How to be a Woman

AADL has no copies of this item

Originally published: London : Ebury, 2011.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Classic Moran submitted by Annie B. on July 29, 2012, 8:49pm Funny and insightful

Caitlin Moran: How to be a Woman submitted by kwein on September 19, 2012, 9:52am Delightfully funny. Right on the mark. Reinforces that almost all women should identify themselves as feminist using the two question, frank and hilarious test provided in this book. A terrific refresher for the mature woman and validating that there are still younger women out there who have continued to understand, acknowledge and become active to work at reducing the gender gap while supporting essential traditional roles (motherhood).

You will not be able to put it down!

Check out Moran on youtube. She is as entertaining and insightful live as in her book.

KK

Great read submitted by pkooger on January 21, 2013, 3:09pm I definitely had to watch some videos of Caitlin Moran after reading this book. She has such an engaging personality. It comes through just as well in her writing as it does on the screen. I especially enjoyed the chapter of the book in which she compares Katie Price and Lady Gaga and gauges which of them is a better feminist role model. The results may surprise you! (Just kidding. If the results surprise you, you really need to read this book.)

Funny British Feminism submitted by sdunav on July 1, 2013, 5:31pm This was an impulse grab off the "new books" shelf, and it turned out much funnier and much more insightful than I expected, though I was occasionally confused by the British slang and references to obscure pop culture.

It's a combination memoir/collection of feminist essays by a British music reviewer. One cover blurb says that it's the "British version of Tina Fey's Bossypants", and there are some similarities - both are very honest (or at least appear to be honest!), and very funny, and both authors are unashamedly feminist.

Several chapters (especially the one on abortion) are controversial - but funnily enough, when I looked at reviews this chapter wasn't the one that people were complaining about. Instead, women (I assume mostly women are reading this) are taking offense with Moran's views on porn and Brazilians, Lady GaGa as a feminist icon, or how much to spend on a wedding.

There are also a fair number of people pissed that Moran speaks from a white, hetero position of privilege (although she started out in a decidedly lower class background, and omg the story about wearing her mom's hand-me-down underwear ) - but this isn't a feminist manifesto so much as a series of personal essays on some feminist topics, so I can't fault her too much for that.

Her writing does get a little frantic and over the top sometimes, but she (mostly) pulls it off. For every bit that annoyed me (retard, the verb "rofling"), another bit made me laugh-snort.

Recommended in small doses - read a chapter here and there while you read other things.

Hilarious and insightful submitted by h6davis on June 20, 2015, 1:15pm I loved this book and read tore through it. I read it for my feminist book club and it was so much fun to read and discuss. Alternately funny and thought-provoking. Sections that stood out included her discussion of getting an abortion, the chapters on why a woman would choose to remain childless and why, in the end, she loved having kids anyway. The chapter that stuck with me the most was the one in which she "Experiences Some Sexism!" It so closely mirrored my own feelings in similar situations: the disbelief, surprise, confusion, later giving way to anger...
Definitely would recommend.

Funny and true! submitted by bookher on July 28, 2015, 5:08pm I really enjoyed this book. Caitlin Moran is a very good writer and describes real disturbing experiences with good humor. Fun read!

funny submitted by KOH on August 28, 2017, 8:07pm entertaining book!

good submitted by maywang on June 26, 2021, 3:43pm Nice book.............

Lively feminist essays submitted by valeriemates on August 8, 2021, 2:01pm In "How To Be A Woman," Caitlin Moran talks about how she was treated as a young woman, pregnancy, parenting, why abortion should be legal, and growing up in a large family in Britain. It was written before the MeToo movement and several other feminist developments, so it is a little out of date, but it was engaging and delightful reading. Moran is a lively and engaging writer, so I really enjoyed this book!