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A review by lanikei
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by Jennifer Baumgardner
2.0
I didn't feel like this book charted a lot of new territory, though perhaps the original edition did 10 years ago. Despite the authors' claim that they are trying to unite women of various generations, much of the book came off as personal attacks on various women - both self-proclaimed feminists and not.
This was the first book I've read that defines and gushes over 'girly' culture, which is probably the aspect of feminism that I can most relate to but never had a name for. The author's are fairly positive about this particular 'wave' of feminism, while simultaneously backbiting some of the major publishing victories OF girly feminism.
Some of the tips for activism do seem helpful, and the appendices and notes are very thorough. But much of the book seems to suffer from being so informally written with too many back-patting anecdotes from the authors, gratuitous name-dropping, and too many personal criticisms of others in the movement. Those continuous flaws throughout the book left an unpleasant taste in my mouth upon finishing it.
As others have said, this isn't a bad "Feminism 101 - The Year 2000", but I think there are other books - many of which are mentioned in this one! - that are better examples of some of the Third Wave feminists and their points of view.
This was the first book I've read that defines and gushes over 'girly' culture, which is probably the aspect of feminism that I can most relate to but never had a name for. The author's are fairly positive about this particular 'wave' of feminism, while simultaneously backbiting some of the major publishing victories OF girly feminism.
Some of the tips for activism do seem helpful, and the appendices and notes are very thorough. But much of the book seems to suffer from being so informally written with too many back-patting anecdotes from the authors, gratuitous name-dropping, and too many personal criticisms of others in the movement. Those continuous flaws throughout the book left an unpleasant taste in my mouth upon finishing it.
As others have said, this isn't a bad "Feminism 101 - The Year 2000", but I think there are other books - many of which are mentioned in this one! - that are better examples of some of the Third Wave feminists and their points of view.