I was really looking forward to reading ‘How to Be A Woman’. I’ve always found Caitlin Moran an interesting writer and I’d heard a lot of good things about the book (it won Non-Fiction Book of the Year at the National Book Awards just a few weeks ago, in fact). Apparently, it was a funny, entertaining look at modern-day feminism and this was something I wanted to jump on board with. Traditional feminist ideals have passed me by a bit; I have a very good degree and had a job that I loved, yet I have happily chosen to put any career plans ‘on hold’ to be a housewife and look after my family. I love when men open doors for me or give me a seat on the train, and I share my husband’s income quite happily without any desperate need for financial independence. From what I can tell, Germaine Greer probably wouldn’t like me very much, but I wanted to see how my choices fit into Moran’s so-called modern take…as well as whether she could hold my attention on a subject that’s never previously interested me for longer than two minutes.
‘How To Be A Woman’ started well enough with an entertaining look back at Moran’s teenage years. While the writing style annoyed me a little (call me pedantic, but text-speak has no place in an adult book like this. It’s not clever, not ironic, just stupid and lazy), her willingness to open up about the trials of being a teenage girl made the opening chapters nostalgic, amusing and simply a lot of fun to read. As she then moves onto how these teenage years shaped her feminist thinking, I was even more impressed. Her feminist theory seems to be that everyone should have the freedom to live how they want, just as long as they’re polite and respectful of other’s choices. Well, there we go. It might not be mindblowing, but that’s an idea I can happily go along with, and I was looking forward to seeing how her adult years had helped shape this ethos.
Sadly, that’s where the book started going horribly wrong. Firstly, it turns out Moran’s life really isn’t as interesting as she thinks it is. She became a journalist, had a bad relationship, got married, had a couple of kids…and that’s pretty much it. Yes, there’s a few interesting tales to be told, but if you’re writing a memoir, you really need a bit more than that. Pages and pages on your friends’ waxing schedules and what you decided to call your lady bits are fairly amusing (in small doses) but they’re not particularly fascinating or insightful. Interspersed with these reminisces are rants about everything from abortion to strip clubs to religion, and how they fit in with her feminist theory. The major problem with these chapters is that they don’t fit in with her theory at all, actually. Her abortion chapter, for example, shocked the hell out of me (and I say this as a very liberal-minded individual), and I got the distinct impression that she wouldn’t be at all polite or respectful of my opinion on the matter. Every one of her many, many rants screams of a belief that she is completely correct, and anyone who doesn’t think so is an idiot. I could have forgiven her even this if the writing was at least entertaining and thought-provoking, but it’s not. It’s just a mess. Moran admits in her acknowledgements that the book was effectively rushed out, and it shows; I suspect also (but don’t know) that the editor was a friend who didn’t have the courage to hack large chunks out where necessary.
Any book which contains a chapter on partying with Lady GaGa at a sex club in Berlin cannot be classed as a complete write-off, and there are some genuinely enjoyable passages to be found within. However, they are simply too few and far between, and this is a book which would have benefitted from a lot more time and thought before publication. The biggest failure? It’s called ‘How To Be A Woman’ and I found myself wanting to do the opposite of just about everything Caitlin Moran said.
2/5
Her feminist theory seems to be that everyone should have the freedom to live how they want, just as long as they’re polite and respectful of other’s choices. ”
Whever did you get that idea?
The whole book is nothing but cover-to-cover whining about how disgusted she is by women from lower classes, and how we need an authoritarian government to enforce behavior so that everyone will be more like her.
As a student of philosophy and psychology at a top 15 American university, who was raised by feminist mother and sister, I can safely say that Caitlin Moran is trying much too hard. While I respect the principles and ideals of feminism, I find Moran’s book offensive. It becomes abundantly clear that her position is the result of her own self-doubt, lack of education, and fascination with popular culture. She is trying so hard to rationalize away all the decisions and circumstances that made her life difficult, that she fails to learn any lessons from them. All of tthis is fine, and in fact, quite normal, but what I find particularly frustrating is (as you noted) the arrogant manner in which she claims to have all of the answers–when all she has ever wanted seems to be mainstream acceptance. She rants about how awful popular culture is, while admitting that she has always wanted to be a part of it. She claims to be a champion for the awkward and the unconventional, but she wants nothing more than to change the conventions to fit the circumstances of her less than ideal life.