Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind by Regan Penaluna

4 reviews

lexiebear321's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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bessadams's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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jenna_wolf1204's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

4.0

There's 4 main focuses of this book: 1- it's a memoir of Penaluna's experience as a philosophy academic, 2- it's a primer of four female philosophers (Astell, Masham, Wollstonecraft, Cockburn), 3- a discussion of how women have been portrayed by more "canon" philosophers such as Aristotle and Kant (warning: it is sooo frustrating and made me so angry reading it), and 4- a list of other female philosophers to dispel the point that female philosophers don't exist. I think it does these four things fairly well, although each deserve a book of their own. It's definitely more of a jumping-off point when it comes to the four main philosophers discussed -- Penaluna doesn't really get into the minutiae of their ideas, more painting the broad strokes, so if you're looking for an in-depth analysis of their work this isn't it. However, as a primer, it does its job -- I have never once in my life thought about reading a philosophy book but I've added several works from the four focused on to my to-read pile, and it's really gotten me inspired to look at more modern feminist works as well. I really related to a ton of the themes discussed -- the "feminine rage", as I call it, stemming from years of oppression that women tend to harbor, self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy also from that oppression, the dismissive male glance, and (although I'm not a mother) maternal guilt about doing things for yourself. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.
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peperopoi's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I adore this book. I wouldn't consider myself particularly interested in philosophy or feminism, but there were many passages in this book that changed the way I viewed my inner dialogue and what that revealed about my self. This is a perfect book club book that would feed a deep and diverse discussion around the experiences of women.
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