findyourgoldenhour's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know what to say here. I related to everything she had to say on such a visceral level. This book just happened to come off of my hold list at the library during the Kavanaugh hearings, so I was already feeling intense rage about what it's like to be a woman living in this white male patriarchy; reading it articulated, with stats and details and footnotes, why I am right to be so angry. The entire Kavanaugh hearings feel like we are taking a vote on whether women and girls matter. As of this writing, it looks like the vote is going to be No. We don't.
I wish I could say something more inspiring here. Read it and literally weep.
I wish I could say something more inspiring here. Read it and literally weep.
erinlynum's review against another edition
5.0
I strongly recommend this book. With Chemaly's seamless writing, I related strongly to what she shared as a woman. The tears to express anger, how anger can turn to gossip and social policing among women, how women are expected to follow gender norms and shock the established system when they push back. I have read quite a few women's studies books and this one taught me quite a few new details, such as the "intimacy discount," when men receive shorter sentencing after assaulting acquaintances and family as opposed to strangers. I appreciated Chemaly's comment that we are so busy teaching girls and women to smile that we forget to teach them they deserve respect. I found her writing about her great-grandfather to be so relatable and enraging, with family dynamics that didn't appreciate her great-grandmother's role and no one standing up to her great-grandmother's negative treatment by her great-grandfather. "Why was he allowed to live freely in the wake of her wreckage?" That is such a powerful quote. We have so much to learn from the women who came before us. I learned a lot and was inspired by the ending of the book, encouraging women to use their anger for progress.
solene_'s review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
omikelson's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
This book was informative, thought-provoking, and empowering- but above all it gave me the words to express emotions that I didn't even know I had. Soraya Chemaly's abilities as an author are truly incredible. Each page was another craftfully written piece to a much greater puzzle encompassing so much of the female experience.
Soon, I'd like to buy my own copy of this book to be able to reread it and annotate some of my own thoughts,
which is something that Chemaly's words seem to encourage. The hope that we, as readers, will be able to apply the ideas expressed on paper to our own lives, to better understand our own identities as women, as well as becoming aware of the culture that demonizes it.
Soon, I'd like to buy my own copy of this book to be able to reread it and annotate some of my own thoughts,
which is something that Chemaly's words seem to encourage. The hope that we, as readers, will be able to apply the ideas expressed on paper to our own lives, to better understand our own identities as women, as well as becoming aware of the culture that demonizes it.
michael_kelleher's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really interesting read. While I have several areas of disagreement with the author, it was very thought-provoking about how anger is perceived, what it’s uses are, what causes it, etc. One of the things this really brought to my attention are the ways I censor or police myself so as not to appear angry or shrill. And this is such a normal part of my life. This was especially interesting to read following The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore. Her book really illustrates the careful line women walk.
marinaxanna's review
i’ll probably pick this up later but it was just a little too much information and numbers for me. maybe it was hitting a little too close to home but there was also just an overwhelming amount of information that was weirdly structured, and the prospect of “having” to read through such a large book (to me) filled with that wasn’t helping.