Women From Away

Year Two Book Six: 

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

April 23rd 2015 

Robyn: 3.5 stars was my original rating but now I am going with 4. Although I struggled with some of the British slang I found her humor came across well and found some parts quite funny.  I found a lot of familiarity when reading her realizations through puberty, meeting her spouse and giving birth for the first time.  Things I assumed only I thought she apparently thought as well, which brought some connection for me.  I found her views on feminism refreshing in some ways, for example 'are you a feminist? Hahaha. Of course you are'.  However I disagreed with some of her personal views, which I see to be her own and not intended to be pushed on others.  I would recommend this book to others strictly to have the discussion that comes from it as that was my favourite part of the book. 

Laura R: Rating: 4/5. Loved this book. I found myself lol-ing on the bus on more than one occasion. The combination of humor and positive messaging was really good. Best line that sums up the book for me: “what part of ‘liberation for women’ is not for you?” I like the idea of feminism being reconsidered by our generation; to emphasize that equality for women does not need to come at the expense of men. You don’t have to burn your bra and hate men to be a feminist. Men should be able to speak openly about feminism issues too. I was really happy to hear women in the book club speaking about men in their lives being positive feminist role models. There were also some good conversations generated at book club about all kinds of equal rights movements. Why do equal rights movements get criticized for not representing all societal issues in one go? Why do people feel the need to criticize these equal rights movements for excluding the opposite gender/race/identity? 

Amy: 5/5. I really enjoyed the lighthearted approach to the seriousness of the issues presented in the book. The parts that have stuck with me the most were "Is this some Sexism at me?" and "Are the boys doing this". I really identified with moments of sexism or gender based comments, hitting me hours after the fact and not knowing what to do about it now? Though I did struggle with some of the slang, I could tell that the author was educated in gender issues but was able to communicate in an fairly easy to understand manner that all levels could participate in. I loved the lists and the yelling! 

Lauren: I gave the book a 4/5 because I found it entertaining, thought-provoking and mostly because I thought it was a great choice to open up discussions with our book club. I thought Caitlin Moran had a great, witty sense of humor and I felt I could really hear her voice in her writing and understand her character. I enjoyed how she was able to take random, funny stories from her life and spin off of them into a topic about feminism. It gave her memoir a little bit more substance. I did not always agree her views and don’t think the two of us would have a lot in common, but I think the main point she was trying to make though out the book is that you can be whoever you want to be, regardless of your gender. As women, people are always trying to fit us into a certain mold and I liked that Caitlin stood up against that. Certain parts of the book were much more powerful and important to me than others however. I felt the chapters on experiencing sexism in your daily life, abortion and having children were more important than the chapters on naming your vagina, wearing high heels and waxing your body hair. There were also certain topics that she touched on where I felt something was missing – like the chapters about being overweight, stripping and pornography. What do these things mean for feminism, how do men and women experience them differently? But I think we need to keep in mind when reading something like this, that it is supposed to be humor and not necessarily a serious feminist manifesto. Overall, I found it an enjoyable read and I would certainly recommend it to other women’s book clubs, because I think it was one of the most fun discussions we’ve had yet.

Stephanie: I give this book a 4/5 because I found it very funny - but more importantly I did not agree with everything but was challenged by a lot. I really appreciated the last half of the book about children and abortion. I like it when a book makes you think and makes you consider what you believe or would do in that situation. Even though I might not make the same choices as she did, I think she makes some very valid points.

Guest review! (Matt Limacher): I give the book 3.5. I think that it was a good book - very interesting and well written. I didn't get all of the references, but that didn't get in the way too much. My favourite chapters were the last ones on children and abortion. I really commend her for making the decisions she did and she articulated her reasoning very well. I didn't find anything too shocking or surprising (other than the menstrual blood eating thing that Steph warned me about) but would recommend it nonetheless.