Book Review: What About Men?-A Feminist Answers the Question by Caitlin Moran

Journalist, novelist, a former teen-age music critic, Caitlin Moran has been writing about the female experience for years. A self-described feminist, Moran has covered all things girls and women in both her novels and books of collected essays. However, there is one question Moran has been asked by her mostly female audience. That question? “What about men?” For the longest time, Moran has put off answering the question. It wasn’t until her daughters were asking the very same question that Moran was inspired to ask “what about men?’ herself and she decided to do some homework resulting into her latest book, What About Men: A Feminist Answers the Question.

In several unique chapters, Moran covers men and various topics. These include everything from men as young boys to old age. She takes a look at the bodies of men (including their private parts), men’s clothing, the conversations amongst men, and how they view sex and porn. She also looks at the way men talk to women and friendships amongst men. She looks at men through the lens of fatherhood and how men deal with illness. And she also goes down a treacherous path of men and misogyny in the scary world of the on-line manosphere.

To find out the inner-workings of all things men, Moran first turned to her inner-circle, including her husband, Pete. Now, these men are not exactly a diverse group. Like Moran herself, they are mainly white, cis, heterosexual, middle-aged, and middle class. But you’ve got to start somewhere, right?

She asks these men about growing up, what they talk about (or don’t talk about) when they chat amongst in a men-only group, their attitudes about sex and pornography, and their opinions on everything from the clothes they wear to why they neglect their health. And she gets some very interesting answers. For instance, she finds out why men don’t talk about their penises whereas some women will wax on about their vaginas post-birth.

One frightening aspect of the world of men today, is the world of the manosphere. For the uninitiated, the manosphere (which can be found all over the internet) is a cesspool of misogynistic men who see women as servants and cum dumpsters. They are truly threatened by any woman assets herself, is educated, and lives for anything that isn’t in service of a man. Probably the most famous of these knuckle-draggers, is MMA fighter, Andrew Tate. Tate has horrifying views on women, rape, and relationships. And he’s currently under investigation for sex trafficking. However, Tate does have a huge following, especially amongst very confused Gen Z men. Moran, too, is horrified by Tate, but tries to get an inkling of why some young men might be drawn to such a divisive figure. And on a personal note, Tate isn’t exactly the tough guy he purports to be. He actually blocked me on Twitter for saying he has no chin. But let’s go further.

On the issue of men and pornography, a young man shares his tale with Moran of his addiction to porn and how it negatively affected him when it came to dating and relationships. This could be a good warning that not all porn is completely harmless. Your heart breaks for this young man, and you will be comforted that he’s on the path towards healing.

But not is all lost when it comes to men. Yes, there are horrible examples of toxic masculinity like the aforementioned Andrew Tate. Moran looks into men who are admired for positive masculinity and comes up with names like Keanu Reeves and President Barack Obama. For me, I’d like to add names like the late Paul Newman and professor Neil Shyminsky who I follow on TikTok, and always has excellent counter-arguments to the toxicity of the manosphere.

And just as women are imprisoned by what makes a true woman, men are also locked into tropes of what it makes a true man, and how both men and women need to look past these clichés to be true to oneself. At this point, we’re not really talking about the difficulties of being a man in the 21st century in a way that doesn’t bash women and feminism. These things need to change.

Now admittedly, Moran does not go in very deep in What About Men? She is not an academic or a researcher. If you’re looking for a book that goes more in depth on the topic of men, I highly recommend Susan Faludi’s Stiffed: The Betrayal of American Men. Yes, Faludi, the feminist who wrote the classic Backlash: The War Against Women. And at times, Moran can be a wee bit too snarky and UK-oriented. However, I do commend Moran for actually giving a shit about men and their issues. What About Men? isn’t a perfect book, but it is a start. And I hope it can open up a dialogue about men, what they’re going through, and how we can find understanding and empathy between the sexes.

Retro Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

When the late Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar was released in 1963, it was considered groundbreaking. It focused on topics quite controversial just over 60 years ago, including ambition in young women in a time when women were supposed to desire only marriage and motherhood and dealing with horrifying mental health issues. Originally published under the name Victoria Lucas, Sylvia’s only novel is still considered a classic in the feminist canon. But how well does The Bell Jar hold up in 2024? I decided to read it and found out for myself.

Meet Esther Greenwood, raised in the Boston suburbs by her widowed mother, Esther is now in college, which is being funded by a wealthy local author. It is the summer of 1953, and Esther has procured an internship with the fictional women’s magazine “Ladies Day” in New York City. Though Esther’s days are filled with magazine-related activities, and her nights trying to socialize with her fellow interns, Esther feels disconnected and empty. She just can’t work up the excitement over this opportunity that most girls would give their eye teeth for. Esther is riddled with anxiety and depression. Can she shake out of this funk?

Several incidents occur during Esther’s internship that Plath goes into great detail to describe. Esther talks about the various assignments for “Ladies Day” the interns get to work on as well as the nice swag they all receive (not to mention the horrid food poisoning everyone gets at a luncheon). She also describes Esther trying to befriend her fellow interns like the flirtatious and sociable Doreen and the very pious and naïve Betsy, who Esther is more drawn towards. Esther also reminisces about the various scrapes she gets into when it comes to men, like when a local New York City radio host tries to seduce her, but later he decides to date Doreen. And towards the end of her internship, Esther is nearly raped at a country club party she attends with Doreen. Esther escapes but this causes her to throw out her new clothing and sends her further into despair.

After the internship ends, Esther returns to her childhood home. During this time, Esther is absolutely crushed when another scholarship opportunity, a writing course featuring a well-known author, does not come through. She is not accepted into this prestigious program. Esther tries to fill her time before school resumes in the fall by writing a novel. Yet, she thinks she lacks the life experience to write a proper book. And she also questions what her life will be like after she graduates from college. Up till then, Esther’s whole life has revolved around academics. Will she have a career or will so end up “just a wife and mother” as the fifties often dictated to women back then.

Esther continues to fall into deeper and deeper depression, not being able to sleep or attend to basic activities. She does see a psychiatrist for a while (whom she doesn’t exactly warm up to because she thinks he’s too handsome). And when this psychiatrist suggest electroconvulsive therapy, better known as ECT. The ECT doesn’t work, and Esther makes some half-hearted suicide attempt.

However, she does nearly die after she crawls into a cellar and takes far too many sleeping pills. When her mother can’t find Esther, it is assumed she has been kidnapped and possibly murdered, which the media takes note of. Once discovered, Esther spends time at several mental hospitals, the last one paid for by her college benefactor, the writer who is named Philomena Guinea. It is at this facility, Esther meets Dr. Nolan, a woman therapist, receives questionable treatments including insulin shots, and more ECT. She also meets another patient named Joan, and it is implied Joan is a lesbian who is attracted to Esther. Esther is not fond of Joan at all.

Esther also muses about her old boyfriend, Buddy. Buddy thinks the two might get married someday, but Esther won’t entertain the idea. Esther thinks Buddy is a hypocrite because he lost his virginity to another woman instead of staying pure for Esther. It is also found out that Joan also dated buddy (even though she may be heavily closeted).

During her sessions with Dr. Nolan, Esther bemoans the life women back then must lead and she wants to have the same freedom men have, which includes everything from having sex (Dr. Nolan suggest Esther be fitted with a diaphragm), and to have a full life outside of total domesticity. And as the The Bell Jar ends, Buddy visits Esther and wonders if he’s the cause of both Esther and Joan going crazy and ended up hospitalized. Perhaps he did have a part in it, but who cares? Esther is relieved when Buddy decides to end their non-engagement. Now she is free to really live.

While reading The Bell Jar, I could understand why it was so groundbreaking when it was published in 1963. It portrayed a young woman who had ambition beyond getting married and having oodles of children. It’s wonderful Esther is smart and has goals her life that don’t necessarily include marriage and motherhood solely. And as someone who has dealt with mental health issues, I appreciate a novel that spoke of one woman’s struggle and her fight to remedy herself.

However, in 2024, The Bell Jar just cuts different. For one thing, there is a lot of racism in this book. Esther talks about the ugliness of Peruvians and Aztecs. She also keeps referring to a Black orderly at the mental hospital as the Negro. He is never given a name or just referred to his profession as an orderly. Plus, I found Esther to be rather insufferable to the other women in the book whether it was her mother (who struggled greatly to raise her without Esther’s father) or looking down on a woman in the neighborhood who is raising a large brood of children.

Still, I do think The Bell Jar is an important work. Just keep in mind how things have changed since the fifties when it takes place, and in 1963, when it was published. And be grateful things have changed for women in the past sixty years…or have they? Hmm.

Retro Review: Sex Tips for Girls by Cynthia Heimel

From Jane Austen to Dorothy Parker to Carrie Bradshaw to the sex-drenched pages of Cosmopolitan magazine, women having always been writing about the female predicament when it comes to romance and sex. Whether you’re earning for Mr. Right or navigating a one-night-stand, it’s very likely a woman wrote about these things.

One of these women, was the late Cynthia Heimel. Heimel was born in 1947 and moved to New York City after being raised in Philadelphia. She wrote for publications like The New York Times, New York Magazine, and The Village Voice (she even had a stint at Penthouse). Sure, she was the glamorous girl about town, but she also dealt with divorce and struggles as a single mom, which she wrote about with honesty and humor.

Heimel called herself a feminist, and she proved feminists could be funny, sexy, and love men (though at times she found them perplexing). She regarded us ladies as fully-actualized human beings, not merely just tits, butts, and pussy. Her writing trampled on the tired tropes of women being either pure Madonnas or trashy harlots. Heimel was pretty much one of the coolest dames in the universe.

Heimel came of age during the advent of the Pill, the sexual revolution and second wave feminism. All of these things influences her as a talented and accomplished sexpert/humorist mash-up.

I had read plenty of Heimel’s books back in the 1990s and loved them. I considered Heimel to be the cool as shit auntie I wish I had. Yet, I had never read her iconic 1983 debut Sex Tips for Girls. I was only familiar with it because someone read passages from it at a party I attended ages ago. I decided to dust off and read an ancient copy of Sex Tips for Girls and share my review on what would have been Heimel’s 76th birthday.

In the opening chapter, “Who Are We?,” Heimel questions the state of being a woman in the early 1980s, the Reagan years when many hippies were turning into yuppies and more conserved with corner office than food co-ops and stock options were more important than “sticking it to the Man!” But Heimel’s words due ring true 40 years later. Should we be activists? Should we purse a rich man? Should we eat natural foods?

Other chapters in Sex Tips for Girls cover topics like “The Great Boyfriend Crunch,” Sex and the Single Parent,” “Lingerie Do’s and Don’ts” and “How to Cure a Broken Heart.” None of these topics would look out of place in a women’s magazine or dating manual in 2023. Heimel also offers various sex tips like don’t point and laugh at a gentleman’s penis. For some reason, dudes have a problem with this.

However, there are some parts of the book that need to be left in the 1980s-like totally eschewing condoms. Granted, back in the early 1980s, AIDS was considered a gay man’s disease. It was a few years later, the straights started to take AIDS very seriously. Also, keep in mind, Sex Tips for Girls is aimed at women who are cisgender and straight.

And of course, there have been a lot of changes since Sex Tips for Girls was released 40 years ago. We’ve seen the rise of the internet, social media, and dating apps, all have which influenced the way men and women relate to each other (and it’s not always pretty).

I wish Heimel was still with us. She died in 2018 and according to reports she had dementia. It’s so sad her kick ass brain affected by something so horrific. I would love to get Heimel’s take on the #MeToo movement, a former president who bragged about grabbing women by their genitals, and the odious Moms for Liberty. And what would she think about tradwives and Only Fans, not too mention there are people on the internet who think those are the only two types of women out there, and don’t realize there is a huge group of wonderful women between those two extremes.

So go back in time and read “Sex Tips for Girls” for both the nostalgia and how it relates to sex, relationships and dating in 2023.

Retro Review: Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen by Alix Kates Shulman

When Alix Kates Shulman’s 1972 novel came out it was considered shocking and groundbreaking. It covered topics women coming of age in the mid-20th century weren’t supposed to talk about, let alone experience. These topics included premarital sex, adultery, abortion, and divorce. Though shocking over 50 years ago, Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen is thought in some circles to be a feminist classic. Intrigued, I decided to read Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen, and try to figure out why it’s so cherished among some readers.

Meet Sasha Davis. She is coming of age in Ohio during the 1950s and 1960s. She growing up in Ohio, and lives a very comfortable middle class suburb, and is beloved by her parents. For young Sasha, being beautiful and attracting a man is of utmost importance. Fortunately, she’s pretty and popular. She is at no loss finding suitors, and when she is crowned queen at the dance, Sasha feels she’s reached the the highest of heights.

After high school graduation, Sasha goes to college. Having lost her virginity to a high school boyfriend, Sasha has her fair share of lovers, including a much older and married professor. There are times Sasha acts as if the professor’s wife is a mere nuisance, not the one who is actually being cheated on.

Sasha marries her first husband, but marriage does not fulfill her in the way she wants and she cheats on him continuously. After their divorce, she marries once again, and on the surface things look great, especially after Sasha has two daughters and tries to play the contented housewife. But looks can be deceiving, and despite having a loving new husband and two healthy and happy little girls, you get the idea that something is amiss in Sasha’s life. And you wonder if this marriage will also end up in divorce, especially when Sasha’s best friend from college, Roxanne, leaves her husband (they “had” to get married because Roxanne was pregnant and it was still a time of shotgun weddings and legal abortions).

Sasha is no dummy. She’s educated and curious, and fortunately lives in New York City where she has access to museums, libraries and other intellectual pursuits. Still, being beautiful and having a man is of utmost importance to her, no matter how poorly some guy may treat her or how less than enthused she was by a lover.

For the most part, I liked Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. Kates Shulman is a very detailed writer of a time I only know from history books and binge watching “Mad Man.” Kates Shulman is quite thorough of a time when women were only supposed to aspire to be devoted wives and mothers in pursuit of that perfect pot roast recipe. Things like divorce, pre-marital sex, adultery, STDs, and back alley abortions were talked about in hushed tones if at all. But all of these things are covered thoroughly in Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen. And though Sasha is quite the flawed protagonist and doesn’t seem to show a lot of growth from her teen years to her thirties, you can understand why this book was so damn shocking when it was released just over 50 years ago. Though I don’t think Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen is the feminist achievement some people have claimed it to be, I do think it’s an important book that captures a zeitgeist of some women of that time period.

Book Review: American Woman-The Poll Dance: Women and Voting by Kimberley A. Johnson

It’s a week away from the midterm elections, and a lot of things are at stake. Even though we think Presidential elections are very important, so are the midterms. And it’s especially important for women in this day and age. Just as we think we’ve come so far, some nefarious forces are trying to push us back into the 19th century. We need to fight against these forces. And one of he best way to do it is by voting.

Author, actress, and activist Kimberley A. Johnson shares this sentiment, and she states her case in her fabulous book American Woman-The Poll Dance: Women and Voting.

I first became aware of Johnson when I found her on Facebook. She discussed a host of issues, especially how they affected women, and proudly called herself a feminist. I felt like I found a kindred spirit and continue to follow her on social media to this day.

Johnson covers so many topics and how a woman’s right to vote is so important. These issues include the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), rape and sexual assault, abortion, birth control and body autonomy, unions and the workplace, equal pay for equal work, and sexual harassment on the job.

And because the personal is political, Johnson shares personal stories from her childhood to her work as an actress and salesperson. Johnson is quite honest, telling us the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Johnson also shares the stories of women of all ages and isn’t afraid to rake anti-feminists over the coals.

American Woman is written in a very down to earth style that is never dry and boring. Plus, it is obvious Johnson has done her research and homework.

A lot has happened since American Woman was published in 2014. Donald Trump was elected to the highest office in the United States and his MAGA followers make the Tea Party look like, well, a tea party The Trump presidency was pretty much a shit show, and Trump lost in 2020 to Joe Biden. However, far too many didn’t accept the results of the election and stormed the US capitol on January 6th, 2021.

We also dealt with the global Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, the restriction of voting rights, school and mass shootings, and environmental degradation. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg was replaced by the odious Amy Coney Barrett. And women lost their reproductive rights with the overturn of Roe V. Wade this past June.

All of this is enough to make you want to hide under the covers. But I try to remain hopeful. A lot of people are really pissed off and want a better country and society for all of us. I’ve noticed a great deal of activism among Generation Z who are just starting out their young lives and realize things are messed up. As a member of Generation X, I support them.

So much is at stake. Not only is our vote a right, our lives depend on it!

The Problem with Everything-My Journey Through the New Culture Wars by Meghan Daum

In her 2019 book, The Problem with Everything: My Journey Through the New Culture Wars, author Meghan Daum takes on a host of topics. These topics include the Trump presidency, feminism in the modern day, cancel culture, and the differences between Gen X and Millennials.

In The Problem With Everything, Daum writes about being a kid in the 1970s, a time of of the TV show Zoom and when girls weren’t forced into the color pink. Things were a bit more unisex back then. She writes about the 1980s, when women were climbing the corporate ladder, yet were admonished as selfish careerists in a time of latchkey kids. And she also covers the 1990s, when she was in college and an intern in New York City. She looks back at these decades and compares them to the modern day. How have things changed? How have things not changed?

One things Daum talks about is the cancellation of people who may have a difference of opinion. She wonders where is the nuance and critical thinking when it comes to various issues. Perhaps, in the day of social media, where one tweet can be misconstrued, this may no longer be the case. Everything is so black and white. Will we ever embrace the gray in-between? Will conservatives and liberals offer each other an olive branch?

When it comes to feminism, Daum thinks it has accomplished most things. And yes, many women are better off than their grandmothers. But we still have a long way to go. She also questions the feminism of Millennials, which can come across as both celebrating victimization and calling oneself a “badass.” We’ve gone from Riot Grrrl to #Girlboss, but what does it mean? I know one, thing. Gen X feminists were also looked down upon back in the 1990s.

Daum also discusses the dissolution of her marriage, the state of the college campus then and now, and how people are afraid of the most mildest of criticism, worried they will be brandished a racist, homophobe, or misogynist. There’s really a lot to unpack these days.

I found Daum’s writing to be enlightening and interesting even though I didn’t agree with her on everything. But she does bring up some very compelling ideas that should provoke debate and discussion. And I wonder what Daum’s take on the issues she she could write about in 2022 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the January 6th insurrection, and the overturn of Roe V. Wade. Perhaps Daum will cover these things in her next book. I know if she does, I will definitely read it.

Book Review: The No Club-Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead End Work by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund & Laurie Weingart

The No Club began when four women found themselves filling their calendars with more meetings, tasks, and duties, yet they weren’t advancing in their careers and getting juicy promotions. Instead, they saw their male colleagues get further in the workplace. But why?

These women put their heads together and soon realized all the extra work they were doing was actually “non-promotable work.” And this non-promotable work was keeping them from the actual work that would advance them in their careers.

Now if these women were doing a lot of non-promotable work, they figured other women were doing the same thing. Hence, The No Club, putting an end to all that non-promotable work. This lead to Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart’s book The No Club: Putting a Stop to Women’s Dead-End Work.

What is non-promotable work? Well, if you’re a women you’ve probably been tasked with planning the office holiday party, vetting interns, and writing for the company newsletter. On paper, these look like good things, and they often need to be done. But they won’t exactly getting your promoted and a fatter paycheck.

The four women interviewed many other women who were also doing too many non-promotable work, and were frustrating on how it was hindering their progress in the workplace. No matter how much devotion and hard work they were putting into these tasks, they were barely acknowledged, let alone being promoted.

But what can women do when it comes to non-promotable work? The authors offer many tangible solutions, for one thing, women have to recognize what is non-promotable work in the first place, and then utilize the solutions advised in the book, which there are quite a few.

Though I found The No Club valuable, I felt it would be better served as an article for it kept repeating the same information over and over again. I also thought this book was aimed more at women with more lofty careers. Some of these solutions may be hard to implement for women in more pink collar, lower level jobs. Still, I think The No Club is important and should be read by both working women and men alike.

Book Review: Rosa Parks Beyond the Bus-Life, Lessons and Leadership by H.H. Leonards

Having read and reviewed the Rosa Parks’ the Douglas Brinkley biography Rosa Parks-A Life several years ago, I thought I knew so much about the civil rights icon. But H. H. Leonards knew Rosa Parks on a very personal level, and she discusses their friendship in her inspiring and candid book Rosa Parks Beyond the Bus: Life, Lessons and Leadership.

Leonards made Rosa Parks acquaintance shortly after Parks was brutally attacked in her Detroit home during a robbery. Parks wasn’t only brutally attacked, she was also raped and beaten so fiercely, her pacemaker dislodged. Knowing Parks didn’t feel safe, president of the Beverly Hills branch of the NAACP, Brother Willis Edwards, reached out to H. H. Leonards who owns The Mansion in Washington D.C. Brother Willis Edwards knew Parks would feel much more secure at the Mansion and Leonards was happy to share her place with the Civil Rights icon. Little did she know that she would strike up a wonderful friendship with Parks, a friendship that continues to inspire her to this day.

Leonards soon learned Rosa Parks was so much more than the lady who wouldn’t give up her bus seat to a white passenger back on December, 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama. Parks had long been active in the Civil Rights movement. Parks was very open in sharing her life story with Leonards, her difficult childhood, her marriage to Raymond Parks, her activism, and the struggles and triumphs she experienced. Throughout everything, Parks remained hopeful and committed to her African Methodist Episcopal faith. In fact, Parks and Leonard’s deep-abiding faith (she’s a Roman Catholic) was a touchstone for both of them.

Not only was Parks devoted the rights of black people, she was also very devoted to the rights of women. Long before the #MeToo movement, Parks was fighting for the legal and human rights of rape and sexual assault victims in the 1940s! Parks was definitely a pioneer when it comes to the concept of feminism, though she may have never called herself a feminist.

Parks never had children, but she was often called Mother Parks. Children were very drawn to Mother Parks. She treated them with kindness and respect, and encouraged them to be the very best.

So many people were drawn to Rosa Parks, both famous luminaries and everyday people. She was kind and open with every person she met. And there is no doubt, meeting Rosa Parks was a singular experience, one to be remembered and cherished for a very long time. Despite, her accomplishments, Parks never put on airs or acted like she was more important than anybody else. In fact, she went out of her way to make others feel special.

I thoroughly enjoyed Beyond the Bus, and gained so much about learning more about Rosa Parks. Yes, Beyond the Bus is a memoir, but it is also a primer on living one’s life with purpose, grace, empathy, and dedication to the greater good of society.

Barbara Ehrenreich: A Tribute

“No job, no matter how lowly, is truly ‘unskilled.'”-Barbara Ehrenreich from the book Nickel an Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America

On September 1st, we lost one of my favorite writers, Barbara Ehrenreich. Best known for her seminal book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Ehrenreich was also an activist, journalist, and all-around bad ass muckraker. Her work encouraged us to look at a host of societal ills and ask ourselves, “What can we do?”

I first became familiar with Ehrenreich when I read her books Fear of Falling: The Inner Life of the Middle Class and The Worst Years of Our Lives: Irreverent Notes from a Decade of Greed back in the 1990s. Finally someone was giving a voice to how many of us were feeling in the wake of the Reagan Bush years. A lot of us were pissed off over the erosion of women’s rights, the lack of a proper response to the AIDS crisis, corporate malfeasance and greed, and the growing chasm between the haves and the have nots. Ehrenreich understood our frustration and anger.

As mentioned, Nickel and Dimed is probably one of Ehrenreich’s best known works. In this iconic book, Ehrenreich went undercover as a low wage worker at various jobs. She wondered how anyone could make it on such little pay. Guess what? Many of them couldn’t. Nickel and Dimed shed a light on the difficult jobs many people do that keep our live going, but are never paid properly.

Ehrenreich didn’t ignore the plight of the professional, educated class either. Her book Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream focused on white collar workers who thought they did everything right but were falling down the career ladder. As someone who spent time in the low wage trenches and in so-called lofty office jobs, I totally related to the work woes Ehrenreich wrote about in both Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch.

Ehrenreich came to her career in an honest way. She was raised by two hardworking parents who told her to never vote for a Republican and never cross a picket line. She studied physics and later graduated with a degree in chemistry from Reed College. She later achieved a Ph.D from Rockefeller University.

After she received her education, Ehrenreich worked many jobs-analyst at the Bureau of the Budget in New York City and with the Health Policy Advisory Center. She was a professor at State University of New York at Old Westbury. She worked in healthcare related research and was an advocate for women’s causes.

Ehrenreich was also a freelance writer, having her articles published in The Nation, Mother Jones, The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic, Salon, The New York Times, and Ms. These articles often focused on social and political issues.

Personally, Ehrenreich was married and divorced two times. She was the mother of Rosa Brooks, who is a law professor and journalist, and Ben Ehrenreich, who is a journalist and novelist.

However, Ehrenreich is probably best known for her books, especially Nickel and Dimed, which is often assigned in college courses. Her books focused on a wealth of topics including the America workplace, women’s issues, politics, and health. Her last book Had I Known: Collected Essays was published in 2020 and I reviewed it last year.

I was fortunate to have seen Barbara Ehrenreich at several book discussions here in Milwaukee, the last for her book Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking has Undermined America. I was fortunate to have met her and have her sign my copy, and she couldn’t have been more welcoming and kind.

I’m in deep grief over the death of Barbara Ehrenreich, and I am so glad we have her books, which make us think and inspire us to action. I’m sure Ms. Ehrenreich is muckraking somewhere in the universe making it a better place.

Book Review: More Than a Woman by Caitlin Moran

British writer Caitlin Moran writes about the female condition in such a relatable way. Whether it’s work, family, sex, culture, and the process of getting older, Moran feels your pain, your joy, and your anger. And she’s written about all of this in her latest book of essays, More Than a Woman.

In More Than a Woman, Moran writes about how when a woman reaches a certain age, let’s say her forties, she becomes more of a woman. And let me tell you; she has a lot to deal with!

Moran divides More Than a Woman into 21 distinct chapters, or hours. These hours include the hour of married sex, the hour of physical acceptance, the hour of “what about men,” and the hour of demons. Moran also catalogues the issues of housework, parenting, aging, self-help, and all-around bad times. I wouldn’t be surprised if women read these passages and nod their heads in recognition.

More Than a Woman is painfully funny and at times quite painful. Moran is brutally honest in telling about her daughter’s battles with an eating disorder and mental health issues. This tale is both heartbreaking and hopeful in the end.

And when Moran discusses patriarchy, she is convincing on how it also harms men. A while back via Twitter, Moran asked the guys out there what are the downsides to being a man. The answers are both shocking and thought-provoking. Guess what? There a men out there who would like to receive flowers. And many men wish they had as men clothing options as women. Who knew?

More Than a Woman is a mixture of memoir, manifesto, and self-help. I really appreciated Moran’s take on the need of a Women’s Union. Yes, please!

More Than a Woman is silly, serious, and truth-teller. Moran celebrates womanhood, the good, the bad, and the ugly.