Joanne L. Bagshaw PhD

A workbook for 4th wavers, it introduces a brief history of each wave of feminism, the main focus and goals for each wave and whether they were met, and how each has failed to be "intersectional." As expected, it conflates sex with gender, claims biology is a spectrum, and uses terms such as "cis-gender" and "anti-transgender" to shame those who believe in biology and the safety/privacy of women and girls. Each chapter has several activities (thoughtful questions to answer) and there is a large list of organizations at the end which currently toe the line. References are also provided. Billed on the back cover as "self-help" rather than feminism, gender studies, sociology, or social justice despite being part of "The Social Justice Handbook Series."

I received my copy from the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for my honest review.… (més)

The cover says "handbook," but with its fill-in-the-blanks and free-writing sections, The Feminist Handbook is more of a workbook. This appears to be a primer, but as I read on I realized that’s wrong. Feminism and gender equality aren’t simple matters, and I’m impressed by the nuance in each chapter. I’m sure this book would be at home in a women’s studies, gender studies, or even sociology course.

The book is well balanced by informational text (very thoroughly cited), interactive sections (the writing and fill-in-the-blanks), and anecdotes (which I assume are fictional). I found the anecdotes helpful in clarifying various points, while also keeping this workbook from being dry. The Feminist Handbook is surprisingly engaging and really informative. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.

“In a patriarchy, women, like men, are conditioned to be sexist and to maintain the patriarchal order.”

When it comes to sexism, not enough attention is paid to how women themselves perpetuate it, mostly unconsciously, and have internalized it (such as believing women are inferior to men, feeling too incompetent to try something new, and objectifying their own selves). I therefore urge women to read this.

Topics covered follow. For brevity, I’ve outlined the chapters very roughly and included quotes and my thoughts in certain parts. Still this is long.

1) “Patriarchy, Privilege, and Oppression”--What’s covered:

-Various kinds of privilege, such as racial (white), gender (cis male), and institutional (also cis male) (Stressed is the point that one can be privileged in one area but not in another. An example would be someone who is white but disabled in some way.)

-Media representations of women (media across the board, not just in ads and in the news but in movies, t.v., magazines, and books--and how these representations very often reinforce patriarchal values)

-Patriarchy is “a social system that we all participate in, which is male-identified and promotes male privilege.” The author asks the reader to think about who possesses authority and who’s expected to be in control. Women who possess authority (and who are then expected to act in ways that are stereotypically masculine) are more often viewed negatively (with descriptors such as “bossy” or “bitchy”).

My thought: Women are in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. If a female boss acts in the authoritative way she’s expected to, she gets negatively labeled, but if she doesn’t, she’s viewed as ineffective and weak and therefore can’t command respect.

Because women have been placed in a nurturer role for millennia, society is stuck in the perception that women should always play nice--be caring, gentle, sensitive to others’ feelings, and so on. This perception is a major obstacle that we must make a conscious and continual effort to overcome if we’re to ever fully embrace women in leadership roles. Additionally, when women believe their assertive, authoritative behavior will be accepted, they’ll be more likely to want to step into leadership roles.

2) “It’s Not Feminism If It’s Not Intersectional”--What’s covered:

-Intersectionality, defined and explained.

-The four waves of feminism, each of which moves the entire movement a little closer to its ultimate goal

My thought: Whites in particular have a hard time understanding intersectionality in general and why it’s important because they are automatically privileged (favored) in a majority-white society and don’t live a non-privileged existence.

3) “This Is What a Feminist Looks Like”--What’s covered:

-Feminism, defined

-Negative misperceptions of feminism, examined

-Ambivalent sexism, categorized as either “hostile” or “benevolent” (Concrete examples of each are included.)

My thoughts: Hostile is readily identifiable, but benevolent isn't, yet it’s just as harmful. It's in recognizing benevolent sexism that we become aware of how widespread and ingrained sexism is. The sexism women perpetuate is the benevolent variety, overwhelmingly.

-“Attribution Theory,” which excuses our own bad behavior:

“ . . . typically when looking at our own lives, we attribute our behavior to situational events, and when looking at others’ behavior, we attribute their behavior to something internal.”

Except when it comes to discrimination.

“When experiencing discrimination, women are more likely to be reluctant to identify a behavior as discriminatory, particularly if the source of the discrimination is another person, and especially if that person might experience a negative consequence from having their sexist behavior called out (Sechrist and Delmar 2009).”

4) “Sexism, Discrimination, and Mental Health”--What’s covered:

-Microaggressions (which are a subtle discrimination, often expressed in sexist statements such as being told you “throw like a girl.”)

-The stress of sexism on one’s physical and mental health

-“Rape culture,” defined

-Rape myths and gender-based violence, examined

5) “The Future Is a Spectrum”--What’s covered:

-Sex versus gender, explained.

“ . . . through advertising, music, books and magazines, stereotypical beliefs, and urban myths (such as boys are better at math), we’ve been conditioned to believe that we are vastly different--even from different planets--and that our differences are rooted in biology (APA 2005). Women are more likely to attribute gender differences to social expectations, whereas men generally believe that the differences are biological (Parker, Menasce Horowitz, and Stepler 2017). The belief in biological differences between men and women perpetuates myths about innate abilities, which justifies sexism.”

-Internalized gender roles, class, and structural oppression (Internalization of gender roles is especially sticky, as it continues to dictate who does what in a household to this day.)

-The gender wage gap (which is justified by myths that rely on gender roles)

6) “The Politics of Body Oppression”--What’s covered:

-Body oppression, defined and explained (In this category is marginalization of bodies--basically a lack of acceptance of certain kinds of bodies [such as fuller figures]. It’s worth noting that body marginalization is aimed more harshly and more constantly at women than it is at men.)

-How we assimilate to reduce stigma or fulfill cultural norms (Marginalized people face the most pressure.)

-Marginalized identities and violence

“Groups most at risk for experiencing violence are African-American, LGBTQIA, young, and poor. Marginalized groups are also burdened more heavily by violence because they have less access to resources and are often treated poorly when they do seek help (Hamby 2014).”

-The perfect body, by patriarchal definition (This would be the “hyperideal” body, which has changed through time [e.g., “heroin chic” in the ‘90s; Twiggy in the ‘60s], but what they have in common is that they are determined by the male gaze.)

-Weight stigma and diet culture (Diet culture values thinness over health. It’s “covert and insidious and perpetuates the myth of the perfect civilized body as white, thin, shapely, and cis-gender.” These messages are inescapable. We don’t live in a vacuum.)

7) “Sexual and Reproductive Justice”--What’s covered:

-Reproductive and sexual health (which is intersectional, meaning it’s not a black-and-white issue; circumstances must be considered. For many reasons, not all women have access to the same resources. Marginalized groups experience reproductive and sexual oppression [i.e., social, economic, and institutional strategies and policies] that limits their autonomy when it comes to reproductive and sexual health.)

-How sex education varies by state, with many states not requiring schools to teach anything beyond abstinence-only as birth control

“Most of the funding for abstinence-only programs has been provided to states to use in schools that are low income and have large minority populations, particularly African-American and Latino communities.” Is it any wonder, then, that “Latinas have high rates of teen pregnancies, and African-Americans have high rates of teen pregnancies, STIs, and HIV.”

“Abstinence-only programs are arguably a form of institutional racism.”

My thoughts: Understanding institutional racism toward blacks is where non-blacks fail miserably. There’s hyper-focus on individual racism and being a good, non-racist person at the same time that there’s ignorance or willful blindness to how racism is an all-encompassing, inescapable system.

8) “The Personal is Political”--What’s covered:

-The idea that, to effect change, we must get involved in activism (Chapter 8 enumerates the many ways to be an activist, from humble [such as tweeting] to grand [such as working for an activist organization].)

9) “Self-Care Is an Act of Resistance”--What’s covered:

-Self-care examples, discussed (Setting boundaries is an important one, and the author talks about the importance of setting boundaries with social media chatting. This includes choosing to ignore commenters who cause stress by arguing, and blocking them if necessary. She also mentions that even if one feels passionate about the topic, one isn’t obligated to be an activist constantly on social media, that it’s ok to bow out.).… (més)