How to Be a Woman [ペーパーバック]

I read this book and laughed a lot while doing so.

Then I had to face the acid test. I handed it to my wife - the professional nay-sayer, the woman who thinks that puns are not funny - and told her to open it at random and start reading. I expected to have it back within seconds with a dismissive remark, but instead she started reading it, chuckling occasionally, and when she turned the page she put her fingers under the next page, the quicker to read it. I asked her what the chuckles were for, but she didn't answer and kept on reading. Then she laughed so hard she nearly fell off the floor. She looked at me and said, "She's good."

I said "I've finished it, you can read it," but she insisted that I write my review first. That makes sense, considering that she has a bunch of friends that she passes on books to that she thinks are important (books, that is). So here it is.

And the only thing I can say I said in the review title - Buy it. It's the funniest book I've read this year, and probably the last year as well. Billed as a "feminist" book, by American standards it is not academic enough and way too funny, yet it addresses some of the major issues woman have like what to name your sexual parts, your pubic hair and so on. There's also a great deal of stuff on how women are sucked up into the vortex of buying clothes and high heels, having Brazilian waxes, and plenty more. The book is a vague memoir of life since she was thirteen, living in close-to-poverty, yet she managed to win a national newspaper essay competition and get on the staff of the prestigious Melody Maker Brit-pop rag in just the next three years. She also started her career as a national newspaper columnist (most of which was spent in the London Times) and hosted some TV shows.

You might expect this to be the story of some bimbo blonde dolly, or a Kardashian sister. But Caitlin at 35 is in many ways obviously still Caitlin at 13, and she manages to be extremely funny. At thirteen, and able to borrow adult library books, she "has struck filth gold," by reading Jilly Cooper's "Riders," a semi pornographic novel from the 1980s - naturally you can get it from Amazon US Riders. Then she grows pubic hair and shaves it off after her mother draws the whole family's attention to it in the living room.

Eventually she moves the hundred and thirty miles to London, marries and has a couple of children, the birth of which she describes in excruciating but hilarious detail. In her capacity as pop music critic she interviews Lady Gaga in a revealing yet drunken way.

And gradually she becomes aware of the role of women in society. As she says, "The patriarchy must be knackered by now. It's been 100,000 years without even a tea break: men have been ruling the world. They have been balls to the wall." She wants "some sort of flextime" where women ruled the world half of the time, while the men can "really sort out the shed, once and for all." She makes it clear she doesn't hate men, and her variety of feminism is more warm and funny than burning your (underwired and painful) bra.

Where is the American Caitlin Moran? The cover hints at Tina Fey, but although I haven't seen much of Tina Fey I doubt she's an equivalent of Caitlin Moran.

So you should buy this book. Yes, that means you - Woman, Man, and what Flickr calls "Other." Just be sure to take your ass with you when you laugh it off. And you will.

"How to Be a Woman" by Caitlin Moran had its ups and downs for me. It started out as a winner in my mind but seemed to get stuck on certain topics for much to long. Other topics didn't really hold much of an interest for me either.

Now, to be fair, I think I'm older than the target audience. While reading it I often thought of how I would have enjoyed the book more when I was younger. Some of the issues that must be very pressing to young women today just made me shake my head as I began to reminisce about the good old days when shaving our legs and arm pits was good enough for the men in our lives. No wonder so many younger women aren't happier. They are spending all of their free time worrying about body hair and all of their free time getting rid of it.

Marriage, kids, work, inter-office romance....I've seen it all. A case of the middle aged been there done that. But, it's all new to the younger women. They need to know these things and need to think about them.

I do like Caitlin's definition of what it takes to decide if you are a feminist or not. It made a lot of sense and was so much easier to understand than the speeches we had to listen to and Phil Donahue Shows we had to watch in the 70's. Back when we were first trying to figure out what a feminist was, could we be one, and if we were could we still keep our boyfriends. The younger women will love this book. The post menopausal space age boomers probably won't.

I AM A STRIDENT FEMINIST! There, I said it, as the author instructed. But it's true, and I have been, for as long as I can remember knowing what that even meant. And I have to say, this is the first "feminist book" that actually made me feel hopeful and happy and glad to be a woman. Others (such as "Crazy Salad Plus Nine" by the wonderful Nora Ephron) just made me angry - because so little has changed for women. We're still - 30+ years after she wrote it - marginalized and "different".

"How to Be a Woman" explains this 'difference' in a no-nonsense and hilarious way. For example, in the chapter titled "I Encounter Some Sexism!", the author says, "We are, physically, the weaker sex. We're not as good at hefting stones, killing mammoths, and rowing boats. In addition, sex often had the added complication of getting us pregnant and leaving us feeling 'too fat' to lead an army into India."

The author honestly and unflinchingly looks at many topics that plaque women:
~what happens when puberty hits (the periods! the hair growth!)
~the 'thin' vs 'fat' issue (and how the term "fat" is used as a curse and a slur)
~sexism (in the workplace and out)
~falling in love, getting married, and having kids (why you should, and why you shouldn't)
~abortion
~the "maintenance" we have to do on ourselves (waxes, etc.)
~and getting older

And it's all presented in an uplifting, positive, honest, and hilarious way. I did NOT want this book to end. And I want to give copies to everyone important in my life.

A few notes - as other reviewers have stated, there is all kinds of crude language as well as mentions of drug and alcohol use, none of which bothered me personally, but... this is, obviously, not for everyone... and unfortunately many of the people who need this book the MOST may not read it because of this. (For instance, I would love to give copies for my niece {13} and goddaughter {10}, but I'm sure their moms would be none too happy with me if I did - because of the language.)

Also, calling this the "British version of Tina Fey's 'Bossypants'" is a disservice to both books. The only similarities are that they are both by women, and both authors are funny, and both of them talk about their childhoods and careers. Otherwise, they are entirely different. Mind you, I thoroughly enjoyed "Bossypants", but it does not have nearly the heft of depth of "How to be a Woman". It's kinda like comparing cotton candy with a milky way.

And finally, although the US publishers tried to "Americanize" the book, there were still a few things I didn't quite "get" and had to look up. (Now, this may have changed in the final version; I read an uncorrected proof.) A little more explanation could have been helpful.

I highly highly highly recommend this book - and would give it 1,000 stars if amazon would let me.