Title: Full Frontal Feminism
Author: Jessica Valenti
Format: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Seal Press
Pub Date: Mar 2007
Read: Mar 2011
Purchased: borrowed from the Mid-Manhattan Library
Why: I first encountered Valenti when I read The Purity Myth last year. Having enjoyed that, I thought I might like this as well.
Fulfills Challenge? yes (2)
Notes: There is actually some overlap between that work and Full Frontal Feminism. Think of the former as a more in depth look at some of the issues addressed in Full Frontal Feminism.
Review/Thoughts:
What I love about Valenti is she presents feminism in a straightforward, in-your-face, no bullshit, no apologies manner. And even though she’s not apologizing for being a feminist, she still takes the time to address some of the feminism’s past (and current) pitfalls. She doesn’t shy away from saying, look some of these people fighting for women’s rights in the past were racist, some of these people fighting for women’s rights were doing so mostly for upper middle class white women, etc. She also doesn’t bog you down with a lot of theory (because she is largely into activism) which is great for people who aren’t into that sort of thing. And she doesn’t criticize theory either, merely confesses that it’s really not her thing. She presents a slew of concrete ways in which you can help, which is great for people who are feminists but don’t really know how they can help the cause. The text is very colloquial and very relatable and something I’d definitely recommend to women who want to know more about feminism but find theory to be daunting. I’d also recommend it to people on the cusp, the “I’m not sure I’d call myself a feminist because I wear a bra and shave” set. Because that’s not feminism is about and Jessica Valenti is here to tell you as much. She also wears makeup and likes to doll up, so you don’t have to feel she’s judging you about that — she just asks that you keep it real and question your choices.
But the best part of my reading experience? I was reading this book on the train and the woman next to me asked me about it and wrote down the info so she could borrow it from the library. That’s a win for libraries and feminism!
Final Verdict: 
As someone who likes to read theory, I’ve actually never had the desire to read books about feminism. However, this title intrigues me. It has always been my opinion that we should be past feminism and just EXPECT certain rights if we truly want to be perceived as equal- rather than emphasize how we are victimized. I also have issue with the way “feminism” is portrayed in the influential industry of the media. However, the little I know about feminism and women’s rights comes from history class and I’d be interested in checking this book out at the bookstore.
Sidenote: good to see another library convert!
I actually took three Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies classes in college (the major was originally called Women’s Studies but the name changed while I was there), BUT I never took an Intro to Feminism course, so there’s actually a lot of stuff I missed out on, like a number of the foundational texts (e.g. A Vindication on the Rights of Women). In fact the first class I took was called On Love: Gender, Sexuality, Identity and it was a mix of fiction and theory — we read Lacan, Barthes (A Lover’s Discourse), Foucault, Lolita, The Passion, Rumi, Sense and Sensibility. It was a great class but it wasn’t particularly heavy on the FEMINISM haha.
I still wish I had majored in WGS to be honest. I could’ve been writing crazy theory books about how men are totes unnecessary! *shakes fist*
j/k
Speaking of feminist fiction-theory… I’ve always wanted to read Christine de Pizan’s Book of the City of Ladies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_City_of_Ladies
I don’t remember if I learned about her in history class or just randomly came upon it. I don’t think it sold when I put it on an endcap though. : (
oh yes! I remember this now! I don’t think it sold either which was most unfortunate :( You should read it!
also, quick question, can I renew my library books a couple of days before the due date or do I have to wait til that same day to do it? Please impart your library knowledge onto this noob :D
LOL! You can renew books before their due date , although if you think you might have trouble finishing it by the next due date it’s probably best to wait to the last minute to extend the time. (I do this with DVDs). Also, amazingly, you can renew up to 10 times now! That rarely happens to me though, because someone always seems to want the book that I’m reading…