2015
Book Reviews
Non-fiction
Virago
Blog Tour: I Call Myself a Feminist - Book Review
Title: I Call Myself a Feminist
Author: Victoria Pepe (Editor), Rachel Holmes (Editor), Amy Annette (Editor),Martha Mosse (Editor), Alice Stride (Editor)
Published: November 5th 2015 by ViragoAmazon | Amazon UK
Blurb: Is feminism still a dirty word? We asked twenty-five of the brightest, funniest, bravest young women what being a feminist in 2015 means to them.
We hear from Laura Bates (of the Everyday Sexism Project), Reni Eddo-Lodge (award-winning journalist and author), Yas Necati (an eighteen-year-old activist), Laura Pankhurst, great-great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and an activist in her own right, comedian Sofie Hagen, engineer Naomi Mitchison and Louise O'Neill, author of the award-winning feminist Young Adult novel Only Ever Yours. Writing about a huge variety of subjects, we have Martha Mosse and Alice Stride on how they became feminists, Amy Annette addressing the body politic, Samira Shackle on having her eyes opened in a hostel for survivors of acid attacks in Islamabad, while Maysa Haque thinks about the way Islam has informed her feminism and Isabel Adomakoh Young insists that women don't have to be perfect. There are twelve other performers, politicians and writers who include Jade Anouka, Emily Benn, Abigail Matson-Phippard, Hajar Wright and Jinan Younis.
Is the word feminist still to be shunned? Is feminism still thought of as anti-men rather than pro-human? Is this generation of feminists - outspoken, funny and focused - the best we've had for long while? Has the internet given them a voice and power previously unknown?
Rachel Holmes' most recent book is Eleanor Marx: A Life; Victoria Pepe is a literary scout; Amy Annette is a comedy producer currently working on festivals including Latitude; Alice Stride works for Women's Aid and Martha Mosse is a freelance producer and artist.
First of all I would like to thank the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
Review: I don't read a lot of non-fiction, in fact, the last one was Yes, Please by Amy Poehler some months ago. But when I was offered I Call Myself a Feminist to review, it instantly caught my attention. What appealed to me was that it had essays by so many different women all under the age of 30. Being under 30 myself I thought I could learn a lot from all these women and I was not wrong.
Each essay handles a different topic related to feminist. Some are personal stories, others are reflections about what being a feminist means nowadays, some state facts, others give reasons why it is still important to be a feminist but they all are enlightening, honest and enriching. I learnt something from every and each one of these women. They made me realise the importance of calling myself a feminist and left me with the feeling that I need to do more, to speak up and contribute.
In fact, let me share with you an excerpt of Martha Mosse's essay called What's in a Word:
"I cal myself a feminist because I am proud of what feminists have done. Proud of the women of the past from all over the world who have campaigned and fought for the benefit of those coming after them. I call myself a feminist because I believe women deserve to be treated equally to men."
This summarizes very well the idea behind the book. We owe it to them and to ourselves to call ourselves feminists.
I really think this book is too important to miss. Powerful and empowering, easy to read and all in all brilliant.
Each essay handles a different topic related to feminist. Some are personal stories, others are reflections about what being a feminist means nowadays, some state facts, others give reasons why it is still important to be a feminist but they all are enlightening, honest and enriching. I learnt something from every and each one of these women. They made me realise the importance of calling myself a feminist and left me with the feeling that I need to do more, to speak up and contribute.
In fact, let me share with you an excerpt of Martha Mosse's essay called What's in a Word:
"I cal myself a feminist because I am proud of what feminists have done. Proud of the women of the past from all over the world who have campaigned and fought for the benefit of those coming after them. I call myself a feminist because I believe women deserve to be treated equally to men."
This summarizes very well the idea behind the book. We owe it to them and to ourselves to call ourselves feminists.
I really think this book is too important to miss. Powerful and empowering, easy to read and all in all brilliant.
1 comentaris
I am interested to read this book, thank you for sharing your review :-) It is depressing that the word feminism has gained such negative connotations, but always encouraging that with each generation of women we do get a little closer to genuine equality - in Britain at least.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Jane