What do you think?


All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy
In the tradition of Timothy Snyder’s
On Tyranny
, the author of the vital “battle-cry of a book” (
The
Guardian
)
Rage Becomes Her
effortlessly illustrates how to recognize male supremacy, name it, understand it, and dismantle it piece by piece.
With the 2024 reelection of Donald Trump, it has become impossible to deny that male supremacy is America’s chief value system. To deny this is to ignore the root cause of democratic crises here and all over the Western world. And denial undermines our ability to resist and overcome.
With her trademark “skill, wit, and sharp insight” (Laura Bates, author of Girl Up), Soraya Chemaly walks us through how we got to this moment of terrible backlash while also offering hope to a better, more equitable future for men and women. All We Want Is Everything is a fresh and inspiring feminist manifesto that is crucial for our times.
With the 2024 reelection of Donald Trump, it has become impossible to deny that male supremacy is America’s chief value system. To deny this is to ignore the root cause of democratic crises here and all over the Western world. And denial undermines our ability to resist and overcome.
With her trademark “skill, wit, and sharp insight” (Laura Bates, author of Girl Up), Soraya Chemaly walks us through how we got to this moment of terrible backlash while also offering hope to a better, more equitable future for men and women. All We Want Is Everything is a fresh and inspiring feminist manifesto that is crucial for our times.
Audible Audio
Published November 11, 2025
About the author
Soraya Chemaly
12 books642 followersSoraya Chemaly is a writer and activist whose work focuses on the role of gender in politics, religion, education, tech, and media. A 2016 Mirror Award Winner, her work appears in a wide range of publications including TIME, The Guardian, The Nation, Huffington Post, Verge, Quartz, The Atlantic and The New Statesman. Chemaly is also involved with multiple anti-violence and media equity organizations dedicated to expanding women’s freedom of expression and public parity. She has been named by Elle Magazine, The Telegraph, and Fast Company as among the most inspiring women to follow in social media and the co-winner of a 2017 Newhouse Mirror Award for Best Single Story. You can find her on Instagram @sorayachemaly and @ragebecomesher as well as Substack where she writes Unmanned.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
October 27, 2025
All We Want Is Everything is a very persuasive look at how preference for males affects everything in our lives. The writing is clear and convincing. I would say it’s fairly radical, but I became an adult when men could literally say anything inappropriate anywhere without fear – at work, on nonprofit boards, at the gym, on the street, on the bus, at a ballgame. Fortunately today’s women are less likely to simply accept that as the way things are.
This book is enraging and depressing; I’ve seen it described as hopeful but it feels overwhelmingly hopeless to me, in today’s political climate (and after a smart, educated black woman lost the presidency to a white racist misogynist male felon). I hope others can find things to be optimistic about in this book. I’ve also seen it described as funny, but I didn’t see much to laugh about.
“It’s remarkable to watch the media describing declining heterosexuality in terms of women demanding ‘higher standards’ and not in terms of so many men’s persistent desire for dominance and rejection of equality. Women’s departure from heterosexual dating and marriage is often framed by anti-feminists as the result of feminism teaching women to hate men, but all this argument does is center men, a perpetual reasoning flaw known as a center-stage problem: the tendency of dominant groups to maintain their centrality at all costs and at the expense of marginalized people. …In the case of heterosexuality, what I am talking about is a system so deeply organized around men’s needs and dominance that any attempt to step outside its framework is felt as either incoherent or a direct attack.” (ch. 1 of the ARC)
Whoo boy, I hear this.
“What I am saying is that men need to change, masculinity needs to evolve, and male supremacy has to end. Men of good faith can start with three simple steps: stop talking, listen, and learn from what women are saying.” (ch. 1 of the ARC)
And this.
“Today, men’s professional dominance is being laundered as ‘masculine energy.’ … [I]t’s a thinly veiled code for the aggression, anger, ruthlessness, and decisiveness our society celebrates in men. … Not only does ‘masculine energy’ trade in gender stereotypes, but it gets bonus points for obscuring a blinding whiteness. A Black man with ‘masculine energy,’ for instance, is far more likely to end up incarcerated than as part of tech company’s leadership team.” (ch. 3 of the ARC)
Just a small part of the conclusion: “We want dignity. We want recognition of our contributions, equitable pay, and environments free of hostility, harassment, coercion, and exploitation. We want to compete on an equal footing without hostility, belittlement, exclusion, or threats. We want our expertise valued, our leadership respected, and our ambitions met with opportunity rather than disdain.”
So much of this seems so obvious and reasonable, but I know many many men who will not find it either. I could keep quoting from this book – but just go read it when it comes out.
I read an advance reader copy of All We Want Is Everything from Netgalley.
This book is enraging and depressing; I’ve seen it described as hopeful but it feels overwhelmingly hopeless to me, in today’s political climate (and after a smart, educated black woman lost the presidency to a white racist misogynist male felon). I hope others can find things to be optimistic about in this book. I’ve also seen it described as funny, but I didn’t see much to laugh about.
“It’s remarkable to watch the media describing declining heterosexuality in terms of women demanding ‘higher standards’ and not in terms of so many men’s persistent desire for dominance and rejection of equality. Women’s departure from heterosexual dating and marriage is often framed by anti-feminists as the result of feminism teaching women to hate men, but all this argument does is center men, a perpetual reasoning flaw known as a center-stage problem: the tendency of dominant groups to maintain their centrality at all costs and at the expense of marginalized people. …In the case of heterosexuality, what I am talking about is a system so deeply organized around men’s needs and dominance that any attempt to step outside its framework is felt as either incoherent or a direct attack.” (ch. 1 of the ARC)
Whoo boy, I hear this.
“What I am saying is that men need to change, masculinity needs to evolve, and male supremacy has to end. Men of good faith can start with three simple steps: stop talking, listen, and learn from what women are saying.” (ch. 1 of the ARC)
And this.
“Today, men’s professional dominance is being laundered as ‘masculine energy.’ … [I]t’s a thinly veiled code for the aggression, anger, ruthlessness, and decisiveness our society celebrates in men. … Not only does ‘masculine energy’ trade in gender stereotypes, but it gets bonus points for obscuring a blinding whiteness. A Black man with ‘masculine energy,’ for instance, is far more likely to end up incarcerated than as part of tech company’s leadership team.” (ch. 3 of the ARC)
Just a small part of the conclusion: “We want dignity. We want recognition of our contributions, equitable pay, and environments free of hostility, harassment, coercion, and exploitation. We want to compete on an equal footing without hostility, belittlement, exclusion, or threats. We want our expertise valued, our leadership respected, and our ambitions met with opportunity rather than disdain.”
So much of this seems so obvious and reasonable, but I know many many men who will not find it either. I could keep quoting from this book – but just go read it when it comes out.
I read an advance reader copy of All We Want Is Everything from Netgalley.
June 1, 2026
I am simultaneously outraged and informed. I am...rageformed.
A great initial read into the great fuckery that is male supremacy (aka a tighter and simultaneously more encompassing view of "the patriarchy") and how it benefits white cishet men in particular while fucking over everyone else, including white cishet men themselves.
We have, according to many commentators, a “mating crisis,” a “dating crisis,” a “marriage crisis,” or a “male loneliness crisis.” These are dimensions of the same core problem, however: Straight men are having an equality crisis. Too many refuse to contemplate the degree to which “normal” heterosexual relationships, both within and outside marriage, historically assumed men’s dominance and women’s subservience, men’s agency and control and women’s lack of agency and deference.
I remember when I told my dad (a MAGA supporter, then low contact now no contact), how scared I was about Trump's reelection because of the fact that I was bi, married to a woman and a woman myself, I got the email equivalent and a pat on the head with a "there, there little lady." And this man, severely disabled but with the worst cowboy complex on the planet, literally told me that he and my two brothers would protect ME, a Marine Corps veteran who at the time lived on the other side of the country.
A quote from Chemaly that beautifully sums up what I felt at the time and still feel:
We want not just protection from violence but the dismantling of the ideologies and institutions that produce, excuse, and perpetuate violence: heteropatriarchal families, prisons, police, militaries, borders, religions, philosophies, and sciences.
A dismantling and creating into something new that benefits everyone and leaves no one person behind, not a "burn it all down and piss on it because I couldn't gets mine" approach that many man, particularly tech billionaires, have been espousing.
So yeah, I think that everyone should read this too, particularly cishet men (who overwhelmingly eschew female and trans/nonbinary authors to read cis male written books only).
It pairs VERY nicely with The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future and Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion.
A great initial read into the great fuckery that is male supremacy (aka a tighter and simultaneously more encompassing view of "the patriarchy") and how it benefits white cishet men in particular while fucking over everyone else, including white cishet men themselves.
We have, according to many commentators, a “mating crisis,” a “dating crisis,” a “marriage crisis,” or a “male loneliness crisis.” These are dimensions of the same core problem, however: Straight men are having an equality crisis. Too many refuse to contemplate the degree to which “normal” heterosexual relationships, both within and outside marriage, historically assumed men’s dominance and women’s subservience, men’s agency and control and women’s lack of agency and deference.
I remember when I told my dad (a MAGA supporter, then low contact now no contact), how scared I was about Trump's reelection because of the fact that I was bi, married to a woman and a woman myself, I got the email equivalent and a pat on the head with a "there, there little lady." And this man, severely disabled but with the worst cowboy complex on the planet, literally told me that he and my two brothers would protect ME, a Marine Corps veteran who at the time lived on the other side of the country.
A quote from Chemaly that beautifully sums up what I felt at the time and still feel:
We want not just protection from violence but the dismantling of the ideologies and institutions that produce, excuse, and perpetuate violence: heteropatriarchal families, prisons, police, militaries, borders, religions, philosophies, and sciences.
A dismantling and creating into something new that benefits everyone and leaves no one person behind, not a "burn it all down and piss on it because I couldn't gets mine" approach that many man, particularly tech billionaires, have been espousing.
So yeah, I think that everyone should read this too, particularly cishet men (who overwhelmingly eschew female and trans/nonbinary authors to read cis male written books only).
It pairs VERY nicely with The Second Coming: Sex and the Next Generation's Fight Over Its Future and Ejaculate Responsibly: A Whole New Way to Think About Abortion.
December 3, 2025
6 ⭐️ read!!! i listened to the audio book and won’t have a choice but to buy a physical copy because i NEED to outline so many parts and re-read the end of chapter statistics dumps (i loveeeed that finishing touch). truly an amazing book, i’ve read a couple of other reviews and agree that i don’t feel like many men while pick this up (i mean she does state it in her book that men simply don’t read a lot of female authors), but i hope some will and understand how it feels to be a woman in our society today. violence against women is rampant, and addressing gender inequality is crucial 💔 LOVED IT
May 16, 2026
I loved this book. It was so good. I highly recommend and I believe that you should put it on your must read list for 2026.
It hits the high points (by which I mean low points) of our patriarchal society. I was saying “yes!” A lot while I was driving.
It hits the high points (by which I mean low points) of our patriarchal society. I was saying “yes!” A lot while I was driving.
August 9, 2025
A phenomenal read!
All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy by Soraya Chemaly is an outstanding book.
Superbly written and referenced, clear and impactful without being unnecessarily inflammatory, Chemaly reflects on how male supremacy operates in our society, along with its implications and outcomes. Discussing things like intersectionality, othering, emotional labour, and gender roles, Chemaly uses a mixture of statistics and stories to convey her point. Despite the grim picture and the framework of control and oppression, the overall message is infused with a powerful, contagious hope and vision for a more egalitarian interdependent future that I am eager to build.
I admire and appreciate All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy by Soraya Chemaly, in particular for the way it takes such an insidious, difficult to comprehend, woven into every facet of our lives and society concept and explains it in such an incisive and compelling manner. I want to buy 4 billion+ copies and distribute them to every girl and woman on the planet!
Incredible work. I’ll be reading Chemaly’s other books.
Expected Publication Date: November 11, 2025
A huge thank you to NetGalley, Soraya Chemaly and Atria Books for access to a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
(Unable to add quotes as the text is not finalized)
All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy by Soraya Chemaly is an outstanding book.
Superbly written and referenced, clear and impactful without being unnecessarily inflammatory, Chemaly reflects on how male supremacy operates in our society, along with its implications and outcomes. Discussing things like intersectionality, othering, emotional labour, and gender roles, Chemaly uses a mixture of statistics and stories to convey her point. Despite the grim picture and the framework of control and oppression, the overall message is infused with a powerful, contagious hope and vision for a more egalitarian interdependent future that I am eager to build.
I admire and appreciate All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy by Soraya Chemaly, in particular for the way it takes such an insidious, difficult to comprehend, woven into every facet of our lives and society concept and explains it in such an incisive and compelling manner. I want to buy 4 billion+ copies and distribute them to every girl and woman on the planet!
Incredible work. I’ll be reading Chemaly’s other books.
Expected Publication Date: November 11, 2025
A huge thank you to NetGalley, Soraya Chemaly and Atria Books for access to a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
(Unable to add quotes as the text is not finalized)
June 26, 2026
A must read 😤🤨
February 11, 2026
A good book for those wanting an intro into how male supremacy bleeds into every aspect of life including healthcare and education. It didn't bring up new ideas for me although I hadn't come across some of the statistics the book includes. I was disappointed despite including "How we dismantle Male Supremacy" in the title, the topic was only a tiny section at the end and vague.
July 24, 2026
4.5⭐️
December 1, 2025
A question for men, from the book: "If equality makes you feel anxious and left behind, shouldn't you ask how much of your identity is based on oppressing other people?"
I would add another question for men: "How much of your 'success' is based on the fact that so many others weren't allowed to compete with you?"
Right now, we are experiencing a severe backlash of any gains, however small, we saw for women in the past 50-ish years. It's a scary time to be anything other than a white man in America.
There's a lot packed into this relatively short book. While it doesn't necessarily tell you anything you don't already know, it is a good reminder that you are not crazy for thinking and feeling that the world is stacked against women in almost every way.
*I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway!*
I would add another question for men: "How much of your 'success' is based on the fact that so many others weren't allowed to compete with you?"
Right now, we are experiencing a severe backlash of any gains, however small, we saw for women in the past 50-ish years. It's a scary time to be anything other than a white man in America.
There's a lot packed into this relatively short book. While it doesn't necessarily tell you anything you don't already know, it is a good reminder that you are not crazy for thinking and feeling that the world is stacked against women in almost every way.
*I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway!*
November 15, 2025
Enraging, validating, and deeply moving. Chemaly exposes how male supremacy infiltrates every corner of our lives — education, family, politics, culture — while offering a vision of solidarity and possibility beyond it. Chemaly’s prose is urgent yet hopeful and wryly funny at times. Everyone should read this book.
November 21, 2025
Perhaps I was too excited by the promise of this book. Or maybe I didn’t have an accurate understanding of it before I started. Either way, I found it:
1. Not very informative; and
2. Made statements and quoted statistics that were not cited (looks like citations are accessible online. I’m glad they exist but also it should be clear what quotes go with what sources so this is not sufficient in my opinion) and I had a hard time taking these assertions as facts. One such example, “When boys outperform other boys in school - whether due to class or racial advantages, for instance - no one labels it a crisis. It’s called a crisis only when girls outperform boys.” Okay. I could believe that… but where exactly is this from? Is this real data or just an anecdote from the author?
I think what this showed me is that I’d prefer a book by a sociologist rather than an activist. Now I know!
ALSO, where is the advice on how to dismantle white supremacy as the title suggests?!
1. Not very informative; and
2. Made statements and quoted statistics that were not cited (looks like citations are accessible online. I’m glad they exist but also it should be clear what quotes go with what sources so this is not sufficient in my opinion) and I had a hard time taking these assertions as facts. One such example, “When boys outperform other boys in school - whether due to class or racial advantages, for instance - no one labels it a crisis. It’s called a crisis only when girls outperform boys.” Okay. I could believe that… but where exactly is this from? Is this real data or just an anecdote from the author?
I think what this showed me is that I’d prefer a book by a sociologist rather than an activist. Now I know!
ALSO, where is the advice on how to dismantle white supremacy as the title suggests?!
November 11, 2025
I received an eArc of this book. This is an honest review.
3.75
As the author mentions in both the introduction chapter and one of the later ones, this is very much a book that preaches to the choir. The author is soap-boxing to a crowd of those who, ideally, already understand some of the base struggles that come with femineity when it comes to a male dominated world. Again, as mentioned in the book, it's unlikely that more then a handful of men are going to pick this up with pure intentions of understanding, if at all.
This book did manage to put several things into a clearer picture, especially considering with the New York article and interview that has sparked controversy in the past week. It was nice to see thoughts and feelings that had been floating around my head be given true words. And I liked that at least once a chapter she would share a relevant story of her own, or at the least one she's seen secondhand or heard from the news, which I always think is important in these types of nonfiction books.
From my ability to parse out in my own whiteness and queerness, it was generally inclusive. Talking about how Women of color, specifically Black, Latine, and Indigenous, women get treated differently and how white women are more often to throw them under the bus for male supremacy. How they are most often the ones to get the short end of the stick when it comes to legislation, and unnamed social rules when the stick for non-men as a whole is already so small. It touched continued to touch briefly on queerness and the disabled throughout, though WOC were the most woven in.
Now, I guess my main problem lead to the continued mentions of generative AI being used by the author for one reason or another. Even if it offers a base and a quick insight considering that it takes and steals from every corner of the internet, and tells people what they want to hear for the most part after the first mention of it I couldn't stop wondering how much of these words were the authors. Either intentionally or not. Even 'brainstorming' with AI has been linked to demising creativity. And considering the conclusion chapter (and the chapter before that, that discussed deepfakes and the like), just kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.
Also some points made did feel like beating a dead horse. I understand bringing in points from previous chapters to show how they link, but at several points I had to pause to make sure I hadn't accidentally gone back pages or chapters and was actually on the chapter I was supposed to be on. I've had 'All The Rage' on my TBR for a while, and while I still think I'll read it, it did just get bumped down a bit compared to other nonfiction I have on my list.
Anyways, all in all I'd say Nonfiction November is still going strong, and If this interests you to pick it up, even if this personally isn't going to be added to my own physical collection when the book comes out.
3.75
As the author mentions in both the introduction chapter and one of the later ones, this is very much a book that preaches to the choir. The author is soap-boxing to a crowd of those who, ideally, already understand some of the base struggles that come with femineity when it comes to a male dominated world. Again, as mentioned in the book, it's unlikely that more then a handful of men are going to pick this up with pure intentions of understanding, if at all.
This book did manage to put several things into a clearer picture, especially considering with the New York article and interview that has sparked controversy in the past week. It was nice to see thoughts and feelings that had been floating around my head be given true words. And I liked that at least once a chapter she would share a relevant story of her own, or at the least one she's seen secondhand or heard from the news, which I always think is important in these types of nonfiction books.
From my ability to parse out in my own whiteness and queerness, it was generally inclusive. Talking about how Women of color, specifically Black, Latine, and Indigenous, women get treated differently and how white women are more often to throw them under the bus for male supremacy. How they are most often the ones to get the short end of the stick when it comes to legislation, and unnamed social rules when the stick for non-men as a whole is already so small. It touched continued to touch briefly on queerness and the disabled throughout, though WOC were the most woven in.
Now, I guess my main problem lead to the continued mentions of generative AI being used by the author for one reason or another. Even if it offers a base and a quick insight considering that it takes and steals from every corner of the internet, and tells people what they want to hear for the most part after the first mention of it I couldn't stop wondering how much of these words were the authors. Either intentionally or not. Even 'brainstorming' with AI has been linked to demising creativity. And considering the conclusion chapter (and the chapter before that, that discussed deepfakes and the like), just kind of left a sour taste in my mouth.
Also some points made did feel like beating a dead horse. I understand bringing in points from previous chapters to show how they link, but at several points I had to pause to make sure I hadn't accidentally gone back pages or chapters and was actually on the chapter I was supposed to be on. I've had 'All The Rage' on my TBR for a while, and while I still think I'll read it, it did just get bumped down a bit compared to other nonfiction I have on my list.
Anyways, all in all I'd say Nonfiction November is still going strong, and If this interests you to pick it up, even if this personally isn't going to be added to my own physical collection when the book comes out.
March 21, 2026
A short and comprehensive review of male supremacy and its impacts, with some nice reframing showing how even the descriptions of those problems often continue to centre men, e.g:
As other reviewers have noted, there's not much here about dismantling male supremacy; there's also not a lot that's new, unless you are brand new to feminism. But overall it's well-written, engaging, and concise, and I enjoyed it.
It's also striking to me how many social justice books need to frame their central concern as being the worst/oldest/first form of supremacy on which all others are based. Chemaly does this as well:
None of this is wrong, necessarily; but the whole framing of forms of oppression in terms of better/worse or more/less important or older/newer reflects the very thinking that created the dominance hierarchy to begin with. Do they need to be ranked? They need to be analyzed and understood, of course; this helps us to see and react, combat and restructure them. But the focus on the individual -isms, I fear, often obscures how they function in our daily lives rather than illuminating them, and can give a pass to those working to advance their own dominance of others under cover of social justice activism (i.e. "Look at how terrible racism/sexism/classism/ableism/whatever is! Put me in charge, and I will fix it!"). It increases our confusion rather than clarifying it, often, and makes it nearly impossible sometimes for activists and advocates to take on their own leadership when it becomes destructive.
All of which is to say, I think a focus on dominance and hierarchy in general is better and more productive than trying to rank common forms of dominance and hierarchy, and I wish that had been more in evidence here. Still recommended.
It's remarkable to watch the media describe declining heterosexuality in terms of women's demanding "higher standards" and not in terms of so many men's persistent desire for dominance and rejection of equality.
As other reviewers have noted, there's not much here about dismantling male supremacy; there's also not a lot that's new, unless you are brand new to feminism. But overall it's well-written, engaging, and concise, and I enjoyed it.
It's also striking to me how many social justice books need to frame their central concern as being the worst/oldest/first form of supremacy on which all others are based. Chemaly does this as well:
This is not to say that it [male supremacy] is the most important kind of oppression or the root of all oppression, but male supremacy does the heavy lifting for all supremacist ideologies. Take away men's dominance over and control of women, and racial, caste, and sexual hierarchies among men are far more likely to collapse.
None of this is wrong, necessarily; but the whole framing of forms of oppression in terms of better/worse or more/less important or older/newer reflects the very thinking that created the dominance hierarchy to begin with. Do they need to be ranked? They need to be analyzed and understood, of course; this helps us to see and react, combat and restructure them. But the focus on the individual -isms, I fear, often obscures how they function in our daily lives rather than illuminating them, and can give a pass to those working to advance their own dominance of others under cover of social justice activism (i.e. "Look at how terrible racism/sexism/classism/ableism/whatever is! Put me in charge, and I will fix it!"). It increases our confusion rather than clarifying it, often, and makes it nearly impossible sometimes for activists and advocates to take on their own leadership when it becomes destructive.
All of which is to say, I think a focus on dominance and hierarchy in general is better and more productive than trying to rank common forms of dominance and hierarchy, and I wish that had been more in evidence here. Still recommended.
November 28, 2025
4.5 stars
December 30, 2025
all I want is to watch the system collapse and be redone by women. Is that really too much to ask? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
March 18, 2026
Affirming read full of wisdom and knowledge.
May 10, 2026
This should be required reading for all humans.
March 17, 2026
Every sentence is a banger.
December 21, 2025
I think I was looking for more small actionable ideas which I understand is tough given big systematic problems. Probably would have rated higher if I wasn’t already so familiar with the research cited throughout the book. But kinda just felt like a depressing slog at the moment… that’s likely on me and where I am right now more than the book itself
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2026
This is a manifesto.
No notes.
No notes.
August 5, 2026
Super timely considering the rise of the manosphere!
August 23, 2025
Soraya Chemaly’s All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy is one of those books that manages to be eye opening, challenging, and hopeful all at once. Known for her sharp and fearless voice in Rage Becomes Her, Chemaly takes an even bigger step here: looking at how male supremacy shapes our world, not just as men dominating women, but as a whole system designed to keep power in the hands of a few by dividing everyone else.
What makes this book stand out is how the author explains that male supremacy isn’t only about gender; it’s about hierarchy. It pushes men into competition with each other, while using women and marginalized groups as resources in that fight. Under this system, anyone who doesn’t fit a narrow idea of being white, straight, cisgender, and traditionally masculine is seen as “less than.” That includes women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, immigrants, religious minorities, disabled people, and especially Black and Indigenous communities. This framing helps readers see how oppression connects across different parts of society, and why fighting male supremacy matters to all of us.
Soraya Chemaly is at her best when she links the personal to the political. She shows how the small things we often overlook, like who gets interrupted, who is expected to care for others, and whose pain is dismissed are tied to much bigger issues like inequality, violence, and threats to democracy. At the same time, she never makes it feel hopeless. She pushes us to imagine and create different ways of living, such as ones based on fairness, care, and shared responsibility instead of domination.
Another strength of the book is its inclusivity. The author doesn’t just talk about women in a broad sense; she makes it clear that women who face multiple layers of oppression, like women of color, queer women, disabled women, and immigrant women carry the heaviest burdens. She also points out that men are hurt by this system too, even if they don’t always realize it. Male supremacy doesn’t need all men to feel powerful to work, just enough to keep the system running. That reminder makes her call for change feel all the more urgent and human.
This isn’t just a book of critique. It’s also a call to action. She challenges us to reject supremacist values in our relationships, communities, and politics, and to commit to building something better. It’s the kind of book that makes you stop, think, and start to notice the ways male supremacy shows up in daily life and it gives you a sense of possibility for how things could change.
All We Want Is Everything is bold, clear, and necessary. It’s not just about understanding oppression; it’s about imagining freedom and justice for everyone. Whether you’re deeply familiar with feminist ideas or just starting to explore them, this book is a must read, especially in today’s climate.
Thank you to NetGalley, Soraya Chemaly, and Atria for the eARC of this book.
What makes this book stand out is how the author explains that male supremacy isn’t only about gender; it’s about hierarchy. It pushes men into competition with each other, while using women and marginalized groups as resources in that fight. Under this system, anyone who doesn’t fit a narrow idea of being white, straight, cisgender, and traditionally masculine is seen as “less than.” That includes women, LGBTQ+ people, people of color, immigrants, religious minorities, disabled people, and especially Black and Indigenous communities. This framing helps readers see how oppression connects across different parts of society, and why fighting male supremacy matters to all of us.
Soraya Chemaly is at her best when she links the personal to the political. She shows how the small things we often overlook, like who gets interrupted, who is expected to care for others, and whose pain is dismissed are tied to much bigger issues like inequality, violence, and threats to democracy. At the same time, she never makes it feel hopeless. She pushes us to imagine and create different ways of living, such as ones based on fairness, care, and shared responsibility instead of domination.
Another strength of the book is its inclusivity. The author doesn’t just talk about women in a broad sense; she makes it clear that women who face multiple layers of oppression, like women of color, queer women, disabled women, and immigrant women carry the heaviest burdens. She also points out that men are hurt by this system too, even if they don’t always realize it. Male supremacy doesn’t need all men to feel powerful to work, just enough to keep the system running. That reminder makes her call for change feel all the more urgent and human.
This isn’t just a book of critique. It’s also a call to action. She challenges us to reject supremacist values in our relationships, communities, and politics, and to commit to building something better. It’s the kind of book that makes you stop, think, and start to notice the ways male supremacy shows up in daily life and it gives you a sense of possibility for how things could change.
All We Want Is Everything is bold, clear, and necessary. It’s not just about understanding oppression; it’s about imagining freedom and justice for everyone. Whether you’re deeply familiar with feminist ideas or just starting to explore them, this book is a must read, especially in today’s climate.
Thank you to NetGalley, Soraya Chemaly, and Atria for the eARC of this book.
March 24, 2026
Added to the list of books only women will read *sheds tear*
August 28, 2026
This book is an excellent analysis of all the ways that male supremacy pervades the structures of our society. I think the author focuses a bit too much on what we need to negate in order to undermine male supremacy--In her conclusion, she does pay lip service to the fact that we need to develop horizontal systems of power, but she emphasizes that "micro-defiances" are the primary way in which we should go about doing that. Decentralized acts of resistance, she argues, will eventually grow into organized discontent. I disagree with this idea, and people could easily walk away from this book believing that identity is the main problem--Not hierarchy in general, which is the actual problem. Without a specific political orientation, we cannot guarantee that individualized acts of resistance will coalesce into a substantive movement. She makes no positivist or specific assertions about the type of politics that we should be engaging in to build horizontal systems of power. She could have mentioned socialism or anarchism, but she did not, and I can only assume that it's because she still believes that sexism can be eradicated with reformist electoral politics.
As much as we need to acknowledge that women should not be expected to kowtow to the whims and feelings of men in word or deed, we also need to acknowledge that major systemic change against sexism cannot occur without the cooperation of the majority of men. It's simply impossible. The author does, indeed, mention that most men don't read or engage with feminist literature; in which case, she proves my point--The word alone is simply not powerful enough to undermine a system of hierarchical violence that is thousands of years old. It's a starting point at best, but it needs to progress into something larger.
Considering this fact, I'm slightly confused as to why this book exists in the first place, although I do think it's very well written. Feminists and most women are already aware of the problems and facts that Chemaly presents in her exposition. Perhaps this text is more of a manifesto than something meant to convince men, which is also fine. But without any type of positivist solution that provides systemic strategies for toppling patriarchy, we are left guessing as to how we should accomplish the overall goal. If I were to recommend a book to another man concerning why he should become a feminist, I wouldn't suggest this one, but I would point him to some anarchist literature (like Emma Goldman) instead.
As much as we need to acknowledge that women should not be expected to kowtow to the whims and feelings of men in word or deed, we also need to acknowledge that major systemic change against sexism cannot occur without the cooperation of the majority of men. It's simply impossible. The author does, indeed, mention that most men don't read or engage with feminist literature; in which case, she proves my point--The word alone is simply not powerful enough to undermine a system of hierarchical violence that is thousands of years old. It's a starting point at best, but it needs to progress into something larger.
Considering this fact, I'm slightly confused as to why this book exists in the first place, although I do think it's very well written. Feminists and most women are already aware of the problems and facts that Chemaly presents in her exposition. Perhaps this text is more of a manifesto than something meant to convince men, which is also fine. But without any type of positivist solution that provides systemic strategies for toppling patriarchy, we are left guessing as to how we should accomplish the overall goal. If I were to recommend a book to another man concerning why he should become a feminist, I wouldn't suggest this one, but I would point him to some anarchist literature (like Emma Goldman) instead.
November 29, 2025
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for a digital ARC.
All We Want Is Everything is a short, passionate book about how male supremacy is terrible for everyone. It’s a really explosive, engaging read that intelligently dissects some trends and gave me a new language to better understand them. I don’t think I can speak as eloquently as the author, so here are some of my favorite quotes:
‘We “lose our minds” as teenagers who get periods and pregnant women who don’t, as trans people needing hormones, and as older women losing them. These are complicated and often confusing and enraging states of life not because of biology or “female” emotionality but because society and medicine fail to see us as whole human beings with critical needs.’
‘It’s the perfect visual metaphor for how pregnant people are treated today in medicine, law, and policy: the fetus front and center, the person growing it a structural resource but not a person herself. But it’s more than just erasure; these images impose a male-centered view of reproduction, one in which embryos exist as separate entities rather than as part of a person’s body. What is this male supremacist? Because it forces us to operate within the parameter of almost all men’s experience of reproduction. Embryos and fetuses are never part of men’s bodies. Men’s bodies are not involved or transformed when a baby is made. Because they are separate from their own reproduction, separation and an unaffected body define reproduction and the terms of criminalizing women for gestation.’
‘What a luxury it is not to have to think about being assaulted while you go about your day; to feel safe in a rideshare, loiter in a park, relax in a bar, walk home alone from work at night. Like the right to comfort, men’s relative freedom of movement and safety are unspoken privileges. And women pay for them dearly every day.’
‘Even the simplest example, teaching boys to admire women, it’s something most people seem to do, think about, or feel is a good idea. I have lost track of the number of times I have heard teachers, coaches, educators, and parents enthusiastically embrace the visible celebration of women as “role models for daughters,” only to look disoriented and wary when I’ve said that these women are role models for sons, too.’
All We Want Is Everything is a short, passionate book about how male supremacy is terrible for everyone. It’s a really explosive, engaging read that intelligently dissects some trends and gave me a new language to better understand them. I don’t think I can speak as eloquently as the author, so here are some of my favorite quotes:
‘We “lose our minds” as teenagers who get periods and pregnant women who don’t, as trans people needing hormones, and as older women losing them. These are complicated and often confusing and enraging states of life not because of biology or “female” emotionality but because society and medicine fail to see us as whole human beings with critical needs.’
‘It’s the perfect visual metaphor for how pregnant people are treated today in medicine, law, and policy: the fetus front and center, the person growing it a structural resource but not a person herself. But it’s more than just erasure; these images impose a male-centered view of reproduction, one in which embryos exist as separate entities rather than as part of a person’s body. What is this male supremacist? Because it forces us to operate within the parameter of almost all men’s experience of reproduction. Embryos and fetuses are never part of men’s bodies. Men’s bodies are not involved or transformed when a baby is made. Because they are separate from their own reproduction, separation and an unaffected body define reproduction and the terms of criminalizing women for gestation.’
‘What a luxury it is not to have to think about being assaulted while you go about your day; to feel safe in a rideshare, loiter in a park, relax in a bar, walk home alone from work at night. Like the right to comfort, men’s relative freedom of movement and safety are unspoken privileges. And women pay for them dearly every day.’
‘Even the simplest example, teaching boys to admire women, it’s something most people seem to do, think about, or feel is a good idea. I have lost track of the number of times I have heard teachers, coaches, educators, and parents enthusiastically embrace the visible celebration of women as “role models for daughters,” only to look disoriented and wary when I’ve said that these women are role models for sons, too.’
June 24, 2026
So much excellent content. However, It doesn’t actually tell me how to dismantle male supremacy, as promised in the subtitle. It does explain the problem very well.
Some notes:
Ch.1 - “Intimate inequality”: Intimacy, domestic life, sex, and child raising are structured in ways that mean we give our time, energy, and emotional resources in ways that enable men to sleep more, enjoy more leisure time, and succeed at work.
The author refusing to do “performative parenting” a— love this phrase! Yes just because I don’t volunteer to go on class field trips, I’m not a subpar parent.
“Every time a family goes to church, they tacitly accept women’s submission to male authority and men’s more direct access to the divine.” — This point seems incongruously simplistic and ignorant. She doesn’t consider churches where this is not the message and women ARE priests. Of course there is patriarchy in the history of the Church….and in the history of every institution we have. So do we give up and leave the church, government, academia, politics? No, we get in there and change them!
Ch. 3 - Every system in our lives - economic, social, and cultural - gave our decisions the appearance of rational choices. In reality, all these systems are set up to make conventional gender roles the most financially stable and depended on all sorts of exploitation….presenting white male dominance as natural instead of systemically subsidized.
Ch. 6 - ..encouraging men to ask one simple question: If equality makes you feel anxious, left behind, lonely, and angry, shouldn’t you ask how much of your identity is based on oppressing other people?
The more disenfranchised and disposable people feel,
The more likely they are to seek out chaotic forces and lash out in destructive ways. Chaos, instability, and mass violence are the tantrums of people living in systems that would rather collapse all life than allow the equitable distribution of power.
Some notes:
Ch.1 - “Intimate inequality”: Intimacy, domestic life, sex, and child raising are structured in ways that mean we give our time, energy, and emotional resources in ways that enable men to sleep more, enjoy more leisure time, and succeed at work.
The author refusing to do “performative parenting” a— love this phrase! Yes just because I don’t volunteer to go on class field trips, I’m not a subpar parent.
“Every time a family goes to church, they tacitly accept women’s submission to male authority and men’s more direct access to the divine.” — This point seems incongruously simplistic and ignorant. She doesn’t consider churches where this is not the message and women ARE priests. Of course there is patriarchy in the history of the Church….and in the history of every institution we have. So do we give up and leave the church, government, academia, politics? No, we get in there and change them!
Ch. 3 - Every system in our lives - economic, social, and cultural - gave our decisions the appearance of rational choices. In reality, all these systems are set up to make conventional gender roles the most financially stable and depended on all sorts of exploitation….presenting white male dominance as natural instead of systemically subsidized.
Ch. 6 - ..encouraging men to ask one simple question: If equality makes you feel anxious, left behind, lonely, and angry, shouldn’t you ask how much of your identity is based on oppressing other people?
The more disenfranchised and disposable people feel,
The more likely they are to seek out chaotic forces and lash out in destructive ways. Chaos, instability, and mass violence are the tantrums of people living in systems that would rather collapse all life than allow the equitable distribution of power.
January 19, 2026
"... today, in a system that concentrates massive wealth at the top, white men of all classes are feeling the squeeze in unprecedented ways—and have been for years. Their ability to be sole providers is increasingly unachievable, but instead of recognizing this as the result of corporate greed or unfettered capitalism, many blame feminism, diversity initiatives, and women’s educational successes and financial independence. The role of sole provider, as we have seen, is built on the presumption that women are available for free labor. When we refuse that role, men’s overall economic competitiveness declines." (pp. 113-114)
"... Decentering men is women’s saying “no more” to doubting ourselves, suppressing our successes, sacrificing our health, silencing our voices, diminishing our accomplishments, apologizing for our ambition, laughing when we’re disrespected, accepting exploitative and unequal partnerships, educating men in the most basic decency toward us, putting others’ pleasure and comfort above our own, ignoring our own boundaries, justifying our actions, seeking permission for our choices, begging for our autonomy, soothing men’s fragile egos, internalizing blame, being invisible in our own medical care. It means no longer shrinking ourselves to fit societal expectations, to defer our dreams, to be silent in the face of cruel and gross injustices, to be ornamental." (p. 183).
"... Decentering men is women’s saying “no more” to doubting ourselves, suppressing our successes, sacrificing our health, silencing our voices, diminishing our accomplishments, apologizing for our ambition, laughing when we’re disrespected, accepting exploitative and unequal partnerships, educating men in the most basic decency toward us, putting others’ pleasure and comfort above our own, ignoring our own boundaries, justifying our actions, seeking permission for our choices, begging for our autonomy, soothing men’s fragile egos, internalizing blame, being invisible in our own medical care. It means no longer shrinking ourselves to fit societal expectations, to defer our dreams, to be silent in the face of cruel and gross injustices, to be ornamental." (p. 183).
January 20, 2026
Thanks to Goodreads for an ARC of the book. This book is billed as a feminist manifesto, and when it's on it's really on--Chemaly is such a sharp writer, and has plenty of evidence to support most of her claims. The book is clearly targeted for an audience who maybe is newer to this topic, and I think some of the choices--the "Takeaways" sections at the end of each chapter with factoids to crystallize the challenges of male supremacy and their impacts--would be really valuable for folks who are newer to this subject. The suggested readings at the end of the book were terrific.
My complaints are scattered and relatively trivial. I actually wished for some pruning in the Takeaways section, as some of the lists were so long that really compelling data points were buried by data points that were less persuasive to me (to wit, citing how many millions of times a feminist hostage has been viewed on social media doesn't tell me very much about awareness and resistance). Chemaly often begins discussions of significant issues (domestic violence, gendered distributions of labor) with personal anecdotes, some of which landed better than others. And while Chemaly's humor was often welcome, the humor in section titles sometimes seemed to occlude the actual argumentative focus of the chapter ("Men are Missing the Revolution while Explaining It," for instance, is largely a constructive and forward-looking chapter).
My complaints are scattered and relatively trivial. I actually wished for some pruning in the Takeaways section, as some of the lists were so long that really compelling data points were buried by data points that were less persuasive to me (to wit, citing how many millions of times a feminist hostage has been viewed on social media doesn't tell me very much about awareness and resistance). Chemaly often begins discussions of significant issues (domestic violence, gendered distributions of labor) with personal anecdotes, some of which landed better than others. And while Chemaly's humor was often welcome, the humor in section titles sometimes seemed to occlude the actual argumentative focus of the chapter ("Men are Missing the Revolution while Explaining It," for instance, is largely a constructive and forward-looking chapter).
December 16, 2025
Wow, is all I can say after reading this manifesto for identifying and rejection of males supremacy in the daily lives of women. The main points to me is the feminist screaming the need for social justice for the female sex. The author says this topic is a global movement in the making. I wonder how popular Soraya Chemaly would be received in the middle eastern countries such as Iran, Iraq, Egypt, etc.. These countries scream inequality for women but this topic would never be uttered either by men or women. If you want to see a picture of inequality then these are the places to start a movement on decentering men. I think that women are holding their own today in America. There have been and continues to be great strides for women in the work place and the roles established in the home. Soraya Chemaly writes with a wit, a clarity, and sharp insights into how horrible men seem to be today. I can see how valuable this book would be in classes in Women Studies at a university. It seems to be radical in defining injustice of it being a "man's world." I wish Soraya Chemaly well in her endeavors but as a man reading her book is "wow."
December 29, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley Atria Books for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Things that I’ve been reading about the past few months: hidden women heroes, queer narratives, environmental issues, and political oppression. In short, I am down for fast-paced, reflective, and socially conscious books. All We Want is Everything is an activist manifesto that’s a call to action to women everywhere.
We are living in a time where any advances for women that have been made in the past 100 years is being chipped away at by the right. Many of the gains our grandmothers, mothers, and our generation made in terms of equality for women are being stripped away. And this book validates the feelings millions of American women have had in the past ten years. The challenges women face are still there, and many of the challenges we thought we’d conquered are being attacked.
While there is nothing earth shattering in All We Want is Everything. The only part of the book I didn’t like was the use of generative AI. It’s lazy, it’s morally crappy, and don’t even get me started on how bad using AI is for the environment with its massive use of drinking water.
Things that I’ve been reading about the past few months: hidden women heroes, queer narratives, environmental issues, and political oppression. In short, I am down for fast-paced, reflective, and socially conscious books. All We Want is Everything is an activist manifesto that’s a call to action to women everywhere.
We are living in a time where any advances for women that have been made in the past 100 years is being chipped away at by the right. Many of the gains our grandmothers, mothers, and our generation made in terms of equality for women are being stripped away. And this book validates the feelings millions of American women have had in the past ten years. The challenges women face are still there, and many of the challenges we thought we’d conquered are being attacked.
While there is nothing earth shattering in All We Want is Everything. The only part of the book I didn’t like was the use of generative AI. It’s lazy, it’s morally crappy, and don’t even get me started on how bad using AI is for the environment with its massive use of drinking water.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews



![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)

























