Caitlin Moran's autobiographical discussion of feminism and womanhood in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century is a blend of humor, honesty, and important insights. Through her own life experiences, Moran explores the meaning and expectations of womanhood, using her unique writing style to tackle issues such as body image, love, pop culture, childbirth, and feminism. The book combines personal anecdotes with thought-provoking commentary, making it a funny and illuminating read that initiates conversations about women's place in society.
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Includes discussions of abortion, sexuality, body image issues, and casual offensive language.
From The Publisher:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
The book that launched a feminist revolution-the hilarious memoir/manifesto from Caitlin Moran, "the UK's answer to Tina Fey, Chelsea Handler, and Lena Dunham all rolled into one" (Marie Claire).
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 why female rights and empowerment are essential issues not only for women today but also for society itself.
Ratings (8)
Incredible (1) | |
Loved It (2) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (1) | |
Did Not Like (3) |
Reader Stats (11):
Read It (8) | |
Want To Read (2) | |
Not Interested (1) |
3 comment(s)
This was one of the more hardest book to rate,either it's 2 star or 3 stars. Can't really decide. As a memoir it was interesting to read her journey into womanhood and how she feels about it and see life from her point of view. Hard to rate something like that. However the humour didn't quite work for me and it felt more like dairy at times than a memoir. It was hard for me to get invested in it as the humour and turned me off from it. If I had been prepared for it to be more of a dairy format. I've might have enjoyed it more. It had some questionable thing included and it put me off the book even more but she does make some very good points as well
So...what we have here is two books in one. The first book I loved: Caitlin Moran's memoir, her memories of experiencing puberty, femininity, and womanhood. It is hilarious, especially since each chapter is titled with the excitement of an overly intelligent yet socially awkward 13-year old ("I begin to bleed!" "I grow breasts!" (I might have these titles slightly wrong but you get the picture)). I want to be friends with this woman.
The second book is a kind of feminism-101 manifesto. I don't know all the details, but I do know that Moran took some heat from feminists who took issue with the way she dealt with certain topics; reading the chapter "I am fat!", I cringed with the knowledge that fat-acceptance activists would be all over her for some of her statements. Moran writes from her own perspective: that of a white, middle-class (lower-class in her childhood), overweight but able-bodied, straight woman. She uses her life experience in everything from buying underwear to walking in heels to examine why women do these things and what feminism has to say about them. However, she doesn't consider intersectionality, issues of gender and sex identity, or the LGBTQ community (to be fair, they do get a couple of mentions). She makes some generalizations that are funny, but not really valid if you're writing a serious book about feminism.
I think that's the thing, though: she isn't writing a serious book. She's writing a funny memoir that includes observations on feminism, some of them quite pointed, and always accessible. I really enjoyed the book despite its theoretical flaws (I mean that in the sense of feminist theory). A lot of what she has to say hit home for me, probably because I share a number of her socioecomonic and physical attributes. High heels are of the devil, and I have also given them up.
Amazing writing style, approachable and assuring. Caitlin Moran feels like your cool older sister throughout
What can you read after
How to Be a Woman?
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