A review by georgewood
One-Dimensional Woman by Nina Power

3.0

There’s some interesting ideas in this book and I did find it quite thought-provoking, particularly about the history of pornography and the way feminism has been taken up by neo-imperialists. However, the collection of topics seem fairly disjointed, some of Power’s assertions aren’t really backed up (I found her generalisation of self-harm as a feminine individualistic act aimed at feeling reality particularly problematic, seeing as she only cited one woman’s experience) and it hasn’t aged overly well, as the feminist movement has developed a lot in the 11 years since its publication and isn’t really about the “having it all” consumerism that she critiques. It’s perhaps an interesting look into criticism of late-twentieth century and early 2000s consumerist feminism but would question its applicability to modern feminism as it has developed in recent years.