Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Pretty Bitches: On Being Called Crazy, Angry, Bossy, Frumpy, Feisty, and All the Other Words That Are Used to Undermine Women by Lizzie Skurnick

2 reviews

daniellekat's review against another edition

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medium-paced

3.25

I loved the concept of this book more than the execution. I thought the organization of the book was witty (each essay focused on a specific word used to undermine women). I liked that each chapter was relatively short but I think there were just too many essays (says a lot about words used to undermine women 😒). While there were a few essays I found exceptional, especially the words most relatable to me, I found most of the essays either weakly associated to their word or just generally dull. I also disliked that there was a lot of American references and political points that went over my head as a non-American. My standouts were: the introduction, Too, Small, Aloof, Pretty, Effortless. 
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pages_with_a_preoccupied_prin's review against another edition

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informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

I loved this book. It was a bit of a slow read but I was taking it an essay at a time. I loved the way etymology was applied to words that are used against women at frequent intervals. I found it really liberating to see my reaction to some of these words in writing and realise that I wasn't just 'overreacting'. One of the many that really resonated with me was for the word 'Tomboy'. "Tomboy is someone else's ideas about my gender. Tomboy assumes I want to be a boy, implies boys are better."

I would highly recommend this book to everyone and anyone. For women that were told their reaction to pretty, or Tomboy, or fat was 'too much', to the people that use this language and need to understand what impact words can hold. Get out there and get reading.
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