book Archives - The F-Word

Gay love in Victorian Britain

Georgina Diaz11 July 2019

Georgina Diaz finds Outrages by Naomi Wolf a valuable read on the makings of modern homophobia despite recent questions regarding the accuracy of some of the author’s research ...

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Zoe Louise Tongue reviews The Anatomy of Silence, a collection of essays on experiences of rape and sexual violence, which explores the silence that still exists around rape culture even in the era of #MeToo ...

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Breaking the silence around menstruation

Jenna Kirby21 March 2019

Jenna Kirby considers the impact that a book like Natalie Byrne’s Period. could have on a reader’s relationship with their own body...

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Reporting on rape culture

Charlotte Barnes25 February 2019

Charlotte Barnes reads Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture – a collection of accounts of rape and sexual assault edited by Roxane Gay – and finds it painful and troubling but also timely and necessary...

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Why what we believe about women’s lust and infidelity is Untrue

Christina Carè28 January 2019

Christina Carè reviews Wednesday Martin's book Untrue and finds it an interesting - although occasionally jarring - delve into the history surrounding the (untrue) assertion that women are largely submissive, 'low-libido' beings ...

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Flawed and fabulous women through time

Jessica Strange22 November 2018

Guided by iconic pioneers of the feminist movement, Jessica Strange learns a thing or two about living in a modern world by asking herself: What Would Boudicca Do?...

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Has science failed women?

Lucy Everitt20 November 2018

Lucy Everitt reviews Angela Saini’s book Inferior and finds it a fascinating critique of how science has consistently got women wrong through the ages – but is change finally in the air? ...

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Seduction for sale

Charlotte Barnes3 October 2018

Charlotte Barnes reviews Rachel O’Neill’s recent book on the ‘seduction community’ and is introduced to an industry seemingly built on misogyny and problematic attitudes towards women...

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From pain to empowerment

Zoe Louise Tongue26 April 2018

Zoe Louise Tongue reviews 100 Women I Know, a book detailing accounts of sexual assault and rape from 100 women, finding it an emotionally difficult read but a necessary and powerful one...

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An end to feminism?

Josie Davis18 April 2018

Josie Davis reads What Women Want by Ella Whelan and can’t resist writing a pointed response piece about the book that suggests that “feminism must end”...

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The science of bad language

Louise Jones12 March 2018

Louise Jones reviews Dr Emma Byrne’s first book Swearing is Good for You which offers a defence of swearing, backed by historical case studies and cutting-edge research ...

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Non-monogamy for beginners

Zoe Russell8 August 2017

Zoe Russell reads Is Monogamy Dead? by Rosie Wilby and believes it could potentially be a good starting point for ‘not-yet non-monogamists’ but perhaps relies too much on the author’s personal experience ...

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The sweat behind the words

Evelyn Deshane30 May 2017

Evelyn Deshane reviews Notes from a Feminist Killjoy by Erin Wunker and admires the author’s demonstration of the physical exertion and ‘sweat’ behind the process of writing...

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A new tool kit for living a feminist life

Evelyn Deshane19 March 2017

Evelyn Deshane reviews Living a Feminist Life by Sara Ahmed and finds it an invaluable resource for assembling your own feminist ‘tool kit’...

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Redefining the immigrant experience

Martha Salhotra10 December 2016

Martha Salhotra reads The Good Immigrant compiled by Nikesh Shukla, and finds the experience to be like slipping on a new pair of shoes that fit perfectly the first time round...

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Forever friends?

Joanna Whitehead7 November 2016

Jo Whitehead identifies with the pain and pleasure that female relationships can offer in Kerry Cohen’s Girl Trouble: An Illustrated Memoir and wonders if we all have a Mean Girl lurking within ...

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Women on the wrong track?

Nicola McClements24 October 2016

Nicola McClements reads Sady Doyle's exploration of the ‘trainwreck’ women celebrities the world just loves to hate ...

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Ssssh! The girls are working

Amy Grant12 October 2016

This week saw the celebration of Ada Lovelace Day and, in honour of the occasion, Amy Grant has reviewed Saving Bletchley Park by Dr Sue Black and Stevyn Colgan, which recounts the stories of some of the often overlooked (but extremely important) 'women in tech' who worked at the famous site during the Second World War...

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