How to Be a Woman

Absolutely every woman should read this book. It is brilliant, funny, poignant, heart-breaking and wonderful, all at the same time.

This was alright I guess. Very much a product of its time, a mix of feminist messaging but a white cishet feminism and personal anecdotes often falling into some stereotypes and essentialism. Especially ranting about having children, Moran says one stereotypical thing in one chapter (having children will make you into a superwoman, nothing else can do that) and then says the complete opposite in the next. Mid 2000s Cosmo vibes. Feel free to pass

I had never heard of the author or this book but I got the recommendation from my dear friend Starryeyedenigma and because I really trust her choices, I had to try it immediately. The book is definitely funny, especially with the author's very witty and emotive narration but I can't say the content was something that I felt either I connected to or that I needed to know. While I could empathize with the author's experiences and understood what she was trying to convey about her idea of feminism, I just felt at a remove from everything.

It was the two chapters about motherhood and abortion that really touched me. I'm at an age where everyone around me feels compelled to tell me that I'm already too old and I should have a kid immediately, so I really felt emotional at the author's words about wanting women to make a choice about motherhood because they want it and not because they have to due to societal expectations. I also really felt she was very open about her abortion experience and completely agree with her that it should only be a person's choice and while it can be a life altering decision, it's unfair to assume that everyone finds it difficult to make that decision or that every person who decides to get an abortion is gonna regret it or feel bad about it forever. Everyone has their own reasons for doing it and how they process it is their own business. This one chapter felt particularly relevant and important because of the current horrific situation in the US and I was glad to know her thoughts about it.

So, while the whole book wasn't for me, it has its moments and it's never not funny. But if you are interested in an entertaining and witty memoir/commentary about topics ranging from puberty, menstruation, pornography, dating, marriage and motherhood to feminism in the current day and age and more, then you should give this a try.

Moran is not my cuppa'. Reading this consolidated my feelings that she's not the storyteller for me. I don't enjoy her writing style nor her type of humor. While I agreed with some of her opinions, others felt quite dated or borderline offensive. I truly wanted to like this but I was left with the overwhelming feeling that she's just too full of herself, I couldn't enjoy this as a memoir, let alone as a feminist cannon. Maybe it's the kind of persona she needed to build to protect herself, but either way, I'm not a fan.

Some of the stories are funny, but they do not save it from the author's not-so-hot hot takes. I did a lot of eye rolling. Yikes.

3.5 rounded to 4 for the number of times this book made me laugh. Not pretty laughs, but everything ranging from cackling-hear-me-in-the-next-room to “that was totally relatable and I'm snorting at the suddenness of its truth.” I don't agree with everything Moran has to say about feminism, but she's usually thoughtful about her opinions and frequently provides nuance. The world is complicated and she artfully embraces the idea that we can reject soul-sucking strip clubs while also praising burlesque shows for healthy sexual expression. I'd love to follow her and see what else she has to say.

Very good, but took me a while to finish.

I really liked how Moran used personal anecdotes in each chapter to discuss feminism and all of the various aspects of it. She did a good job with that, and I found her stories entertaining and relevant, for the most part. Sometimes though it did seem like she was just rambling and the point she was trying to make was a bit incoherent and lost amid the rest of the chapter. I sometimes found it difficult to understand the point she was trying to make since she was all over the place with her thoughts on it. Overall though, this was a great book and wasn't too difficult to get through. Moran made it very interesting and relatable throughout. I especially appreciated her chapter on abortion, and found that to be the best part of the novel. Her personal anecdote there made her argument very clear and persuasive. This is really the first book on feminism that I've ever read, and I think it was the perfect one to start out with.

While I did not like this as much as I enjoyed How to Be a Girl, it was still a good read. I found it fun to read, if a bit preachy at times (really, I have already figured out the bits about high heels and handbags). What shined for me were the personal stories of her sister's dislike of weddings (YES!) and Moran's personal philosophies on a great many other topics. I could care less about the celebrity stuff. I heard the call of the strident feminist and answered it with a whoot whoot. We are out here, girl. We hear you.

I have had this book on my to-read list for years and years, simply because the title intrigued me. More than anything else, I found myself disappointed by it. For all the good, rational arguments Moran has for why we need more feminism, and less self-imposed ridiculous standards, she is awfully regressive when it comes to making fun of women for things she finds herself incapable of accepting — some women actually CAN walk in heels, and like wearing them! some of us don't want to wear granny panties! some of us don't think it's this huge existential problem of what to call our lady bits! — and that was extremely frustrating. I found myself wanting to put this down so many times, but I paid $6 for the eBook and I don't like wasting money.

I wanted to like this more. I have little experience with her writing, but I read about this book ages ago in Chicago and thought it sounded interesting. As far as being a memoir, it's amusing and enjoyable. But as far as feminist manifestos go, it's very problematic. In brief, she's very naive about so many issues, I can't even begin to discuss them. She's also really narrow in her scope. Unless you are a CIS-gendered, fairly successful, 30-something white woman, little will relate to your life. She doesn't comprehend queer, asexual, trans, or anything beyond her scope. She doesn't understand that you cannot generalize either of the binary genders, because she spends the book making generalizations. She cannot comprehend the experience of poor women, women of colour, or anyone on the queer spectrum–and the problem is that she generalizes so much, she seems to think anyone who identifies as woman or has woman bits thinks the way she does. No. She's also naive in thinking that any place a gay man deems a safe space means it's welcoming to women. Not necessarily. This is no manifesto. It's not even a good introduction. What it is is a memoir by a woman who is still trying to figure her own shit out.

That said, she is often very funny, and she makes some interesting statements regarding abortion and having children–with which I even agree at times! I appreciate the fact that she tells you flat out her initial experience giving birth was horrendous, and not the lovely joyful day one is told it will be. It is disgusting and horrifying and should almost be required reading.

So this book isn't useless. There are three decent chapters toward the end and some quite amusing life stories. But read with a grain of salt.

would be great for a younger(15 years) me.

After being told that I would enjoy this book and that it was hilarious - I wasn't entirely convinced that I would feel the same!

I was wrong! It was brilliant, and I can confidently say it has changed my life a little bit! Moran is hilarious and I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions! Even to the point where I would repeat sections out to my other half, who found them just as funny as I did.

Unashamedly feminist - this book really is a must read for any woman who feels that they should be in control of their own life. But equally every man should have a read of it too!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Amusing, but better as a memoir than any sort of actual feminist analysis or anything. Very 101, and no real analysis of some things besides she likes one and not the other (strip clubs v. burlesque, for example). Very much straight white lady feminism as well. I didn't hate it by any means, but definitely a better memoir.

I may give this one more chapter, but honestly, even though I wanted to like it, I could not get past the section where as a music critic, she asserted that women had made no good music in the 80s (or done anything ever, really) thanks to living under the oppressive thumb of male culture. While many of the observations she makes are both trenchant and true, this struck me as absurd and jarring in an otherwise interesting book.

Part of what makes the idea of feminism compelling is the notion that women have done so much despite serious societal and cultural disadvantages. I feel like I hear about a different unknown woman every week who blazed a trail in some way, and I think Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Aimee Mann and Debbie Harry would all say that music in the 80s was pretty great thanks to women.

Though I appreciate Moran's attempts to make feminism more accessible, in her efforts to appeal to the masses (and to the menz), she actually undercuts the movement in a lot of ways. I also didn't think she was terribly funny.

OK, so, I'd been vaguely hearing good things about this book from the ~feminist blogosphere~ and I'd seen some really good quotes from it being thrown around the internet, so I thought I'd read this. And I think first of all that there is a culture gap & a generation gap going on here?

Some of the stuff Moran writes in here is really great (and you've probably already seen those bits turned into graphics on Tumblr). Some of it is just like, WTF? There's a whole chapter about how crazy women are because we instantly imagine marrying men as soon as we meet them, and men shouldn't be alarmed because we can't help it. Um... what? There are a lot of other instances where she seems to be taking her own personal hang-ups and assuming that all women started working as journalists when they were teenagers and get paid to review lap dances, etc.

This book is marketed as some kind of neo-feminist manifesto but it's really the memoir of one weird, successful, funny woman. Which is a fine thing for a book to be! I also am not sure if she even let an editor touch it because it seems very, very rambly.

British newspaper columnist, Caitlin Moran, offers up tips on how to be a strident feminist (which doesn't mean you hate men), in this part-memoir, part humourous rant. Very enjoyable, and recommended to all current and latent feminists (men included).