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A review by emmareadstoomuch
Bygone Badass Broads: 52 Forgotten Women Who Changed the World by Mackenzi Lee
2.0
I have read books like this one, and this was not my favorite.
Recently, a whole bunch of Feminist Anthologies Of Badass Women In History have come out. They always have pretty art, and they always try to be funny, and they usually have the same lineup of women with a few newbies in each one.
The first book I read like this was Brazen, which was the f*cking best. The art is beautiful, and the writer is knowledgeable, and it’s all around a meaningful fun aesthetically pleasing empowerment-fest.
Then I followed that up with The Little Book of Feminist Saints, which was also good, mainly because the title is awesome and the art is also reallyreally pretty.
And then I read this one.
The art is still pretty, but...that’s about the nicest thing I can say.
The whole tone of this is...how can I put this...like that one person on a politician’s social media team who’s always insisting on trying to use memes to get a political message across, and it just never works and is always cringy. This book uses a ton of Tumblr-y outdated try-to-relate-to-the-teens slang in an attempt to seem, I assume, witty and amusing and charming, and instead it seems really condescending to these amazing women. It feels like making a mockery of the suffering and labor and pain of these people, and that’s the complete opposite of what this is supposed to do. (It's also the same thing Wonder Women did.)
The only other nice thing I can say is that this includes Isabella Stewart Gardner, my favorite person ever, in history, living or dead, and a true goddamn saint.
Bottom line: What I recommend is this: Look at this cover for a few minutes, Google Isabella Stewart Gardner, and then read Brazen instead.
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pre-review
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I FORGOT TO MARK A BOOK AS READ ON GOODREADS.
...Who am I?? What have I become?
review to come, once I get some mild existential crises done with (1.5 stars)
-----------
Starting off the new year the way I basically spent the entire last one: By reading a gorgeously illustrated anthology of powerful women in history.
We stan.
Recently, a whole bunch of Feminist Anthologies Of Badass Women In History have come out. They always have pretty art, and they always try to be funny, and they usually have the same lineup of women with a few newbies in each one.
The first book I read like this was Brazen, which was the f*cking best. The art is beautiful, and the writer is knowledgeable, and it’s all around a meaningful fun aesthetically pleasing empowerment-fest.
Then I followed that up with The Little Book of Feminist Saints, which was also good, mainly because the title is awesome and the art is also reallyreally pretty.
And then I read this one.
The art is still pretty, but...that’s about the nicest thing I can say.
The whole tone of this is...how can I put this...like that one person on a politician’s social media team who’s always insisting on trying to use memes to get a political message across, and it just never works and is always cringy. This book uses a ton of Tumblr-y outdated try-to-relate-to-the-teens slang in an attempt to seem, I assume, witty and amusing and charming, and instead it seems really condescending to these amazing women. It feels like making a mockery of the suffering and labor and pain of these people, and that’s the complete opposite of what this is supposed to do. (It's also the same thing Wonder Women did.)
The only other nice thing I can say is that this includes Isabella Stewart Gardner, my favorite person ever, in history, living or dead, and a true goddamn saint.
Bottom line: What I recommend is this: Look at this cover for a few minutes, Google Isabella Stewart Gardner, and then read Brazen instead.
-----------
pre-review
FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, I FORGOT TO MARK A BOOK AS READ ON GOODREADS.
...Who am I?? What have I become?
review to come, once I get some mild existential crises done with (1.5 stars)
-----------
Starting off the new year the way I basically spent the entire last one: By reading a gorgeously illustrated anthology of powerful women in history.
We stan.