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How to Be a Woman Paperback – July 17, 2012

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Caitlin Moran (Author)
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Caitlin Moran (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars 678 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition (July 17, 2012)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0062124293
  • ISBN-13: 978-0062124296
  • Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (678 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsBuy it now
By Amazon Customer VINE VOICE on March 31, 2012
Format: Paperback Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I read this book and laughed a lot while doing so.

Then I had to face the acid test. I handed it to my wife - the professional nay-sayer, the woman who thinks that puns are not funny - and told her to open it at random and start reading. I expected to have it back within seconds with a dismissive remark, but instead she started reading it, chuckling occasionally, and when she turned the page she put her fingers under the next page, the quicker to read it. I asked her what the chuckles were for, but she didn't answer and kept on reading. Then she laughed so hard she nearly fell off the chair. She looked at me and said, "She's good."

I said "I've finished it, you can read it," but she insisted that I write my review first. That makes sense, considering that she has a bunch of friends that she passes on books to that she thinks are important (books, that is). So here it is.

And the only thing I can say I said in the review title - Buy it. It's the funniest book I've read this year, and probably the last year as well. Billed as a "feminist" book, by American standards it is not academic enough and way too funny, yet it addresses some of the major issues woman have like what to name your sexual parts, your pubic hair and so on. There's also a great deal of stuff on how women are sucked up into the vortex of buying clothes and high heels, having Brazilian waxes, and plenty more. The book is a vague memoir of life since she was thirteen, living in close-to-poverty, yet she managed to win a national newspaper essay competition and get on the staff of the prestigious Melody Maker Brit-pop rag in just the next three years. She also started her career as a national newspaper columnist (most of which was spent in the London Times) and hosted some TV shows.Read more ›
5 Comments 150 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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3.0 out of 5 starsMore For The Younger 20's and 30's Crowd
By Wilhelmina Zeitgeist VINE VOICE on May 17, 2012
Format: Paperback Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
"How to Be a Woman" by Caitlin Moran had its ups and downs for me. It started out as a winner in my mind but seemed to get stuck on certain topics for much to long. Other topics didn't really hold much of an interest for me either.

Now, to be fair, I think I'm older than the target audience. While reading it I often thought of how I would have enjoyed the book more when I was younger. Some of the issues that must be very pressing to young women today just made me shake my head as I began to reminisce about the good old days when shaving our legs and arm pits was good enough for the men in our lives. No wonder so many younger women aren't happier. They are spending all of their free time worrying about body hair and all of their free time getting rid of it.

Marriage, kids, work, inter-office romance....I've seen it all. A case of the middle aged been there done that. But, it's all new to the younger women. They need to know these things and need to think about them.

I do like Caitlin's definition of what it takes to decide if you are a feminist or not. It made a lot of sense and was so much easier to understand than the speeches we had to listen to and Phil Donahue Shows we had to watch in the 70's. Back when we were first trying to figure out what a feminist was, could we be one, and if we were could we still keep our boyfriends. The younger women will love this book. The post menopausal space age boomers probably won't.
11 Comments 161 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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5.0 out of 5 starsFinally! A fun, hopeful, feminist book!
By dSavannah VINE VOICE on July 2, 2012
Format: Paperback Vine Customer Review of Free Product ( What's this? )
I AM A STRIDENT FEMINIST! There, I said it, as the author instructed. But it's true, and I have been, for as long as I can remember knowing what that even meant. And I have to say, this is the first "feminist book" that actually made me feel hopeful and happy and glad to be a woman. Others (such as "Crazy Salad Plus Nine" by the wonderful Nora Ephron) just made me angry - because so little has changed for women. We're still - 30+ years after she wrote it - marginalized and "different".

"How to Be a Woman" explains this 'difference' in a no-nonsense and hilarious way. For example, in the chapter titled "I Encounter Some Sexism!", the author says, "We are, physically, the weaker sex. We're not as good at hefting stones, killing mammoths, and rowing boats. In addition, sex often had the added complication of getting us pregnant and leaving us feeling 'too fat' to lead an army into India."

The author honestly and unflinchingly looks at many topics that plaque women:
~what happens when puberty hits (the periods! the hair growth!)
~the 'thin' vs 'fat' issue (and how the term "fat" is used as a curse and a slur)
~sexism (in the workplace and out)
~falling in love, getting married, and having kids (why you should, and why you shouldn't)
~abortion
~the "maintenance" we have to do on ourselves (waxes, etc.)
~and getting older

And it's all presented in an uplifting, positive, honest, and hilarious way. I did NOT want this book to end. And I want to give copies to everyone important in my life.

A few notes - as other reviewers have stated, there is all kinds of crude language as well as mentions of drug and alcohol use, none of which bothered me personally, but... this is, obviously, not for everyone...Read more ›
2 Comments 71 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...
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3.0 out of 5 starsSome interesting ideas, but neither funny nor thoughtful
By Acorn on January 5, 2013
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Caitlin Moran wants to argue in favour of feminism (or at least her take on it), help young women to learn how to be a woman (often learning from Moran's own mistakes), and to introduce humour and satire into the mix. Moran was 35 years old when she wrote this book, at a stage in her life when she had overcome the insecurities of adolescence and the booze-fuelled soul searching of her twenties, but still young enough to empathise with young women undergoing those rites of passage.

The first ten chapters cover the transition through puberty and teenage to the stage of being a `grown up'. She deals with the onset of menstruation, the discovery of masturbation, the anguish of dealing with the physical changes as one heads towards adulthood, and how to deal with relationships. In the fourth chapter she introduces feminism and says that all women should identify as feminist. But there is a good deal of confusion about what this means. At one point she says men should be feminists too, but then says that to be a feminist you need to have a vagina and want to be in charge of it. It's a nice sound bite, but what does it really mean? The question is ignored as we skip to another topic.

In a later chapter she says that sexism has to be re-framed as behaviour that separates people into `winners' and `losers', pointing out that women are usually seen as `losers'. To challenge sexism we have to ask: is this behaviour polite? If it's not, then it's sexist and we should reject it. Frankly I found this silly. If we were all just polite to each other, sexism would disappear? The class system in Britain thrives on an ethic of `politeness' and uses this to thwart challenges to the status quo. Is this what Moran really wants?Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Anecdotal learning!

Published 14 hours ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsInspiring

A very inspirational book that really inspired me. Caitlin Moran is a feminist hero!

Published 3 days ago by Sofie Courcelle
5.0 out of 5 starsShe is brilliant. Very honest

She is brilliant. Very honest, funny and wise. I would read anything written by her even if it was just a list of groceries.

Published 4 days ago by Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 starsI found this book to be problematic

I AM A STRIDENT FEMINIST! And I didn't really enjoy this book.

But let's start with what I did like: Moran is a decent writer, and the book is certainly witty and funny... Read more

Published 5 days ago by Leanna
4.0 out of 5 starsFunny book

British writer/comic tackles various hot-button topics around feminism. Entertaining and poignant, there's a lot of good stuff here. Great read!

Published 11 days ago by Amy Wels
1.0 out of 5 starsLightweight book by a lightweight thinker. I had to ...

Lightweight book by a lightweight thinker. I had to put a paperweight on it to keep it from floating, I thought someone put helium in it. About as deep as Ellymay Clampett. Read more

Published 15 days ago by All Access Customer
3.0 out of 5 starsI enjoyed a vast majority of this book

I enjoyed a vast majority of this book, until the end when it felt like I was just being shouted and screamed at. Read more

Published 18 days ago by Hannah
5.0 out of 5 starssharp, original, witty thinking

An honest point of view about feminism, recognizing & naming the trivialities we all get caught in, and identifying the essentials of being a woman in full

Published 19 days ago by Gypsy Travellers
5.0 out of 5 starsSuch a great read - although there are points I might argue ...

Such a great read - although there are points I might argue with Moran, she is an incredibly gifted writer and hits so many of her points out of the park. Read more

Published 22 days ago by Jessica C.
4.0 out of 5 starsFunny, Light Read with Good Discussions!

Book: How To Be A Woman
Author: Caitlin Moran
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

Another Our Shared Shelf Reading! I'm only a few months behind the group on this one. Read more

Published 25 days ago by AlysonSerenaStone

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