Month 4 in Our Shared Shelf Book Club

I’m now behind the rest of the group but the joys of being part of an internet based book club, it doesn’t matter!

So I have just finished Caitlin Moran’s How to be a Woman. The first thing I feel I need to do is stand on a chair and shout out to the world “I AM A FEMINIST”. Also “FAT, FAT, FAT, FAT, FAT”.

So I guess you’re wondering why I have done that. Caitlin suggests we get over the word Fat, continue to say it until it has no effect on us, it’s just a word and doesn’t define us. That’s got Fat out of the way. I also shouted out about being a Feminist. Well I’m proud to be a Feminist, and that doesn’t mean that I am a crazy woman who hates men. No the core thing to feminism is equality. As Caitlin says: “Here is a quick way of working out if you’re a feminist. Put your hand in your pants. a) Do you have a vagina? and b)Do you want to be in charge of it? If you said ‘yes’ to both, then congratulations! You’re a feminist.” 
Now as a woman talking to another woman, yes I do believe this makes you a feminist. However I also believe that men can be feminists. If you’re a man who believes that women have the right to be in control of their lives and have the same access to the rights of Men ,then you too are a feminist. I agree with Caitlin when she says the feminism is still a word we need today.

This book has been a wonderful read. And very honest. Now I don’t completely agree with everything Caitlin has mentioned. But I have loved her honesty. I liked the humorous point of view about what we as women have been brought up to believe, waiting for prince charming to come a rescue us, thanks Disney!

I particularly enjoyed Caitlin’s honest relocation of her abortion. The honest conversations she had with her husband. The wonderfully honest thought’s she had when she found out that she was pregnant. The truth of societal expectations of what a mother is, the nurturing woman who will look after every child she conceives, that is what a good woman does. And her decision that she would not be capable of looking after this child. I think that every woman should read this book, even if it is just for the chapter on Abortion. Caitlin gives a very honest and graphic description of the experience during the abortion procedure. It defiantly opened my eyes to what women go through when having an abortion, and challenged my judgments.

I also loved Caitlin’s view on hiring someone to help with the domestic chores. She raises the question, Why is it a problem for women or heterosexual couples to hire a cleaner? “A man hiring a male cleaner would be seen as a simple act of employment.” She states that for some reason running a household is seen as the duty of womenkind and that it must be done out of love. Why must this be so? If I am honest I hate cleaning, and see no issue of hiring someone to do something I particularly loathe. 
Caitlin puts this perfectly, this way of thinking is “total bullshit. Everything else in this world, you can pay someone to do for you.” “Having a cleaner is nothing to do with feminism. If a middle-class women is engaging in anti-feminist activity by hiring a woman to do the cleaning, then surly a middle-class man is engaging in class oppression when he hires a male plumber?”

If you want a honest and funny view of Feminism? Then I highly recommend this book. Caitlin challenged some of my views. Overall this is a fantastic book.

Our Shared shelf is Emma Watson’s book club, focusing on Feminism. 
Check out Caitlin Moran, and her book, How to be a Woman.