Full Frontal Feminism_ A Young Women's Guide to Why Feminism Matters - Jessica Valenti [1]
Then I realized that young women don’t have enough outlets teaching them and showing them how great feminism is. Of course, there are women’s studies classes and books, and maybe some of us are lucky enough to have moms and friends who are self-professed and proud feminists. But the majority of young women only know the total-crap stereotypes. To most young women, feminism is ugly. It’s unpopular. It’s the anti-cool.
So when I thought about writing a book about feminism, I thought the most important thing I could do was dispel the myth that feminism is anything but awesome.
Because young women—most of whom, unfortunately, don’t identify as feminists—don’t know what they’re missing. And if the idea of a stereotypical feminist doesn’t exactly inspire thoughts of some secret fab life you’re missing out on, I’m here to tell you—you are missing out.
I truly believe that feminism makes your life better. Imagine being able to get past all the nonsense that tells you you’re not good enough. To all of a sudden understand why you’ve ever felt not smart enough or not pretty enough. To finally be able to put your finger on that feeling you’ve always had that something is off. Believe me, to get to this place is amazing.
Full Frontal Feminism is not an exhaustive review of all things feminist. There’s a lot of feminism out there—and you should check it all out. This book is just my take on it—my love letter to feminism and my invitation to my readers to embrace feminism for everything it gives to and does for women.
Most important, perhaps, was my desire to write something that explained not only why feminism is so necessary and relevant, but also why it’s so damn cool.
I’m hoping that as you read the book, all of this will become clearer. Maybe you’ll call yourself a feminist when you’re done. Maybe you won’t. But at the very least, my hope is that this book changes the way you think about feminism—and yourself.
1
YOU’RE A HARDCORE FEMINIST. I SWEAR.
What’s the worst possible thing you can call a woman? Don’t hold back, now.
You’re probably thinking of words like slut, whore, bitch, cunt (I told you not to hold back!), skank.
Okay, now, what are the worst things you can call a guy? Fag, girl, bitch, pussy. I’ve even heard the term “mangina.”
Notice anything? The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl. Being a woman is the ultimate insult. Now tell me that’s not royally fucked up. Recognizing the screwed nature of this little exercise doesn’t necessarily make you a feminist. But it should. Most young women know that something is off. And even if we know that some things are sexist, we’re certainly not ready to say we’re feminists. It’s high time we get past the “I’m not a feminist, but...” stuff. You know what I’m talking about: “I’m not a feminist or anything, but it is total bullshit that Wal-Mart won’t fill my birth control prescription.”
Do you think it’s fair that a guy will make more money doing the same job as you? Does it piss you off and scare you when you find out about your friends getting raped? Do you ever feel like shit about your body? Do you ever feel like something is wrong with you because you don’t fit into this bizarre ideal of what girls are supposed to be like?
Well, my friend, I hate to break it to you, but you’re a hardcore feminist. I swear.
Feel-Good Feminism
For some reason, feminism is seen as super anti: anti-men, anti-sex, anti-sexism, anti-everything. And while some of those antis aren’t bad things, it’s not exactly exciting to get involved in