Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Hey, Hun: Sales, Sisterhood, Supremacy, and the Other Lies Behind Multilevel Marketing by Emily Lynn Paulson

6 reviews

bmpicc's review

challenging hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

 My current rabbit-hole is the cult of MLM's. I do have a few reservations about this one. For instance, her new sober business makes me nervous because it has a slight MLM vibe for me. That being said, I think her heart is in the right place and what she shared was 100% relatable. It is easy to be sucked in, but beware... they pray on the weak. You may be on someone's "dirt list".

I'm not sure I know anyone at this point who has not been invited to a "party", let alone how many of us have been an active part of one. Yes, even me. I sold ********* when our son was first diagnosed with allergies because we didn't know how deep his issues went. I didn't know where to turn for safe cleaning & hygiene products. I was a new mom and an easy target. We all have a story.

 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Bullying, Classism, Cancer, Pandemic/Epidemic, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Alcoholism, and Racism

mmccombs's review

informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I’m a person who likes to learn about MLMs (and cults) in the same way we all crane our necks to see a car crash, they are mind-boggling, drama-filled, and absolutely terrible and I want to know more. I’m also a person who has done MLM adjacent type work, stuff in college that wasn’t exactly an MLM but wasn’t exactly not an MLM either, so I definitely empathize with fellow white women who fall into these kinds of traps. This book was a bit more of an autobiography than I anticipated, much more about Emily’s experience than it is an overview of MLMs. But I think that worked really well, talking from her experience rather than painting with a large brush made understanding the why of joining an MLM and why you would stay and what folks get out of it more salient. I do think this was quite repetitive, it could have been significantly shorter (I think it could have even been a long-form article tbh), but the insight and compassion and nuance she brings to this topic was so interesting to read!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, and Body shaming

tinytrashqueen's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

Didn't condemn MLMs as much as I feel like was warranted based on the facts and her own experiences. Also didn't dive into the issues of racism and lack of diversity as I would've expected given that white supremacy is referenced in the title. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Gaslighting, Racism, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Police brutality

Minor: Suicide attempt

maggie_the_ferocious_reader's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Classism, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

lilybear3's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective tense fast-paced

5.0

I might be a little obsessed about reading cults and MLMs.  I think it's because myself and people outside of them can't fathom how powerful and influential they are on people.  It's a car crash you can't seem to look away from.  What makes this book stand out from others is the fact that Paulson was high up in the MLM scheme.  She is brutally honest about her privilege as a white woman with a heteronormative family, her addiction recovery, and the inner workings of an MLM.

Writing is casual while giving readers information.  At times, it is humorous with little quips, but overall, it is vulnerable and honest.  I also appreciated the design of the cover.  Best of all, the beginning of each chapter had flow chart/pyramid graphic of how her rank and downline continued to grow (and diminish).  Absolutely genius.

While I'm super interested in the topic, objectively, this book is great and should be on everyone's reading list.  I also appreciated that she says people who are in MLMs are simultaneously victims and abusers (may have used a different term, enablers?).  It can seem like only fools would fall for these scams but the scams prey on vulnerable people and use compelling rhetoric.  She says the book isn't to scold people, but to hopefully help them realize the danger these companies are.  In addition, there's a paragraph about how be there for someone you know in an MLM.  Importantly, she has resources for help with MLMs and addiction in the back of the book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Racism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Cancer, Religious bigotry, and Medical content

Minor: Body shaming and Homophobia

booksandmagic's review

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Classism, and Racism

Minor: Cancer