Our Shared Self May 2016: How to be a Woman

By: Caitlin Moran
Published Year:
Publisher: Ebury Press
Pages: 312

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Summary (Provided by Goodreads): Though they have the vote and the Pill and haven't been burned as witches since 1727, life isn't exactly a stroll down the catwalk for modern women. They are beset by uncertainties and questions: Why are they supposed to get Brazilians? Why do bras hurt? Why the incessant talk about babies? And do men secretly hate them? Caitlin Moran interweaves provocative observations on women's lives with laugh-out-loud funny scenes from her own, from adolescence to her development as a writer, wife, and mother.




Our Shared Shelf is an online book club started by Emma Watson. You can join the group on Goodreads and take part in the discussions as well. I don’t take part in the discussions, but I do like reading the books because they take me out of my comfort zone.

                                                           First Impressions

I have seen this book around and have never been inspired to pick it up. I just never felt like Caitlin Moran would be someone that I would connect with. The cover makes her seem a lot harder/edgier than I am. I was a little nervous when this book came up, but I was excited to see if I would like it as much as the Gloria Steinem book.

                                                            What I thought

I think my first impression was pretty spot on. While I enjoyed more of the book than I thought I would, Caitlin Moran was a bit hard for me to connect with.

This memoir starts with Caitlin Moran at age 13 and follows her pretty much until current day. I will say that this book starts off a bit more, um, graphic(?) than I thought it would be. I don’t want to say that I’m a prude, but I’m not as vocal about my sexuality as Moran seems to be. At times this made me a little uncomfortable because I didn’t see the necessity of it. It definitely bordered on the edge of vulgar and I just didn’t like it.

I almost gave up on the book after the first few chapters, but decided to stick with it and I’m glad that I did. There were definitely views that Moran had on feminism that I thought were very interesting. I liked that she pretty much stated that if you are a woman, you are a feminist. She expressed that being a feminist does not mean you have to be a granola crunching, bra burning, man hating female. She explained that feminism is believing that all people, man and woman, are just human and that is where the need for equality comes from.

I think that her voice gives a very modern breath to feminism that would be wonderful for younger generations to read. While there were some chapters I could’ve done without, I think the overall

While I don’t feel as passionately about this book as I did the Gloria Steinem book, I think it has a great message and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who picks it up. I think that it’s a bit fresher and more relatable for younger girls/women than the Steinem novel. It expresses a lot of common opinions and then says “that is feminism. That thing that you believe that you didn’t think is feminism? Well it is.” I think this is definitely necessary in our world and I appreciated it. Moran’s voice wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, but I’m glad I stuck with it.