How To Be A Woman

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

Well…there is a lot of say about this book—it is advertised as a humorous take on modern feminism. Does it deliver? In my opinion, not so much. I would peg it more as a memoir of someone who fancies herself a modern feminist. There were parts I enjoyed, parts I found boring and parts that I just didn’t like.

I liked her take on feminism…that it should not be a dirty word, that it is simply allowing women equality. She calls out women who say they are not feminist for enjoying the benefits of the feminist movement.

Like this quote:"…we need to reclaim the word "feminism." We need the word "feminism" back real bad. When statistics come in saying that only 29 percent of American women would describe themselves as feminist—and only 42 percent of British women—I used to think, What do you think feminism IS, ladies? What part of "liberation for women" is not for you? Is it freedom to vote? The right not to be owned by the man you marry? The campaign for equal pay?...Did all that good shit GET ON YOUR NERVES? Or were you just DRUNK AT THE TIME OF SURVEY?...Without feminism, you wouldn’t’ be ALLOWED to have a debate on a woman’s place in society. You’d be too busy giving birth on the kitchen flor—biting down on a wooden spoon, so as not to disturb the men’s card game—before going back to hoeing the rutabaga field."

Overall, I liked Moran’s humor. Especially in the beginning of the book when she is discussing her childhood. Her growing pains were the best part of the book.

I started to get bored when she begins to recount her adult years. Those several chapters were a big yawn with only a few interesting bits.

And then, the chapter on abortion happened. That chapter disturbed me on many levels. She is being funny and witty and then all of the sudden something very serious is thrown in. I don’t find abortion to be funny…at all. I felt disgust for her. Not necessarily for the fact that she had an abortion but the way she described it. I felt very judgmental, which I hate. And I think she might have been trying to elicit some of that.

Overall I felt there were three separate books here, smashed together rather disjointedly. I only enjoyed the first.