How to Be a Woman
Ratings52
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings52
Average rating3.7
Though they have the vote and the Pill and haven't been burned as witches since 1727, life isn't exactly a stroll down the catwalk for modern women. They are beset by uncertainties and questions: Why are they supposed to get Brazilians? Why do bras hurt? Why the incessant talk about babies? And do men secretly hate them?
Caitlin Moran interweaves provocative observations on women's lives with laugh-out-loud funny scenes from her own, from the riot of adolescence to her development as a writer, wife, and mother. With rapier wit, Moran slices right to the truth—whether it's about the workplace, strip clubs, love, fat, abortion, popular entertainment, or children—to jump-start a new conversation about feminism. With humor, insight, and verve, How To Be a Woman lays bare the reasons female rights and empowerment are essential issues not only for women today but also for society itself.
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Amusing, but better as a memoir than any sort of actual feminist analysis or anything. Very 101, and no real analysis of some things besides she likes one and not the other (strip clubs v. burlesque, for example). Very much straight white lady feminism as well. I didn't hate it by any means, but definitely a better memoir.
British newspaper columnist, Caitlin Moran, offers up tips on how to be a strident feminist (which doesn't mean you hate men), in this part-memoir, part humourous rant. Very enjoyable, and recommended to all current and latent feminists (men included).
I had never heard of the author or this book but I got the recommendation from my dear friend Starryeyedenigma and because I really trust her choices, I had to try it immediately. The book is definitely funny, especially with the author's very witty and emotive narration but I can't say the content was something that I felt either I connected to or that I needed to know. While I could empathize with the author's experiences and understood what she was trying to convey about her idea of feminism, I just felt at a remove from everything.
It was the two chapters about motherhood and abortion that really touched me. I'm at an age where everyone around me feels compelled to tell me that I'm already too old and I should have a kid immediately, so I really felt emotional at the author's words about wanting women to make a choice about motherhood because they want it and not because they have to due to societal expectations. I also really felt she was very open about her abortion experience and completely agree with her that it should only be a person's choice and while it can be a life altering decision, it's unfair to assume that everyone finds it difficult to make that decision or that every person who decides to get an abortion is gonna regret it or feel bad about it forever. Everyone has their own reasons for doing it and how they process it is their own business. This one chapter felt particularly relevant and important because of the current horrific situation in the US and I was glad to know her thoughts about it.
So, while the whole book wasn't for me, it has its moments and it's never not funny. But if you are interested in an entertaining and witty memoir/commentary about topics ranging from puberty, menstruation, pornography, dating, marriage and motherhood to feminism in the current day and age and more, then you should give this a try.
Though I appreciate Moran's attempts to make feminism more accessible, in her efforts to appeal to the masses (and to the menz), she actually undercuts the movement in a lot of ways. I also didn't think she was terribly funny.
