Reading
Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
My favorite take on modern-feminism
In the last 100 years, feminism has grown into something that is understood, but also misinterpreted by many. The people that understand know that all women want to be seen as equal to men. That includes sharing the ‘second-shift’, equal pay, being seen as more than just an object and so much more. To be honest, I was gonna write about what I think people who don’t support or understand feminism think and compare it to the book, but I don’t really know what it is that they don’t fathom so I don’t want to put words in their mouths.
Florence Given covers many topics about modern feminism in Women Don’t Owe You Pretty. With chapter titles such as ‘You Are the Love of Your Own Life’, ‘Stop Scrolling in the Morning’, ‘What Did She Expect Going Out Like That’, and ‘Women Do Not Exist to Satisfy the Male Gaze’. The range in subjects is diverse while some of the chapters go hand in hand with each other. She
supports her arguments so well and I have used her arguments in real life situations. This book is the perfect size to learn more about feminism in general while introducing new concepts that make so much sense. It felt like in a way she was reading my mind because there were things I couldn’t think of how to explain, but she wrote these ideas tastefully.
Florence Given not only wrote this book, but she also illustrated it. The vibrant color scheme and eclectic graphics makes this book stand out more than anything. It makes the topics feel a little bit more lighthearted and playful. Feminism isn’t supposed to be a hefty subject, you just have to open minded to it. Women Don’t Owe You Pretty makes it a more fun subject to learn about due to the illustrations paired with the topics.
Though I haven’t read many books focused on these subjects, I think that this is a good introductory good for young women who are open to learning more about modern feminism. 8.6/10
My Husband by Maud Ventura
My Husband by Maud Ventura
Being in a fresh relationship, it’s normal to overthink how your partner perceives you. Every little movement has meaning to it. In Maud Ventura’s My Husband, you are inside the mind of a French woman who analyzes every little movement her husband makes. After being together for a total of 15 years, she keeps track of all the good and bad things her husband does, whether or not it was intentional, and punishes him based on how bad his actions were. You reach into the depths of her mind and learn about her obsession in ways that I hadn’t thought of before. As a 23-year-old woman who has had a whirlwind of a dating life, there were times where I felt like I related to how she felt, but then she always managed to take it one step further that would make me think ‘oh ok, that was a l’il too far’. I think it helped me realize that throughout my relationships, of course I think about the little things, but I don’t ever want to get to the narrator’s point, and I know I never will. You follow the couple through one full week, and every day has meaning. Monday is her favorite day because she loves beginnings and his is Saturday because it’s the day of ‘leisure’.
A little fun tidbit I appreciate about the book is that you never learn the husband’s name throughout the whole book. She only refers to him as ‘my husband’ because she is so proud of him being able to claim that title. I think that was a very strategic way to write because it adds to the effect of how obsessed she is with the concept of marriage and that everything needs to be perfect.
There are so many parts of this book that I want to discuss … buuuuut I don’t wanna give any major spoilers. So I will leave it at that for now. Overall, this was a fantastic book that was so well written that it truly felt like I was reading someone's mind and every thought she had, it added so much to her character. I think my only compliant with this book was that there didn’t seem to be a real structure to the story like a climax. But I’m not complaining of the writing style which was more following them throughout the week. In the end, I would recommend this book. 7.2/10