Being a Woman

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M: Like the fact that you’ve written about your abortion and things like that: you just can’t just go on The View and chat about that, can you. British Labour MP Yvette Cooper has compiled an inspirational collection of women’s speeches from across the world. In contrast to the male-dominated stereotypical lists of “best speeches,” Cooper’s selection aims to highlight the power of women’s words, and boasts a wonderful variety of voices as it ranges far and wide. From Ellen DeGeneres and Jacinda Ardern to Audre Lorde and Benazir Bhutto, She Speaks is an invaluable and stirring resource for young women. 58. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg And that does NOT make it okay for her to publish a book MARKETED AS AN INTRODUCTORY GUIDE TO FEMINISM that freely uses hate speech, inserts homophobic remarks, promotes an ableist mentality, and ignores general research to avoid making idiotic generalizations on an individual's sexual orientation.

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But this is not an academic text, it's a memoir with a mission, and she is always ready to drop politics momentarily for the sake of a good gag. As we all should be. Caitlin Moran had literally no friends in 1990, and so had plenty of time to write her first novel, The Chronicles of Narmo, at the age of fifteen. At sixteen she joined music weekly, Melody Maker, and at eighteen briefly presented the pop show 'Naked City' on Channel 4. Following this precocious start she then put in eighteen solid years as a columnist on The Times – both as a TV critic and also in the most-read part of the paper, the satirical celebrity column 'Celebrity Watch' – winning the British Press Awards' Columnist of The Year award in 2010 and Critic and Interviewer of the Year in 2011. The eldest of eight children, home-educated in a council house in Wolverhampton, Caitlin read lots of books about feminism – mainly in an attempt to be able to prove to her brother, Eddie, that she was scientifically better than him. Caitlin isn't really her name. She was christened 'Catherine'. But she saw 'Caitlin' in a Jilly Cooper novel when she was 13 and thought it looked exciting. That's why she pronounces it incorrectly: 'Catlin'. It causes trouble for everyone. This novel is the first in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series (translated to English by Ann Goldstein). Every time I recommend it, I worry that my praise can’t possibly do it justice. Ferrante weaves a beautiful and intricate story of two girls growing up in mid-20th century Naples. Their lives are those of poverty, violence, and limitation, and a tenuous and torrid friendship ebbs and flows between them. It is the most masterful exploration of women’s lives, loves, and friendships that I have ever read.” NOW – Caitlin Moran rewrites The Female Eunuch from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller. There’s never been a better time to be a woman: we have the vote and the Pill, and we haven’t been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain…

Society should be different. But while we’re waiting for society to change, there’s just certain things you have to do. But again the thing is, so many things you could do instead are predicated on having money. She could come out of a nightclub and get into a taxi, that would be the right thing to do. Moran's funny, unapologetically irreverent take on everything. I didn't always agree with her views, but admired that she had the daring to say them. If there's one thing you can't claim, it's that she's inauthentic. Could I really have all of those things at once? Apparently, with autism, you really can – it makes you much more susceptible to other mental health issues. But I don’t think it’s a given, or permanent. Another compelling Pulitzer winner, Toni Morrison’s classic Beloved is set in a time shortly after the American Civil War. Its protagonist, Sethe, lives among memories that haunt her, in a story that takes an unflinching look at the trauma of slavery and its psychological impact. Blending beauty with horror, this book’s rich synthesis of ghost story, magical realism , and historical fiction is a book everyone needs to read at least once — and will probably want to read again. 52. White Teeth by Zadie SmithStrippers are letting us down, feminism supports pole dancing classes, and it's totally okay to use a derogatory term that hurts trans people on top of tying adjectives like "campy" and "fetish" to trans identities. Got it. Yay, feminism! There are tons of other problems with the book, but since the book is being marketed as fun feminism, I'll just touch on Moran's take on what her intended audience might consider fun: sexy stuff! Like pole dancing classes! And burlesque! But don't you dare become a stripper:

Since we're on the subject of feminist legacies, let's talk about the chapter that's very much the heart of the book: the one specifically dedicated to converting people to feminism (a.k.a. An Illustration of What NOT to Do When Preaching Feminism): I also did not find the places where she had the reader do copy work to be beneficial. Copy work is fine for an elementary school student practicing handwriting, not in a study aimed at adult women.Rule #1: Don't start by paraphrasing Germaine "Transphobe" Greer (but if you absolutely must, don't double down by paraphrasing creepy, cissexist shit like "you need to taste your menstrual blood," for christ's sake). EDITING TO ADD: If you are here to tell me that Moron was just being "funny" or "ironic" or any other word meant to belittle my take on Moron's interview and thus insinuate that I just don't get it and I am pearl clutching: