WHY I PICKED IT: Loved her other book, so bought this
ELAPSED TIME: 4 days
RATING: Good
This short book is a collection of academic essays on feminism.
The first one, on societal view of female sexuality is quite good.
The second, a study on eating disorders is actually quite fantastic. Did you know that (some) people with eating disorders aren’t doing it to be more attractive (they know that being too skinny makes them less attractive), but to make themselves invisible?
The third essay is a study on the definition of femininity and feminism. To be honest, when Penny started a commentary on how some feminists reject transsexuals, I started skim reading…
The final essay is a study on opportunity and salary with many interesting thoughts:
(a) A quote by Juliet Mitchell that reads: “The most elementary demand is not the right to work or receive equal pay for work, but the right to receive equal work itself.”
(b) Despite 100 years of feminist movement, men do 5 hours of domestic work per week, while women do nineteen. And if American women were paid for this work, it would cost the equivalent to six times the US military budget (!).
(c) Men see dirt and understand the work, but simply refuse
to support… making it a true war of the genders.
(d) Many women are passing the buck… hiring house cleaners
(poor women), who are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to power (being
unable to hire a cleaner themselves).
All in all, not as good as her book on dissent and protests,
but a decent read. I’ll continue to
follow Laurie Penny.
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