Exploring big issues of identity, equality, intersectionality, and the current feminist agenda, the author explodes the myth of the model activist and offers a path toward changing the world.
This message is important – after all, most women end up practising what I’d term (ahem) 'bespoke' feminism. Certainly it seems counterproductive to reduce the rich, complicated arena of modern feminism to the level of a New Year resolution ... Frances-White doesn’t make the mistake of diluting feminism to the point where the term verges on meaningless – The Guilty Feminist covers an admirable amount of feminist territory, historical and ideological ... She makes it clear that she doesn’t care if people sometimes disagree with her views – the aim is to amplify the female voice per se ... Frances-White sees the funny side of her feminist stumbles and misfires, and she wants other women to relax a little too.
Those who have listened to Frances-White’s work may recognize her humorous quips and breadth of pop culture knowledge ... The nearly 300-page work generally falls at the intersection of gender studies and self-help ... [she] avoids diving into semantics and the theory, making the book accessible for those just starting to wade into activism ... The Guilty Feminist probably won’t be revelatory for readers with a solid background in feminist discourse, although that’s not to say the work won’t be useful ... Perhaps the book’s greatest accomplishment is that it tasks its readers with employing one of the most basic principles of feminism: to recognize the full humanity of women and of those who don’t identify as male.
...the patriarchy is the enemy. And Frances-White’s charge sheet against it could not be more timely ... The book’s passionate tone is similar to her podcasts and if you listen to those (all 112 of them, downloaded 25m times) you’ll understand its power. Her mixture of wit, fallibility and inclusivity is immensely appealing ... Her genius for satire is what makes her voice so sonorous ... However, it’s not all lols and rabble-rousing prose, and the book sometimes strays into woo-woo politically correct territory.
