Killjoy: Taking on a macho media empire and winning

by Jo Cheetham

400 pages, Hardcover

Published March 2, 2023

Reviews

[Felicity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has the author of this hardcover edition been cancelled or Kindled by GR? She is not unknown, certainly not by those who supported the protracted, ultimately successful, No More Page 3 campaign. Jo Cheetham's often hilarious account of the campaign recalls the high and low points of the movement, including the vile counteraction from trolls and tabloid journalists. Had the core members of this pressure group, mostly but not exclusively women in their thirties, not been consistently supportive of each other, and open to forming alliances with other interest groups, their mental health and political strength would most likely have collapsed. As it is, Cheetham is not shy about recording her own struggles with well-documented imposter syndrome, nor indeed the self-doubts and personal difficulties of some fellow members. The group messages, reproduced verbatim, certainly convey the informality and instinctive generosity of the collective, but I desist from thanking her for 'sharing' more than I wanted to read. Where a failed campaign is often nasty, brutish and short, this 400-page account of the tortuous progress of a successful one seems reluctant to reach the conclusion.

[Mya Quarmby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, Humour, Heart!

I’m not normally a fan of non fiction, but I absolutely loved this book. I have never heard of it before I saw it on display at the SELF exhibition at Rotherham Museum (the birthplace of the Author)

I loved how honest this book was - I laughed, I cried, I gasped, I cheered, and I got angry.

I saw myself in these stories, I saw past and was hopeful for future me. I felt all the feelings that were told to shove down and I saw them explode on the pages!