Scan barcode
lsmith36's review against another edition
3.0
This book just didn’t have the information I wanted for these women. It felt very surface level, which I suppose it has to be when it’s covering so many people. I think it’s a nice starting point to pinpoint people you’d like to learn more about, but not particularly groundbreaking or new.
scostner's review against another edition
3.0
Tired of damsels in distress? Ready for some rebels, artists, scholars, amazons, and even villains? Then this is the book for you. Some of the women profiled within these pages may be familiar - Margaret Thatcher, Annie Easley - but others you have probably never heard of. How about Wang Zhenyi, a poet from the Qing Dynasty? She was born in 1768 and studied everything from astronomy to martial arts. In 1994 a crater on the planet Venus was named for her. "When you look into the night sky, seek out Venus and be dazzled by the celestial body and the woman who saw the stars and felt the wonder of the universe."
If stargazing isn't your style, perhaps you prefer the arts? Maria Tallchief and her brilliant performance as Ballanchine's Firebird may be more to your tastes. The first Native American prima ballerina explained her achievements by saying, "You do what you have to do, and when you must, then you do a little more." Or there is Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji around the year 1000, and it is considered the first modern novel. She "filled her novel with multifaceted female characters who provided a rare glimpse into how it felt to be a woman in her world."
After something more aggressive? What about Khutulun of Mongolia (born around 1260), who was even mentioned in the journals of Marco Polo? He was impressed with the way she would ride into battle with her father's troops and could capture an enemy "as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird." She was also a champion wrestler and refused to marry anyone who could not defeat her. There are also tales of a female pirate who commanded an entire fleet, women who were directors and producers in the early days of Hollywood, and those who stood against the practices of lynching during Jim Crow.
Recommended for anyone with an interest in women's history or feminism. I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
If stargazing isn't your style, perhaps you prefer the arts? Maria Tallchief and her brilliant performance as Ballanchine's Firebird may be more to your tastes. The first Native American prima ballerina explained her achievements by saying, "You do what you have to do, and when you must, then you do a little more." Or there is Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote The Tale of Genji around the year 1000, and it is considered the first modern novel. She "filled her novel with multifaceted female characters who provided a rare glimpse into how it felt to be a woman in her world."
After something more aggressive? What about Khutulun of Mongolia (born around 1260), who was even mentioned in the journals of Marco Polo? He was impressed with the way she would ride into battle with her father's troops and could capture an enemy "as deftly as a hawk pounces on a bird." She was also a champion wrestler and refused to marry anyone who could not defeat her. There are also tales of a female pirate who commanded an entire fleet, women who were directors and producers in the early days of Hollywood, and those who stood against the practices of lynching during Jim Crow.
Recommended for anyone with an interest in women's history or feminism. I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
vintonole's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting cast of mostly unknown women through history. The book gets a bit preachy at times, mostly in the section introductions. The short chapters on each woman could be longer and more detailed, but often very little is known about these historically important women.
porshea's review against another edition
Writing is informative without being engaging
thebookishnic's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really great. I loved the short biographies of all these wonderfully badass women, especially those that I didn’t know. It was also really great that there was a section for “villains”. I would highly recommend this book as a starting point if you’re interested in feminism, women’s history, or enjoy bite-size portions of historical non-fiction. I’ll definitely be researching and reading more about some of these women later.
laurenmcdon's review against another edition
3.0
While at times this book seemed slightly aggressive towards feminism it is still an excellent account of some pretty cool women, with lots of points I agree with being a feminist believing in equality for all myself.
julia_w's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. I think this is a good starting place for learning about these awesome women. It didn't go into much depth on any of them- understandable with the format, and it could feel a bit preachy sometimes, but overall, pretty good.
I'm glad they included a villain section bc when I first got it and was flipping through, I saw the section on Margaret Thatcher and was just like, oh no...
I'm glad they included a villain section bc when I first got it and was flipping through, I saw the section on Margaret Thatcher and was just like, oh no...
crystalisreading's review against another edition
5.0
A thoroughly enjoyable and very interesting addition to the plethora of books about notable women of history that have been published recently. There were multiple women featured in this book that I did not know about before, and found fascinating--rebels. athletes. artists. politicians. I was in awe of so many of their accomplishments, and the courage it must have taken to achieve them. My only complaint about the book is small--while the pencil drawings for each woman were absolutely gorgeous, the rest of the graphic design, both colors and patterns, gave me a headache. Perhaps this is just to remind me that I'm not the target audience? at any rate, that's a small quibble. Otherwise I very much enjoyed these stories and raced through them. I also appreciated that Ms Sarkeesian and Ms Adams included more commentary than usual in each segment on one of the women. I didn't know much about Margaret Thatcher, other than who she was, prior to this, but the very thoughtful chapter on her not only taught me the facts of her life, but also why the authors included her in the villains section, next to lady pirates and drug lords, and one of my favorites, the riotous Moll Cutpurse. I now have so many more women to learn more about.
I definitely recommend this collection--it's accessible for a younger generation, but not dumbed down in a way to repel older readers (aside from the graphic design *shakes cane. get off my lawn!*), and you'll learn about women you may never have heard of before, who certainly deserve to have their achievements recognized. Some of my personal favorites, aside from Moll Cutpurse? Trieu Thi Trinh, Vietnamese freedom fighter from the third century. Fatima al-Fihri, medieval founder of a still active university. Khutulun, the unbeatable wrestling princess. Jackie Mitchell, the female pitcher who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. and so many more. Go read the book. Now!
I definitely recommend this collection--it's accessible for a younger generation, but not dumbed down in a way to repel older readers (aside from the graphic design *shakes cane. get off my lawn!*), and you'll learn about women you may never have heard of before, who certainly deserve to have their achievements recognized. Some of my personal favorites, aside from Moll Cutpurse? Trieu Thi Trinh, Vietnamese freedom fighter from the third century. Fatima al-Fihri, medieval founder of a still active university. Khutulun, the unbeatable wrestling princess. Jackie Mitchell, the female pitcher who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. and so many more. Go read the book. Now!
joinreallife's review against another edition
4.0
Probably closer to 3.5 stars for me, but I didn't want to round down...