Customer Reviews

Big Girls Don't Cry

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For those of us who were actively involved in the 2008 election, this book is a must read. One may not agree with Ms Traister's take on it but will marvel at her wit and unique insight, especially when speaking of the immense pressure felt uniquely by woman. As someone who is still fairly "bitter" about what happened to the first extraordinarily qualified woman to run for President, I laughed, cried and fumed as I turned the page. From "You're nice enough" to a "thrill running up my leg" comments and the inept Clinton campaign management, my personal memories were jarred and reawakened reminding me that perhaps we haven't come that long a way baby.
As one who was forever changed by the election, I look forward to the discussion which should be started by this book. Unfortunately, as a woman, this book by Rebecca Traister might not receive the same hoopla by the media that accompanied "Game Change" as I fear- we really haven't come that long a way-hope I'm wrong on this one.

Presidential campaigns have always been one part spectator sport and one part democracy in action. Participate if you want, but don't expect anything to change. But 2008 took more out of us than previous campaigns. It was exhausting on a whole new level. Even the stoics among us were in such a weakened condition by election day that we were all crying, with joy that America had elected a black president, with frustration that so many things had been said and done that could never be taken back, with relief that the marathon was over.

Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment, but I have already read a couple of the behind-the-scenes accounts of the election (Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, Renegade: The Making of a President), which were interesting, but ultimately forgettable. Reading Big Girls Don't Cry brought back the most infuriating moments of the year leading up to the election. This isn't the just story of the candidates, it's the story of how the 2008 campaign brought out the still-raw feelings of the women's movement. It's about how on one hand, women are more influential and powerful than we have ever been, but on the other hand, women hold only about 17% of the seats in the House and Senate.

Rebecca Traister recounts that many of her thirty-ish friends who assumed their lefty boyfriends were progressive, found them to be about as traditional as their grandfathers when it came to women's issues. It was a bit unsettling to read that Obama has a habit of calling women reporters "sweetie." Even if you weren't supporting Hillary Clinton for president, it was disappointing and yet unsurprising to see the Hillary Nutcracker being advertised everywhere, even in the Funny Times, a left wing humor magazine.

Big Girls Don't Cry goes into fascinating detail about the Clinton campaign, especially the press coverage, which was different that year because so many women were in a position to report on a woman running for her party's nomination. Traister also dissects the coverage of Sarah Palin, as well as that of Michelle Obama. She notes how many women were promoted to cover these women, making the presence of a woman in the anchor's seat a media event for Katie Couric, old news when Diane Sawyer and Gwen Ifill and Christiane Amanpour became anchors.

Women comedians were big news too, as they shaped the way we looked at the candidates. Who can forget Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Samantha Bee? Traister covers the comedy angle especially well. I appreciated catching up with the jokes and bits that I missed at the time. One of my favorites (and apparently a favorite of Traister's, since she mentions it twice) is the line superdelegate Donna Brazile cracked to Stephen Colbert - "Look, I'm a woman, so I like Hillary. I'm black, I like Obama. But I'm also grumpy, so I like John McCain."

A riveting recap of the full-of-surprises 2008 election, including the inexplicably harsh treatment Hillary Clinton received from even the liberal media, especially the boys at MSNBC.

I, like a lot of other women, got regularly steamed during the 08 campaign because of the media's treatment of Hillary. I laughed at SNL's skits, especially the one which portrayed the media as being slavishly devoted to Obama. And, to describe the MSNBC male commentators , especially Chris Matthews, as frat boys, sniggering over Hillary's clothes, appearance, etc. was just perfect. Maureen Dowd totally lost me as a reader because of her catty and petty columns about Hillary. It's good to find out that a lot of other women were plenty ticked off by the media's treatment of Hillary too. Makes me wonder how the first two years of Hillary's administration would have gone. She's certainly proved herself as Secretary of State. More people should read this book.

Rebecca Traister has really hit home in this book. Traister writes a fantastic account of the 2008 election and why Hillary couldn't win. Unlike Traister I was a Hillary supporter from the start, and still am. I am very proud that she ran, she not only ran, but she ran until she gave her delegates to Obama at the DNC. She didn't give up, just because she was told to, she didn't give up after sexist remarks, she didn't give up because it was expected of her, and she was in it until the end.

Traister writes in her book that she didn't want to vote for Hillary just because she was a woman. But after reading the book I wonder if woman didn't vote for her because Hillary didn't add up to the idealized woman that some feminist wanted?

Traister writes and honest look at her own turn from an Edwards supporter to a Hillary supporter.
She describes the blatant t sexism, not only where woman expect it, but from they weren't expecting it, most notably progressive men's descriptions and outright hate for Hillary.

This book is a must read for any political junkie, or those who care about gender issues in this country. I would like to send this book to several male politicians out there.

Traister said one thing that I agree with, we shouldn't vote for a woman just because she is a woman, but we should consider why we are voting for her.

There were some places that I disagreed with her but overall I liked this book.
Women have come a long way but there still needs to be more work.

I just finished listening to the audible.com edition of Big Girls Don't Cry by Rebecca Traister on a cross country road trip. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Traister, a writer for Salon.com, lays out an insightful and thorough examination of the 2008 election campaign and what it meant for feminism, sexism, and women in this country. As a 40 year old woman who sits somewhere between the Gloria Steinem/2nd Wave feminist generation and the 20-something blogosphere feminism, I found that Traister's observations as well as the those of the many influential women she interviewed echoed many of my own. There were times when I felt like I was re-living the anger and disappointment raised by the Clinton and Palin campaigns. Even more enraging was the media treatment of both women which is carefully and chronologically documented in the book through excerpts, quotes, and historical context.

My political involvement during the 2008 election was limited to listening to NPR and watching Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. So, I was fairly insulated from the worst of the media sexism and stupidity. This book reminded me that I still need to be paying attention. When we pay attention, we speak out, and that is one thing which wasn't happening enough in 2008.

If there is one thing that I didn't love about this book - it was Traister's occasionally long-winded observations of her own emotional state during the campaign. While I appreciate that sexism, racism and politics are emotional as well as intellectual, and I often felt the same way she did, I enjoyed the concrete examples and historical context much more. Not really a criticism... but an acknowledgement that this book is about a woman's own personal political journey as well as a nation's.

This book reminded me that I'm proud to be a feminist and inspired me to get off my "stuck-in-college-20-years-ago" mind-set and learn about what's going on in feminist thought today. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to examine what it means to be a feminist, the changing definition of feminism, or how the 2008 election changed all of it.

There is a wide-eyed, enthusiastic engagement here that would be appealing if it wasn't combined with an inclination toward comparing "the year that changed everything for American women" with the long and winding road of feminism and the fight for gender equality powered with a background white noise that smacks of the new girls critiquing the old broads. Maybe it's my greybeard status that has me feeling discomfited, and maybe I'm taking this tome personally, when it's just commentary. And maybe I'm just flat out wrong. Traister's enthusiasm for the subject is evident and engaging, but there are too many snipes from the author, and reportage of the same from others. The 2008 Presidential race was enthralling and historic on so many levels, there can be hundreds of books analyzing what happened from a myriad of angles. I was eager for a younger woman's opinion from a close-to perspective. What I did not expect was more rehashing of the divisiveness of "second wave feminism" from 40 years ago to be included in the analysis. I'd hoped we'd outgrown that. We all want a brighter future. And we work for it seeing in our rearview mirror the remarkable and courageous work of the women who came before.

I picked this book up for a class assignment becauseI knew that Tina Fey was mentioned (I love her) and thought it might be interesting to review. I have since recommended it to several friends and it's given me inspiration for my up and coming thesis. Traister gives a completely new perspective on the 2008 elections that I haven't previously been exposed to. I like the inclusion of her personal political journey (in deciding who to vote for) and loved the "behind the scenes" take she gave us. Whether you agree with her or not, she highlights some very interesting points and really considers all the factors that played into the elections. Traister has definitely done her homework and blends facts with her personal observations and experiences. I found her analysis of the breakdown of the Clinton campaign particularly intriguing. Anyone with an interest in politics, particularly from a feminist perspective, would enjoy this book.

Ms. Traister's part memoir, part campaign analysis is a very astute, level-headed observation of what occurred during the 2008 Presidential campaign. The author, a Democrat, talks about the internal conflicts felt by many women who had to choose between Senators Clinton or Obama. The truly historic campaign opened up old wounds, highlighted the different generational perspectives about what it meant to be a feminist as well as the huge gap between expectations and the realities of actually having to govern? Though many women are discussed, the book's primary focus is on Senator Clinton, Governor Palin and Ms. Obama. I vividly recall the level of misogynistic vitriol directed especially towards Senator Clinton by politicians, the populace, pundits and even the news organizations who should have known better during the campaign. It was shocking and discouraging. My positive assumptions about how open-minded we had become as a nation when it came women's roles took a major hit. Fortunately, Ms. Traister's book is ultimately a positive, uplifting look at where we were, where we are and how things are getting better. I came away admiring all the women for their resolve to not be pushed to the sidelines. A wonderful, thought-provoking book by a talented, 36-year-old feminist.

I bought Rebecca Traister's book after being a longtime fan of her work on Salon, particularly the articles she wrote for the now defunct Broadsheet. As I expected, the book includes the most incisive political commentary I've ever read on the 2008 election, and I read a LOT. I think many people did - it was interesting and personal in so many ways. From the vantage point of 2011, some of the events that Traister writes about still set my blood simmering, and she's at her best when she's outraged too - the Palin chapter alone is worth the price of the book. I gained a new appreciation for Hillary Clinton and the work she's done, and Traister also includes little tidbits about Michelle and Barack Obama on the campaign trail that were totally fascinating and insightful. Recommended for everyone who needs closure from the election or is just seeking to deepen their understanding of what the hell happened during that whirlwind of a time.