“How to be a woman” is Journalist Caitlin Moran’s new book, which is “part-memoire, part-rant”.
Caitlin Moran is known for her great humour and her uncensored view of feminism. She actually defines herself as a modern, strident feminist, and makes people see that feminism is not a threat, but rather a realistic view of contemporary women with modern lives and values. According to her, it’s not “all about sisterhood”, it’s not about women against men, it’s about finally seeing the daily prejudices, small or big, against women in society. She talks about her three-day-labour of her first child, of her later abortion in details, about wearing heels…
A book I recommend, it’s important to have your own opinion about feminism and this project really helps you get an updated view of feminism, although I don’t personnally agree with everything Caitlin says, like: “I don’t think that women being seen as inferior is a prejudice based on male hatred of women. When you look at history” – achievements in arts, science, exploration, for instance – “it’s a prejudice based on simple fact.”
This is totally wrong. History doesn’t happen in a minute. Women did achieve a lot, ie emancipating themselves from male dominance little by little. It has nothing to do with them being inferior, today’s women are not a different breed than the past’s, it has to do with the fact that they couldn’t have access to proper education and were trapped in a socio-religious cage from which men were afread to let them out, and we’re still fighting against that.
However, she agrees that a more imaginative porn would help, so she’s half forgiven.
The title: “How to be a woman” is bit sharp, and it reminded me of the post about the We Are Man viral campaign, but she doesn’t actually set a special behaviour for women, instead she talks about today’s women and how she reacts to life.
So since feminism isn’t on one piece of paper, it is important to know about other views and other initiatives, like Caitlin’s.
Read an extract of the book on The Guardian.
