With its kick ass illustrations, girl power vibes and what I hoped would be an insightful read into modern day feminism, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given.
I am always rooting for any book that pushes feminist idealogy into the mainstream, to an audience which wouldn’t necessarily pick up and engage with the themes of the book.
It’s definitely in an accessible format, and I enjoyed that it covered topics such as boundaries, internalised misogyny, accountability and emotional labour. I think these issues are just so ingrained in the fabric of our lives we can overlook or even sometimes reinforce these inequalities without even realising, so it was great to see these covered in the book.
However.. I did find the book as a piece of feminist discourse simplistic and didn’t add much new to the discussion. I would have loved to see her in discussion with some of the studies she briefly references, or perhaps drawing on personal experience or expert opinions could have been an insightful addition to add a new perspective.
I also found the tone of the book really off, particularly towards the beginning. Certain passages came across as condescending, often the use of “hun” and “my love” were jarring and took me out of the text somewhat.
Overall I think it’s a great introduction into modern day feminism, and is the type of book I would like to gift a teen or someone who is intrigued by feminism but hasn’t engaged with these texts before. If you’ve read this one, I’d love to know your thoughts!
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