Book Review | Caitlin Moran, How To Be a Woman

Though Caitlin Moran's How To Be a Woman was first published in 2011, five years down the line there are still so many prevalent and significant issues which it brings to light. There are many taboos which Moran aims to dispel throughout her memoir, by discussing them in a blunt, open, and frankly humorous way. These range from starting your periods through to encountering everyday sexism, and even to abortion. In recent years, figures such as Moran have encouraged women to speak out about their personal experiences and about their bodies, something which has for some reason been heretofore deemed socially unacceptable.

What Moran tackles so skilfully in this text is how contemporary feminism is situated within modern and popular culture. She does this with her characteristic journalistic and Twitter-loving style, in that some sentences are shouted or short or italicised, giving the reader an experience that roots itself in the personal and the direct. This does not mean that she is condescending or belittling in any sense, however; I have never read a book which I have found so relatable. Moran does not hesitate to point out her flaws and her mistakes, but she gently mocks herself and tells herself (and us!) that these trivialities, as these things so often are, do not define us. I found it incredibly humbling to read a text in which an accomplished, feminist, popular journalist has experienced and relays back to the reader the very same adolescent worries that I, and so many of my friends, have also been through.

I wish that I could have had the good fortune of reading this book when it was first published, as I feel that I (and many others – I certainly would not have hesitated to recommend it far and wide) would have benefitted immensely from the concepts it outlines. Moran does not attempt to objectively outline absolutely everything that feminism encompasses, stands for, or has achieved, but what she does do is narrate her own personal experience of feminism and how it has impacted upon her life, which leads the reader to recognise similar tropes in their own lives. I shall definitely read this book again, and I rest assured knowing that I will enjoy it just as much, will appreciate its sentiments, and to be perfectly honest, laugh my socks off.

What I took from this book as Caitlin Moran's most important message is one of self-identification, self-assurance, and humility. What Moran urges the reader to do 'is say 'I am a feminist'. For preference, I would like you to stand on a chair, and shout 'I AM A FEMINIST' - but this is simply because I believe everything is more exciting if you stand on a chair to do it.' As a result, never more proudly so have I wanted to proclaim I AM A FEMINIST.

[This review was first published in February 2016 in The Linc, the University of Lincoln's student newspaper]