rubyrlovesbooks 's review for:

I Thought It Was Just Me: Women Reclaiming Power and Courage in a Culture of Shame by Brené Brown

1.0

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Mixed feelings on this one. Really, really mixed feelings. Probably the biggest feeling is this: Brene Brown seems to have a very white, middle class idea of what shame is. I would expect more from a social worker who has given TED talks. There was a lot about body image (admittedly, a big one for many), keeping up with the joneses, having immaculate children and so on. When Brene used herself as an example and said she was ashamed she didn't bake cookies for her kids' teacher, I thought, wow. This woman lives a charmed life. She offered up many core reasons for shame, but none were about poverty, or growing up in a home without a flushing toilet, or ramshackle houses, or illiteracy. I was thinking, there are so many people who will feel shut out of such a middle class description of shame, myself included. She talked about having a "shame network." Brene, there are a lot of lonely people out there who are going to feel even worse about themselves after reading your book.

There were a few really brilliant insights, but overall, I was blown away by how sheltered this woman was, considering her area of research. I feel quite angry, actually.