" they are for believing in the cultural norms they were brought up with. She also seems to dumb-down or over-simplify her writing and opinions for this book. I get that she is trying to reach a young audience who is new to feminism in a personal way and that's great but for some reason I just couldn't get as into it as I wanted to.
That said, I LOVED certain aspects of the book: she is spreading the word of feminism and trying to teach others about it, she focuses on taking action and gives real examples of ways you can get involved, the stresses the importance of intersectionality and the fact that feminism also helps men, and lastly she references and quotes some other great women and authors and I literally wrote down all of the books in the resources section at the end.
Looking forward to discussing with the book club!
That said, I LOVED certain aspects of the book: she is spreading the word of feminism and trying to teach others about it, she focuses on taking action and gives real examples of ways you can get involved, the stresses the importance of intersectionality and the fact that feminism also helps men, and lastly she references and quotes some other great women and authors and I literally wrote down all of the books in the resources section at the end.
Looking forward to discussing with the book club!
A really quick, light, fun read on the basics of feminism. (I'd liken it to Manifesta.) I knew 99% of the info already, having read the majority of the bibliography, but it was okay to brush up. Plus, I loved Valenti's colloquial (& potty-mouthed!) style. Made the book go very quickly.
an excellent first book. would be great for intro women's studies courses. super easy to read. love how she writes like she talks. gotta love jessica, a fellow rutgers women's studies M.A-er.
So here's why I couldn't rate this book higher. These are all quotes from this book.
"While at the end of the day I'm not going to fault someone for wanting a ring, there are certain things (and maybe because they don't have to do with jewelry) I can't get over. For the life of me, I will never understand why a woman today would change her last name. It makes no sense whatsoever. You want future kids to have the same last name as you and your hubby? Hypenate, bitch! Or do something, anything, but change your last name. It's the ultimate buy-in of sexist bullshit. It epitomizes the idea that you are not your own person.
"And while I'll probably continue to be a bit of a fool when it comes to my crushes, I won't make the mistake of prioritizing them at the expense of, dare I say, more important pursuits. Again, don't get all pissy and assume I'm bashing those of you who are in love with love. I understand that feeling - believe me. But you have to admit, we're spending a hell of a lot of time focusing on other people when we could be mixing shit up."
and
"The problem is, there's still a lot of infighting - particularly of a generational kind - about what a "real" feminist is. Honestly, I'm so fucking sick and tired of people telling me how to be an appropriate feminist - or what a feminist looks like. In the same way it's stupid to say that all feminists are hairy man-haters, it's stupid to say that women who rock heels and mascara aren't hardcore enough or are acquiescing to sexism."
Yeah, I'm sick of women telling other women how to be an "appropriate" feminist too. Especially when they tell other feminists how to be feminists and then further on in the book they've written proceed to complain about people telling them how to be a feminist.
"While at the end of the day I'm not going to fault someone for wanting a ring, there are certain things (and maybe because they don't have to do with jewelry) I can't get over. For the life of me, I will never understand why a woman today would change her last name. It makes no sense whatsoever. You want future kids to have the same last name as you and your hubby? Hypenate, bitch! Or do something, anything, but change your last name. It's the ultimate buy-in of sexist bullshit. It epitomizes the idea that you are not your own person.
"And while I'll probably continue to be a bit of a fool when it comes to my crushes, I won't make the mistake of prioritizing them at the expense of, dare I say, more important pursuits. Again, don't get all pissy and assume I'm bashing those of you who are in love with love. I understand that feeling - believe me. But you have to admit, we're spending a hell of a lot of time focusing on other people when we could be mixing shit up."
and
"The problem is, there's still a lot of infighting - particularly of a generational kind - about what a "real" feminist is. Honestly, I'm so fucking sick and tired of people telling me how to be an appropriate feminist - or what a feminist looks like. In the same way it's stupid to say that all feminists are hairy man-haters, it's stupid to say that women who rock heels and mascara aren't hardcore enough or are acquiescing to sexism."
Yeah, I'm sick of women telling other women how to be an "appropriate" feminist too. Especially when they tell other feminists how to be feminists and then further on in the book they've written proceed to complain about people telling them how to be a feminist.
While Valenti comes on quite strong at times, it's clear that she has a great passion for the subject. A good resource, particularly for beginners.
A good introductory text if you’re just learning about feminism.