A review by shelbydm
Roaring Girls: The Forgotten Feminists of British History by Holly Kyte

3.0

I'm not sure I would classify all of the women highlighted in this collection as feminists. Many of them were simply living their lives as they saw fit, and not necessarily to fight any sort of opposition. For example, the author makes a point of stating that the act of cross-dressing during the 16th and 17th centuries was viewed by the general public as crass, vulgar, and downright scandalous. However, those such as Mary Frith and Anne Lister who wore men's clothing on the regular weren't doing it for the attention - they were doing it because it was comfortable to them, and meshed best with their personalities. I think the author tried so hard to get us to believe that certain actions made by the women she wrote about were *so* daring, when they were in fact rather benign.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy this collection. I enjoyed reading about women from history I hadn't heard of before, from a country I don't live in (England, in this case.) I also liked that we were introduced to women of different social classes and races, and it's clear the author did heaps of research, especially for those who were previously only footnotes in history books.