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jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
It was very cathartic to read a book about anger because, as Traister states, “being mad can be joyful and productive and connective.” It feels really good to think about anger in that way.
blferdig's review against another edition
2.0
I had very different expectations. While there were some very powerful ideas, statements and conversations, I wanted it to feel more personal. I felt like the entire book was solely about politics and I wanted it to be brought to every day women’s anger.
trippalli's review against another edition
4.0
A good modern history of 20 20th century feminist events from tragedies to historic protests. This book is full of details on who, what, when and where and history behind that if known.
bookph1le's review against another edition
5.0
This book gets all the stars, because reading it and Gemma Hartley's Fed Up were just really cathartic for me. I am angry at a lot of things, but I think what I didn't realize was how angry I was about having my own anger invalidated, and how deeply ingrained that invalidation was for me. Society has had me well and truly trained to suppress and repress my anger, to put a smile on my face and speak in a soothing voice so as not to make anyone (read: men) uncomfortable. Yet all the while I was feeling all this anger but confused and embarrassed by it, afraid I was being too harsh or too demanding--gaslighting myself, in effect. But how harsh and demanding is too much when evidence of how much the deck is stacked against women--especially women of color and transwomen--seems to pour out by the bucketful with each passing day?
In general, the experience of being a woman is excruciating. It's not that my being female is the problem. The problem is the way I'm treated as a result of my femaleness. I've been talked past, over, and around; ignored; chastised for having an opinion about things and, worse yet, for any impassioned defense of my opinions; made to feel as if my entire purpose is to be decorative and do chores. There are some men in my life whom I love fiercely, but even the best men sometimes don't get it. How could they? They've never had to experience the world the way I have, and since I've spent so much of my life worrying about making them uncomfortable, I haven't always shared what those experiences are like. I haven't always let them into my world because I was afraid of hurting them by making plain to them how much I have been hurt.
Well, I'm done with that. I'm owning my anger from here on out, and I'm expressing it when I feel it's safe to do so. I am entitled to my anger and I cherish it, and I'm not going to let people cajole me--whether their intentions are good or bad--into letting it go. Men not only get to feel their righteous anger, they're encouraged to feel it, and it's past time for me and my fellow women to feel ours.
Because Traister is right: anger can equal empowerment. Anger is the fire in your belly that pushes you to keep going even when times are tough. Anger is the emotion that powers your fight against inequality, against injustice, and that is why society is so eager to extinguish women's anger. If we stay quiet and gentle, if we continue to demure and obscure and cloak our anger in more acceptable trappings, what will we accomplish? I've been on this earth long enough to have witnessed how depressingly little has changed for women over multiple decades, how depressingly little has changed for women since my own mother was my age. Sure, we've made some progress, but the 2016 election showed me what kind of progress we've made: surface. We were manipulated into believing we were on our way to full equality. We were soothed into quiescence in the hopes that we'd ignore that little voice in the backs of our heads that was wondering why there were still so few women in C-suites, why Congress still tilted so white and so male, why sexual assault is still such a scourge, why so many women suffer various forms of domestic violence.
Now, in 2018, I feel hopeful that this time has passed, and I need books like this to bolster me and provide me with a rallying cry, to help me remember that we women (and especially those of us who are cisgender white women) can't let ourselves be lulled back into that trap, no matter how comfortable or familiar it seems. We have to get active and stay active. We have to keep agitating for change, no matter how exhausting or how discouraging that battle is. We have to stop despairing and believing this is just the way things are, because that's exactly what the powers that be want us to do.
I wasn't an ardent Clinton supporter. I found her pretty problematic in a lot of respects and would have preferred a different candidate. But never once did I question whether she was qualified for the job of the presidency--I thought it had to be obvious to everyone that she was. I felt a sense of hope that my kids would grow up in an era in which a black president and a woman president not only didn't seem implausible, but were and had been reality. Instead, I got...this.
But if there is one thing the election did teach me, it's that I was asleep at the wheel. The sexism and racism and every other kind of awful -ism I wanted to believe were dying off were actually still alive and well, tucked away and hiding. And while that certainly isn't a good thing, darkness makes it very difficult to even spot any stains, let alone eliminate them.
So, well done, powerful, mediocre white men. You had me and many other women going for a long time, but as you're wont to do, you got overconfident. Instead of maintaining the illusion and keeping us in our places, you tipped your hand. You pulled aside the curtain, and now we've seen what's behind it. The amount of work we have to do is daunting, but we know it exists, we know it's not going away, and we're determined to get it done. 2018 was a much better year from an electoral perspective, and though we may experience setbacks along the way, we're not done. I know now that, without question, I am a seed. Try to bury me.
In general, the experience of being a woman is excruciating. It's not that my being female is the problem. The problem is the way I'm treated as a result of my femaleness. I've been talked past, over, and around; ignored; chastised for having an opinion about things and, worse yet, for any impassioned defense of my opinions; made to feel as if my entire purpose is to be decorative and do chores. There are some men in my life whom I love fiercely, but even the best men sometimes don't get it. How could they? They've never had to experience the world the way I have, and since I've spent so much of my life worrying about making them uncomfortable, I haven't always shared what those experiences are like. I haven't always let them into my world because I was afraid of hurting them by making plain to them how much I have been hurt.
Well, I'm done with that. I'm owning my anger from here on out, and I'm expressing it when I feel it's safe to do so. I am entitled to my anger and I cherish it, and I'm not going to let people cajole me--whether their intentions are good or bad--into letting it go. Men not only get to feel their righteous anger, they're encouraged to feel it, and it's past time for me and my fellow women to feel ours.
Because Traister is right: anger can equal empowerment. Anger is the fire in your belly that pushes you to keep going even when times are tough. Anger is the emotion that powers your fight against inequality, against injustice, and that is why society is so eager to extinguish women's anger. If we stay quiet and gentle, if we continue to demure and obscure and cloak our anger in more acceptable trappings, what will we accomplish? I've been on this earth long enough to have witnessed how depressingly little has changed for women over multiple decades, how depressingly little has changed for women since my own mother was my age. Sure, we've made some progress, but the 2016 election showed me what kind of progress we've made: surface. We were manipulated into believing we were on our way to full equality. We were soothed into quiescence in the hopes that we'd ignore that little voice in the backs of our heads that was wondering why there were still so few women in C-suites, why Congress still tilted so white and so male, why sexual assault is still such a scourge, why so many women suffer various forms of domestic violence.
Now, in 2018, I feel hopeful that this time has passed, and I need books like this to bolster me and provide me with a rallying cry, to help me remember that we women (and especially those of us who are cisgender white women) can't let ourselves be lulled back into that trap, no matter how comfortable or familiar it seems. We have to get active and stay active. We have to keep agitating for change, no matter how exhausting or how discouraging that battle is. We have to stop despairing and believing this is just the way things are, because that's exactly what the powers that be want us to do.
I wasn't an ardent Clinton supporter. I found her pretty problematic in a lot of respects and would have preferred a different candidate. But never once did I question whether she was qualified for the job of the presidency--I thought it had to be obvious to everyone that she was. I felt a sense of hope that my kids would grow up in an era in which a black president and a woman president not only didn't seem implausible, but were and had been reality. Instead, I got...this.
But if there is one thing the election did teach me, it's that I was asleep at the wheel. The sexism and racism and every other kind of awful -ism I wanted to believe were dying off were actually still alive and well, tucked away and hiding. And while that certainly isn't a good thing, darkness makes it very difficult to even spot any stains, let alone eliminate them.
So, well done, powerful, mediocre white men. You had me and many other women going for a long time, but as you're wont to do, you got overconfident. Instead of maintaining the illusion and keeping us in our places, you tipped your hand. You pulled aside the curtain, and now we've seen what's behind it. The amount of work we have to do is daunting, but we know it exists, we know it's not going away, and we're determined to get it done. 2018 was a much better year from an electoral perspective, and though we may experience setbacks along the way, we're not done. I know now that, without question, I am a seed. Try to bury me.
sreyasreya's review against another edition
4.0
Was not expecting it to be like this, in the best way possible. I think there was a large focus on the present-day and the things we are living through today. The connections she made over different periods of time were interesting. Her discussion about how women and women of color have to continuously oppress to gain power in the inherently patriarchal and white supremacist idea. Showed that like HRC and Kamala Harris just did what had to be done but it felt like a way for her to excuse their behaviors which I disliked. Thought her conversations about the powerful men were interesting. Traister highlighting the female enablers, famous women who supported these men and tried to dismiss what they did by saying it did not happen to me, like of course Rachel Maddow just because the NBC exec did not sexually harass you and was nice to you doesn't mean he is a nice person. I did not know this Maddow thing and there was a lot that could have been swept up and pushed to the side during a time with increased news surrounding sexual harassment and assault. The book is good but if you are looking for an increased and lengthy history, I would not recommend this book for you.
elineedsmoreshelves's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
5.0
TL;DR - be more pissed off more often.
Fantastic work. Traister comes at her subject from a white lens, and both acknowledges and critiques the power that affords. Lots of historical framework tied to contemporary politics. Definitely will need a re-read.
Fantastic work. Traister comes at her subject from a white lens, and both acknowledges and critiques the power that affords. Lots of historical framework tied to contemporary politics. Definitely will need a re-read.
laurensum's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0