Book Review // How To Be a Woman

3 years ago, I read that article in which Caitlin Moran said she doesn't wear high heels because it would be easy to rape or murder her, and that billionaire heiresses never get raped or murdered. She really said that. Right at that point, I decided that Caitlin Moran was a knob and wanted nothing to do with her. This summer, I saw a copy of How To Be a Woman in my local charity bookshop and snapped it up, figuring it would be great fodder for inspiring rants. And then something unexpected happened. I actually kind of liked it. Erm, and by "kind of liked it", I mean loved it. Whoops!

How To Be a Woman- Caitlin Moran

Essentially, How To Be a Woman is a memoir of Moran's life as she travels through adolescence and into adulthood, expanding on the lessons she learned along the way. It is divided into chapters based around key events of her womanhood, such as when she begins to grow body hair, when she first falls in love and when she starts working. These events act as catalysts for feminist issues like whether we should remove our body hair or whether you can be a feminist icon and play up your sexuality (cue Katie Price). 
Throughout the book, Moran uses her trademark confrontational, no-fucks-given writing style which is difficult not to get swept up in. Plus, she's funny. Like, really funny. Each chapter is kept mostly concise and, to my surprise, I found I agreed with practically everything she was saying. Until she got onto strip clubs, that is, and then she lost me but that's a tale for another time! (Calling strippers stupid? Not on!) For the most part, I found Moran's willingness to dive into the most personal areas of her life not only inspiring but also very reassuring: For other women who have been in similar situations to read hers and think "Thank the Lord, it's not just me! I'm not a monster, after all!" That, for me, was the beauty of this book- the realisation that whatever you felt, in whichever situation, is not only perfectly normal (despite what society would have you believe), but that there is someone out there willing to stand up and fight your corner. I might not have agreed with everything she said but I sure respected that attitude! As I said, I loved this book. The odd bits that I disagreed on let it down for me. Ironically, it's precisely the confrontational, no-holds-barred attitude that makes this book that also brought it down for me. It's all well and good calling out crappy behaviour but insulting women for their life choices? Nope. Not for me, thanks. For this reason, I rate How To Be a Woman seven out of ten.

If How To Be a Woman is your cup of tea, and if, like me, you're a bit more liberal with  your feminism, you'll probably love the controversial Hot Feminist. Give it a chance! 
Buy How To Be a Woman here
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