Urgently needed, Fight Like a Girl is a passionate, rallying cry that will awaken readers to the fact they are not alone and there’s a brighter future where men and women can flourish equally – and that’s something worth fighting for. I'm so saddened by how visceral my reaction to this book has been. I believe the message 100%, but the delivery is going to alienate a lot of well-meaning people. Fight Like a Girl is a much-needed primer and call to action for the next generation of feminist activists. In this regressive cultural climate, it's more important than ever to speak loudly and proudly about the work we're doing and what still needs to be done. There isn’t much intersectionality in this book. Ford wrote based on her own experiences, and she is white, cis and hetero, so that’s what you get. And to be frank I’m not sure I got much new information out of this book. It was nice to read, often funny, often upsetting – but a lot of the topics touched upon were some I have read about and discussed at length before. That doesn’t mean it isn’t nice to read that other women have to wrangle with the same issues and situations: validation matters, and this book is simply Ford sharing her experience to encourage other women to be assertive and demand a better world. Even if I was raised by a feminist mom and have been one of those “too loud, too smart, too sexual, too everything” kind of girl my whole life doesn’t make me a perfect feminist, I have stuff that I will probably keep working on my whole life, and books like this are a good reminder that I should never give up. My mother played the role of the traditional housewife and primary caregiver in a predominantly female environment, raising daughters while she was being emotionally, mentally and physically abused. We were children of domestic violence and alcohol abuse. This became my inauguration into a male dominated world where battle weary women have previously been defeated and precious lives have been lost. It touches on the tragedy of Jill Meagher and how her brutal rape and murder invoked rage without our community. Fight Like A Girl considers the anguish of domestic violence and violence against women, a chapter that resonated deep within me.

Ford confesses to having had two abortions, but unlike most other women, besides being unapologetic about it, she's also not wringing her hands to explain herself beside the fact she wasn't ready for a child. She's got zero, zip, nada regrets about them. Case closed. I'm, of course, pro-choice but I can't remember seeing this stance - the narrative around abortion is that, surely, there must be some regret, shame etc. It's kind of refreshing to hear it's not the case for everyone. NB: If you're not pro-choice, I'm not interested in hearing about it - it's never ever going change my views - so don't waste your time). I won a signed copy and a t-shirt for asking a question that was read on a live Facebook event. I listened to this via audiobook and I loved it as it was narrated by Ford herself (she's quite good). A lot of people seem to be bothered by her angry tone and her excessive use of wit , irony and sarcasm . However , that is exactly what makes her Clmentine Ford. She neither embellishes nor dresses up her words to appeal and charm her readers and she unhesitatingly does not lower the tone of her voice so that you hear her till the end . If you really cared , you would look beyond her anger. If you don't like angry women encouraging other women to become angry about the myriad of ways in which women are constantly degraded and controlled and put down by men and society in general, probably don't read this book.

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I also loved the chapter ‘A League of Their Own’ – which is close to my heart for Clementine exploring as she often does, the link between pop-culture and feminism. She name-drops the likes of; ‘Parks and Recreation’, ‘Broad City’ and ‘Jessica Jones’ (to name a very few) television shows, for their core focus on the love story between female friends. She brings in Alison Bechdel’s test to discuss women in cinema … and while this whole chapter had me head-nodding along for all our cross-pollination of pop-culture obsessions, it’s also Clementine celebrating these highly visible achievements of women who are bringing feminism to the masses. And in particular; rejecting this notion that women are our own worst enemies; All these resources from the women, books, art, music, I would have LOVED an actual list of their material so it would be easier to find. The bibliography in the end lists the resources the author used, I’m talking about a separate list with the feminists’ own work, now I have to google for myself (yeah I know, minor issue…) Reviewing and rating books on feminism is not easy. Partially because I’ve yet to find one with which I agree 100% - and honestly, that’s OK. I’ve learned something from each of those books I have read, and that counts for something, even if there was stuff various authors and I saw differently. This book is no different. I truly believe that everyone, male and female, should read this book and i will definitely be recommending it to all the women I know. Fight Like a girl is an uncomfortable read, but also an important one that challenges everything you've ever been taught either direclty or indireclty by society mostly patriarchy , misogyny and sexism.

Here are some statistics to help demonstrate the prevalence and severity of violence against women: It's incredibly liberating reaching my mid-forties and realising how little I care about people's opinions of me. Men's opinions matter even less. I'm heterosexual - I know, quite the tragedy, as I like to joke to most people's astonishment. And guess what, most feminists are not men-haters, although I'm sure some are and I'm certain they have good reasons for that. It actually gives me great satisfaction when occasionally I discover that a certain man, usually a friend's partner, can't stand me. It's usually because instead of fluttering my eye-lashes and gushing over their ... whatever it is we are supposed to gush over - I challenge their sexist remarks, jokes and attitudes and so on - not that I spend that much time in their company, I'm bored out of my mind by sports talk. If you're a woman who thinks feminism is a dirty word and that you're not in favour of feminism, because you'd rather have equality? READ THIS BOOK OH MY GOD. If you’ve studied gender studies or read any feminist books or theory, this isn’t a book that will really illuminate anything or introduce concepts or ideas that you’re not already familiar with. But it’s nice summary and the perfect book for people who want a refresher for 2016, or for younger people who need a good, understandable introduction to what feminism is, and why it still matters. The chapters on men and good guys, and discussion of the White Ribbon Foundation, are brilliant.

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And yes, Clementine Ford is pissed. It is infuriating to try to live one’s life in the middle of a flurry of double-standards, of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” choices – all the while watching the empirical evidence of the rigged game piling up but being often ignored or dismissed. It’s not just infuriating, it’s exhausting, too. And because she talks about it, loudly, she has to endure hate mail by the metric ton. I'd be pissed, too. In this book, she discusses body-image, rape culture, internalized misogyny, sex, activism and many other things that need to be an ongoing dialogue if we are honest about wanting equality. A] fun, frank and fearless feminist manifesto...anyone hoping for an introduction to the most pressing topics in identity politics would do well to brush up under Ford's tutelage.’ An incendiary debut taking the world by storm, Fight Like A Girl is an essential manifesto for feminists new, old and soon-to-be.