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mayagb37's review against another edition
5.0
This was an incredible book and definitely one of my new absolute favorites. An excellent portrayal of the current controversies and narratives surrounding girls and sex, and really insightful. I will be rereading in the near future, and hopefully obtaining a copy of "Boys and Sex" soon. Something that was really exciting was seeing the number of sociology researchers referenced in the book -- gives me hope that I made the right choice with my new major! I would love to be involved in research projects such as this one in the future.
quercus707's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent, must-read book if you have young girls in your life. They need us to talk to them, to listen to them, to be honest with them.
megthegrand's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book for everyone. It will teach you things you don't know, or wish you had known, or how to have conversations with those around you. I wish I could send this back in time to teenage me, or even to college me, with personal notes written in the margins - "It's not just you!" It was heartbreaking, and sometimes extremely difficult, to read because of some of the subject matter. Sometimes I stopped and read it out loud to my partner and we spent hours talking about it. It fueled my conversations and thoughts, and I recommend this to anyone, of any background, and I hope it fuels their conversations, too.
lidiaslibrary's review against another edition
i felt like a 20th century woman reading this
sby's review against another edition
5.0
Every parent of girls should read this book, even though parts of it are cringe-inducing. I'm so glad I picked it up long before my daughter's teenage years.
debi_g's review against another edition
4.0
Infuriating, frightening, puzzling, and, by the end, mildly inspiring.
I feel a great sorrow for the girls who were interviewed--for how little autonomy they exert, for how little pleasure they derive (and how much guilt, regret, and pain), for how frequently they are treated poorly, and how infrequently their gestures, feelings, and intentions are reciprocated.
Most shocking? It's hard to choose. Maybe the blasé revelation that, for girls, "good" sex refers only to an absence or limited amount of pain.
The author's interview on Fresh Air is a good way to ease into this dispiriting book.
As usual, education could remedy so much, but according to this book, only 14 states require the information disseminated in sex ed courses to be medically accurate, and those states don't even enforce the law. Many states still offer no instruction beyond obfuscational biological rudimentaries. No wonder (and what a shame) kids "learn" from porn, an industry that sets up all sorts of misconceptions and absurd expectations.
While I'm being honest, I might as well add that everything I read about "Greek Life" disturbs and disgusts me.
I waffled about whether I should post this review, since some students follow me, but what's wrong with a reportorial book?
I feel a great sorrow for the girls who were interviewed--for how little autonomy they exert, for how little pleasure they derive (and how much guilt, regret, and pain), for how frequently they are treated poorly, and how infrequently their gestures, feelings, and intentions are reciprocated.
Most shocking? It's hard to choose. Maybe the blasé revelation that, for girls, "good" sex refers only to an absence or limited amount of pain.
The author's interview on Fresh Air is a good way to ease into this dispiriting book.
As usual, education could remedy so much, but according to this book, only 14 states require the information disseminated in sex ed courses to be medically accurate, and those states don't even enforce the law. Many states still offer no instruction beyond obfuscational biological rudimentaries. No wonder (and what a shame) kids "learn" from porn, an industry that sets up all sorts of misconceptions and absurd expectations.
While I'm being honest, I might as well add that everything I read about "Greek Life" disturbs and disgusts me.
I waffled about whether I should post this review, since some students follow me, but what's wrong with a reportorial book?
grahamlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This is not a fun read. Not that it is not interesting or informative or very well written. It is all of those things, it is not fun because it is so hard to read on an emotional level. As a mother of a pre-teen girl and someone who spends the majority of her work day surrounded by teenagers, I felt like this was a book that I needed to read. But as a mother it was also a painful read because I can see in the not too distant future, that these are issues both my children are going to have to deal with, and my job as their parent is going to become so much more difficult. Handing our kids a book about puberty and sexual anatomy isn't going to cut it, and neither is ignoring it and hoping they learn everything about it from somewhere or someone else. That kind of thinking does our kids a disservice and sets them up for risky behavior they are ill equipped to unprepared to handle.
Conservatives won't like this book, for its frankness when it comes to teen sex and it's inevitability, or for its focus on how abstinence only programs have been scientifically proven to be more harmful than helpful. The author doesn't pull punches on outdated ideas of fear induced abstinence only, boys will be boys, or blurred lines of consent. She aims to inform and lots of people will be off put by the facts that she backs up with research and data.
All teenage and college age students should read this book, boys most definitely included. It won't be easy but it will be incredibly eye opening and hopefully transformative to a generation saturated with easy but not always accurate information. Our teens and young adults deserve to be informed, they deserve parents and trusted adults who are willing to answer questions in a judgement free way. This book is a good first step to those conversations.
Conservatives won't like this book, for its frankness when it comes to teen sex and it's inevitability, or for its focus on how abstinence only programs have been scientifically proven to be more harmful than helpful. The author doesn't pull punches on outdated ideas of fear induced abstinence only, boys will be boys, or blurred lines of consent. She aims to inform and lots of people will be off put by the facts that she backs up with research and data.
All teenage and college age students should read this book, boys most definitely included. It won't be easy but it will be incredibly eye opening and hopefully transformative to a generation saturated with easy but not always accurate information. Our teens and young adults deserve to be informed, they deserve parents and trusted adults who are willing to answer questions in a judgement free way. This book is a good first step to those conversations.