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The Good Girl Stripped Bare
From bogan to boned and beyond - a full-frontal 'femoir' by one of Australia's best-loved journalists
Tracey Spicer was always the good girl. Inspired by Jana Wendt, this bogan from the Brisbane backwaters waded through the 'cruel and shallow money trench' of television to land a dream role: national news anchor for a commercial network. But the journalist found that, for women, TV was less about news and more about helmet hair, masses of makeup and fatuous fashion, in an era when bosses told you to 'stick your tits out', 'lose two inches off your arse', and 'quit before you're too long in the tooth'. Still, Tracey plastered on a smile and did what she was told. But when she was sacked by email after having a baby, this good girl turned 'bad', taking legal action against the network for pregnancy discrimination. In this frank and funny 'femoir' - part memoir, part manifesto - Tracey 'sheconstructs' the structural barriers facing women in the workplace and encourages us all to shake off the shackles of the good girl. "Glows with the wisdom of a woman who has learned essential truths about love, life and happiness" - Caroline Overington "Wickedly witty and wonderfully wise" - Wendy Harmer "Fiercely smart and ferociously funny" - Benjamin Law
Tracey Spicer was always the good girl. Inspired by Jana Wendt, this bogan from the Brisbane backwaters waded through the 'cruel and shallow money trench' of television to land a dream role: national news anchor for a commercial network. But the journalist found that, for women, TV was less about news and more about helmet hair, masses of makeup and fatuous fashion, in an era when bosses told you to 'stick your tits out', 'lose two inches off your arse', and 'quit before you're too long in the tooth'. Still, Tracey plastered on a smile and did what she was told. But when she was sacked by email after having a baby, this good girl turned 'bad', taking legal action against the network for pregnancy discrimination. In this frank and funny 'femoir' - part memoir, part manifesto - Tracey 'sheconstructs' the structural barriers facing women in the workplace and encourages us all to shake off the shackles of the good girl. "Glows with the wisdom of a woman who has learned essential truths about love, life and happiness" - Caroline Overington "Wickedly witty and wonderfully wise" - Wendy Harmer "Fiercely smart and ferociously funny" - Benjamin Law
352 pages, Paperback
Published April 24, 2017
17 people are currently reading
290 people want to read
About the author
Tracey Spicer
2 books9 followersTracey Spicer AM is a multiple Walkley Award winning author, journalist and broadcaster who has anchored national programs for ABC TV and radio, Network Ten and Sky News.
The inaugural national convenor of Women in Media, Tracey is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and emcees in Australia. In 2019 she was named the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, accepted the Sydney Peace Prize alongside Tarana Burke for the Me Too movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia.
In 2018, Tracey was chosen as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, winning the Social Enterprise and Not-For-Profit category. For her 30 years of media and charity work, Tracey has been awarded the Order of Australia.
Highlights of her outstanding career include writing, producing and presenting documentaries on women and girls in Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and India. She is an Ambassador for ActionAid, the Ethnic Business Awards and Purple Our World, and Patron of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.
Her first book, The Good Girl Stripped Bare, became a bestseller within weeks of publication, while her TEDx Talk, The Lady Stripped Bare, has attracted almost seven million views worldwide. Tracey’s essays have appeared in dozens of books including Women of Letters, She’s Having a Laugh, Father Figures, Unbreakable, and Bewitched & Bedevilled: Women Write the Gillard Years.
The ABC highlighted Tracey’s #metoo work in the three part documentary series Silent No More, which featured the stories of hidden survivors. Her new book, Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2023.
The inaugural national convenor of Women in Media, Tracey is one of the most sought-after keynote speakers and emcees in Australia. In 2019 she was named the NSW Premier’s Woman of the Year, accepted the Sydney Peace Prize alongside Tarana Burke for the Me Too movement, and won the national award for Excellence in Women’s Leadership through Women & Leadership Australia.
In 2018, Tracey was chosen as one of the Australian Financial Review’s 100 Women of Influence, winning the Social Enterprise and Not-For-Profit category. For her 30 years of media and charity work, Tracey has been awarded the Order of Australia.
Highlights of her outstanding career include writing, producing and presenting documentaries on women and girls in Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and India. She is an Ambassador for ActionAid, the Ethnic Business Awards and Purple Our World, and Patron of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance.
Her first book, The Good Girl Stripped Bare, became a bestseller within weeks of publication, while her TEDx Talk, The Lady Stripped Bare, has attracted almost seven million views worldwide. Tracey’s essays have appeared in dozens of books including Women of Letters, She’s Having a Laugh, Father Figures, Unbreakable, and Bewitched & Bedevilled: Women Write the Gillard Years.
The ABC highlighted Tracey’s #metoo work in the three part documentary series Silent No More, which featured the stories of hidden survivors. Her new book, Man-Made: How the bias of the past is being built into the future, was published by Simon & Schuster in May 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
June 19, 2017
There is a caveat to this review: I knew the author way back when she was a bogan from the backwaters with a frizzy perm. (I myself was a hick from the sticks with a frizzy perm.) I remember Tracey Spicer (The Real Tracey Spicer) in the late eighties as frank, funny and friendly, bright, energetic, bubbly and enthusiastic. It’s nice to see that while much has changed in her professional and personal life – while she has been advocating for change and empowering women and fighting discrimination and misogyny – what hasn’t changed is my perception of her after reading her memoir The Good Girl Stripped Bare (ABC Books HarperCollins Books Australia 2017). She is still down-to-earth, relatable, forthright and very, very funny.
I don’t need to summarise Tracey’s life in this review; for that you can buy the book, or at the very least borrow a copy from the library. Suffice to say that she covers her humble beginnings in Redcliffe, her education at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now QUT), her early career as a journalist, her rise to fame as a TV presenter, her battles with big organisations / employers for women’s rights, and her much-viewed TEDx talk on the female appearance / make-up / helmet hair and fake tans. The book also features her family – her two children, her husband, her mum, dad and sister – all of whom have been instrumental in encouraging her to become the role model she is now for thousands of women. We are also given some insight into her important work with charities and organisations that work on lifting women up out of poverty and abusive situations, agitate to change practices such as sexual mutilation and child marriage, and work towards improvements in the gender pay gap, the underrepresentation of women in media and leadership, and inequalities in employment and in domestic duties. Much like Jane Caro in Plain Speaking Jane, Tracey shouts from the rooftops that feminism is NOT a dirty word, that women support and inspire each other far more often than we put each other down, and that it is the responsibility of all of us who have the privilege of freedom, power, means, good health, wealth and opportunity to speak out and be the voice for those who don’t. If you are more fortunate, you have a greater responsibility to share the love.
Tracey has achieved amazing success. She has broken big news stories, stood up to corporate bullies, and sided with the weak and vulnerable. She is a vocal supporter for the right of women to choose (whether that be in the workplace, in parenting, in feminism, in sexuality) and for that choice – whatever it is – to be not only applauded, but to be scaffolded with laws and precepts that guarantee the woman’s right to make that decision.
In an age where women are pilloried no matter our choices – whether we try to do it all, or whether we choose to focus on one path – it is refreshing to hear such solid support for living your own authentic life. This book reminds us that it is okay to expect more, okay to want more, and okay to demand more, not only for ourselves but for our children - both boys and girls. It celebrates the luxury of choice but cautions that on the sliding scale of equal rights for all, there is always more to be done, not only in other countries but right here at home.
Tracey demystifies the ‘good girl’ (as opposed to the good woman) as a label that we should neither aspire to nor fall victim to, especially when applied by others attempting to keep us ‘in our place’.
I firmly believe that behind every good woman there is a tribe of other good women watching her back (and telling her if she has spinach in her teeth). Tracey acknowledges this tribe and the individuals that have helped her along the way, and uses every opportunity to commend others for the groundwork they have laid for the rest of us.
This book is personal, open and honest; it is smart, sassy, serious and seriously funny.
I don’t need to summarise Tracey’s life in this review; for that you can buy the book, or at the very least borrow a copy from the library. Suffice to say that she covers her humble beginnings in Redcliffe, her education at the Queensland Institute of Technology (now QUT), her early career as a journalist, her rise to fame as a TV presenter, her battles with big organisations / employers for women’s rights, and her much-viewed TEDx talk on the female appearance / make-up / helmet hair and fake tans. The book also features her family – her two children, her husband, her mum, dad and sister – all of whom have been instrumental in encouraging her to become the role model she is now for thousands of women. We are also given some insight into her important work with charities and organisations that work on lifting women up out of poverty and abusive situations, agitate to change practices such as sexual mutilation and child marriage, and work towards improvements in the gender pay gap, the underrepresentation of women in media and leadership, and inequalities in employment and in domestic duties. Much like Jane Caro in Plain Speaking Jane, Tracey shouts from the rooftops that feminism is NOT a dirty word, that women support and inspire each other far more often than we put each other down, and that it is the responsibility of all of us who have the privilege of freedom, power, means, good health, wealth and opportunity to speak out and be the voice for those who don’t. If you are more fortunate, you have a greater responsibility to share the love.
Tracey has achieved amazing success. She has broken big news stories, stood up to corporate bullies, and sided with the weak and vulnerable. She is a vocal supporter for the right of women to choose (whether that be in the workplace, in parenting, in feminism, in sexuality) and for that choice – whatever it is – to be not only applauded, but to be scaffolded with laws and precepts that guarantee the woman’s right to make that decision.
In an age where women are pilloried no matter our choices – whether we try to do it all, or whether we choose to focus on one path – it is refreshing to hear such solid support for living your own authentic life. This book reminds us that it is okay to expect more, okay to want more, and okay to demand more, not only for ourselves but for our children - both boys and girls. It celebrates the luxury of choice but cautions that on the sliding scale of equal rights for all, there is always more to be done, not only in other countries but right here at home.
Tracey demystifies the ‘good girl’ (as opposed to the good woman) as a label that we should neither aspire to nor fall victim to, especially when applied by others attempting to keep us ‘in our place’.
I firmly believe that behind every good woman there is a tribe of other good women watching her back (and telling her if she has spinach in her teeth). Tracey acknowledges this tribe and the individuals that have helped her along the way, and uses every opportunity to commend others for the groundwork they have laid for the rest of us.
This book is personal, open and honest; it is smart, sassy, serious and seriously funny.
August 22, 2017
I'm not sure what I was expecting - I have to admit to not really having Tracey Spicer on my radar apart from a newsreader that I don't see on TV anymore. I'm so glad I read this - she's funny, insightful and so honest. Pulls no punches on any aspect of her life, and its wonderful how she describes her family. So interesting finding out about her growing up, sexism in the workplace and the "good girl" stripped bare. Loved it.
April 20, 2017
Strap yourself in because this book is a raw and honest story of a life in progress, that has already been on rollercoaster through the dizzying peaks and dark tunnels of the the Australian media.
While this story has many differing facets there's no doubt sexism is a major theme throughout.
For women I'm sure this book works as either a cathartic shared experience or a cautionary tale with regard to how 50% of the population can be treated in media or any profession.
For men, this book broadens understanding of how often "the other half lives!"
The approach to her own story sees Ms Spicer using her journalistic skills to report on herself, without fear or favor. The narrative is direct, to the point and pulls no punches with events and the people involved.
However the sections that relate to highly personal moments, especially loss of loved ones, are poignant and very moving.
It is a story of recent history that leaves you wondering just how far have we come in society in the last 25 years ?
An intelligent and at times witty read told with all skill and confidence of person who's been communicating with the Australian public for three decades in print and on radio and TV.
While this story has many differing facets there's no doubt sexism is a major theme throughout.
For women I'm sure this book works as either a cathartic shared experience or a cautionary tale with regard to how 50% of the population can be treated in media or any profession.
For men, this book broadens understanding of how often "the other half lives!"
The approach to her own story sees Ms Spicer using her journalistic skills to report on herself, without fear or favor. The narrative is direct, to the point and pulls no punches with events and the people involved.
However the sections that relate to highly personal moments, especially loss of loved ones, are poignant and very moving.
It is a story of recent history that leaves you wondering just how far have we come in society in the last 25 years ?
An intelligent and at times witty read told with all skill and confidence of person who's been communicating with the Australian public for three decades in print and on radio and TV.
December 7, 2017
I am not a big fan of autobiographies and I think this book is a good example of the reason why. As a writer Spicer makes a great journalist. Her message comes through loud and clear over and over and over again. According to Spicer, the whole world wants to put women in their place and make sure they stay there. We get your point Tracey, we got it the first time and the second and the third and so on. Spicer recounts some fairly harrowing stories of workplace harassment that are undoubltedly abhorrent and unacceptable, however, I found the tone of her book very anti men. All men are bastards and they all walk around telling women that they are too fat, too ugly and give us a feel of ya tits! I am 6 years older than Spicer and entered the workforce in 1980. The first 20 years of my career was spent the male dominated forestry industry. We had over 100 male employees and on average 2 to 3 female. I and my female colleagues were treated with respect, consideration and appreciation for our work. Only once in 20 years did I feel that I was mistreated because of my sex. When I moved to a new role about 6 years ago I was treated disgracefully by a female senior to such an extent I had to report her bullying to my manager. So, I am not buying the ‘all men are bad’ lesson Spicer is spruiking in her book. I also found the storyline disjointed, jumping quickly from one scene to the next and struggled to keep up with where things were going. The book felt at times rushed, like a news bulletin and at other times as though Spicer was trying to fill up the minutes ticking by with unnecessary and boring detail. I listened to the audio book narrated by Spicer and again, I think as a narrator Spicer makes a great journalist. Her voice would be happy and upbeat and then quickly change to a sober tone and then back up to jolly quips. Very disjointed. It was the attempts at smart aleck humour that put me off the most. I guess I don’t share her sense of humour and found the whole think a bit like vegemite……a little bit goes a long way. I certainly agree with the sentiment that women are unfairly treated and this needs to change. I do think however that Spicer spent too much time loudly forcing her opinion on the reader and listener. Tell the story and let the reader make up their own minds, we are intelligent enough to work it out for ourselves. If you want a good autobiography I suggest Reckoning by Magda Szubanski. Now there is someone that as a brilliant comedic actor also makes a mighty fine writer and narrator.
January 24, 2018
There was a lot that I liked about this book, starting with the brilliant cover. The author gives a frank and raw account of the challenges she has faced as a woman in media, and how her experiences have contributed to a significant shift in her attitudes towards the role of women in media and society more broadly. The middle section of the book, in which she writes about her experiences in a range of media roles, is particularly interesting. The writing style is chatty and easy to read, though I felt that the choice of present tense wasn't always effective.
However, the mix of memoir and feminist 'manifesto' didn't always work well for me. The book starts off as a memoir with brief asides about how the author's experiences relate to common issues about how women are perceived, but later chapters lean much more to the manifesto side. Unfortunately some sections just come across as a string of facts and figures, research findings and quotes. I've recently read Mary Beard's Women and Power: A Manifesto and Jamila Rizvi's Not Just Lucky, both of which covered similar ground but presented it more effectively. Both also included details of the sources for the information presented, which was missing here. I think the book would have benefited from a more consistent structure, either consistently integrating the manifesto throughout the memoir, or having a clearer distinction between the two.
Overall, I felt that this book was a very interesting memoir with some very important messages, but that it would have been more effective if it was presented and structured a bit differently.
However, the mix of memoir and feminist 'manifesto' didn't always work well for me. The book starts off as a memoir with brief asides about how the author's experiences relate to common issues about how women are perceived, but later chapters lean much more to the manifesto side. Unfortunately some sections just come across as a string of facts and figures, research findings and quotes. I've recently read Mary Beard's Women and Power: A Manifesto and Jamila Rizvi's Not Just Lucky, both of which covered similar ground but presented it more effectively. Both also included details of the sources for the information presented, which was missing here. I think the book would have benefited from a more consistent structure, either consistently integrating the manifesto throughout the memoir, or having a clearer distinction between the two.
Overall, I felt that this book was a very interesting memoir with some very important messages, but that it would have been more effective if it was presented and structured a bit differently.
January 20, 2018
I loved this book. Tracey was rather ahead of the game with this one - and it is so satisfying to see the changes she hoped to see starting to take form across the world.
She was incredibly frank and pulled no punches - and that was great, because this is the stuff that matters...away from the artifice of media, life is a very different story. She has used her own experiences in all areas of life to try to make a difference to the lives of others (especially through her work with ActionAid, etc...her story about meeting a lady in Uganda whose husband had forced to breastfeed their PUPPIES absolutely staggered me. It was brilliant to know that that lady's case was taken on by ActionAid - and finally helped to make a difference in a legal sense and penal law in Uganda was changed!) and got through some really dificult events personally AND professionally.
I loved the back story to her TedX talk...watching it, you wouldn't have realised how nervous she was doing it...as a veteran news presenter, you'd think it would be incredibly straightforward, but she really found it a challenge.
A genuinely great book - I'm annoyed at myself for not reading it before, but I'm so glad I did. Having grown up watching Tracey on television, I loved finding out more about her, her life behind the scenes, and the way she's kept moving forward, despite coming up against roadblocks again and again.
She was incredibly frank and pulled no punches - and that was great, because this is the stuff that matters...away from the artifice of media, life is a very different story. She has used her own experiences in all areas of life to try to make a difference to the lives of others (especially through her work with ActionAid, etc...her story about meeting a lady in Uganda whose husband had forced to breastfeed their PUPPIES absolutely staggered me. It was brilliant to know that that lady's case was taken on by ActionAid - and finally helped to make a difference in a legal sense and penal law in Uganda was changed!) and got through some really dificult events personally AND professionally.
I loved the back story to her TedX talk...watching it, you wouldn't have realised how nervous she was doing it...as a veteran news presenter, you'd think it would be incredibly straightforward, but she really found it a challenge.
A genuinely great book - I'm annoyed at myself for not reading it before, but I'm so glad I did. Having grown up watching Tracey on television, I loved finding out more about her, her life behind the scenes, and the way she's kept moving forward, despite coming up against roadblocks again and again.
December 9, 2017
Welp I guess sometimes you discover, as a reader, your own internalised misogyny in not looking beyond the commercially-applied glossy facade the networks put on their female news anchors and then being surprised to discover that the community of women in media runs strong and deep. Enlightening and rewarding reading.
February 1, 2018
The audiobook version is narrated by Tracey, who is obviously master of the best autocue newsreader techniques, and while I'll have to admit that she gets a little strident in places, but it turns out that this is exactly how I like my feminists.
July 2, 2017
This is just so good - Spicer's writing is both raw and wickedly funny. Her commentary on the Australian media landscape is absolutely scathing. This book is a wonderful piece of feminism.
April 23, 2017
How refreshing to read this "femoir", where one of Australia's best known TV news personalities strips her life bare, and outlines just what it is that drives her.
Tracey Spicer writes in an utterly honest, insightful and self-deprecating way, giving the reader insight into her life's big-ticket items and how they have motivated her for the greater good.
From the death of her mother, far too young, and her resulting views on voluntary euthanasia; to her challenges (and, happily, success) with IVF in her own quest for motherhood; to the latest chapters of her feminist-driven career, built up after famously being sacked by a major commercial television network when she turned 40.
Poignant, and at times downright sad, Tracey manages to inject humour into this eye-opening spotlight on her personal and professional life.
The Good Girl Stripped Bare gives inspiration to women everywhere, particularly those who may be struggling with issues around how to be a modern feminist.
Tracey Spicer writes in an utterly honest, insightful and self-deprecating way, giving the reader insight into her life's big-ticket items and how they have motivated her for the greater good.
From the death of her mother, far too young, and her resulting views on voluntary euthanasia; to her challenges (and, happily, success) with IVF in her own quest for motherhood; to the latest chapters of her feminist-driven career, built up after famously being sacked by a major commercial television network when she turned 40.
Poignant, and at times downright sad, Tracey manages to inject humour into this eye-opening spotlight on her personal and professional life.
The Good Girl Stripped Bare gives inspiration to women everywhere, particularly those who may be struggling with issues around how to be a modern feminist.
January 19, 2018
I saw Tracy Spicer speak at the Woodford Folk Festival. I immediately went out and bought the book!
I found the book humorous while talking about a fairly serious topic. Case in point - on finishing the book I was watching the news. The headline was that the female Prime Minister of New Zealand was pregnant and it was asked how on earth will she be able to cope with a family AND be PM??? I thought back on this book and why women are held to a standard that men are not. It was a very relevant example of everything Tracy was talking about and shows we still have so far to go. As a woman, I have tried to explain to some of my male friends about the female equality issue as they argue we have equality. Maybe I should just hand them this book. I hope for a better future for my nieces.
The ending lost me a little as there was less of the story telling that I loved throughout the book but on a whole I think it is something that all Australian women should read.
I found the book humorous while talking about a fairly serious topic. Case in point - on finishing the book I was watching the news. The headline was that the female Prime Minister of New Zealand was pregnant and it was asked how on earth will she be able to cope with a family AND be PM??? I thought back on this book and why women are held to a standard that men are not. It was a very relevant example of everything Tracy was talking about and shows we still have so far to go. As a woman, I have tried to explain to some of my male friends about the female equality issue as they argue we have equality. Maybe I should just hand them this book. I hope for a better future for my nieces.
The ending lost me a little as there was less of the story telling that I loved throughout the book but on a whole I think it is something that all Australian women should read.
July 4, 2017
When I was in high school my guidance counsellor suggested I study journalism. As I hated English, I ignored her.
However, I've often wondered what my life would have been like had I followed her advice and become a journalist. So when I heard Tracey Spicer had released her memoir (or femoir), The Good Girl Stripped Bare, I was immediately interested in reading it. It didn't disappoint. She shares a real and often confronting account of her childhood, career and life as a working mother. I was appalled by the sexism she encountered, however upon reflection, some of my personal and professional experiences mirrored hers. While I definitely enjoyed this book, it made me very glad I chose an alternate career path.
However, I've often wondered what my life would have been like had I followed her advice and become a journalist. So when I heard Tracey Spicer had released her memoir (or femoir), The Good Girl Stripped Bare, I was immediately interested in reading it. It didn't disappoint. She shares a real and often confronting account of her childhood, career and life as a working mother. I was appalled by the sexism she encountered, however upon reflection, some of my personal and professional experiences mirrored hers. While I definitely enjoyed this book, it made me very glad I chose an alternate career path.
March 27, 2019
This has been on my to read list. And after seeing Tracey speak at an International Women’s Day brekkie function, I read her book. The fabulous numerous tone and heaps of bad jokes perfectly balance the confronting and shocking stories. Being of a similar age and having worked I media, it reminded me how much has changed and as a young 20 something, how much I accepted as normal male or cultural behaviour. I often didn’t know I was being exploited, taken advantage of or was influenced into making bad decisions that I thought were my own. May our daughters never have to go through this, and may our sons never behave this way x
February 27, 2020
This was a very interesting read. It’s amazes me that when a woman has a child the bosses are asking how can she continue to work. It takes 2 to make a baby so it takes 2 to look after it, & this is what Tracey & grr husband did. They shared the responsibilities
September 5, 2017
I'm looking forward to meeting Tracey when she comes for an author talk at Tamworth Library in October. I definitely have to see her Tedx talk on YouTube, I have heard so much about it!
March 9, 2019
I must admit that, before starting to read this book, I did not know a great deal about Tracy Spicer. It’s easy to understand why; most of her work has been at a distance from me, both geographically and in terms of my watching/listening habits.
I did not expect to find such a funny woman inside the covers, yet one with true empathy for the plight of women around the world. She truly is an ambassador for women’s rights, starting with her own experience as a journalist and presenter, through working with Australian women and those in third world countries, some of who have suffered atrocities that are worse than abysmal, usually within the communities which should be protecting them. This is compelling, if confronting reading, that should be on secondary school reading lists around Australia - for all genders!
Interwoven with the hard-hitting stuff, we find stories about her family, homes and private life. Tracy keeps little back in her desire to express her truth. Told in a voice that is a bit ‘Aussie sheila’, a bit ‘Holds-no-bars journo’, and a bit Ivy League, Tracy demonstrates a real woman fighting for things that matter to us all. One of my favourites this year.
I did not expect to find such a funny woman inside the covers, yet one with true empathy for the plight of women around the world. She truly is an ambassador for women’s rights, starting with her own experience as a journalist and presenter, through working with Australian women and those in third world countries, some of who have suffered atrocities that are worse than abysmal, usually within the communities which should be protecting them. This is compelling, if confronting reading, that should be on secondary school reading lists around Australia - for all genders!
Interwoven with the hard-hitting stuff, we find stories about her family, homes and private life. Tracy keeps little back in her desire to express her truth. Told in a voice that is a bit ‘Aussie sheila’, a bit ‘Holds-no-bars journo’, and a bit Ivy League, Tracy demonstrates a real woman fighting for things that matter to us all. One of my favourites this year.
June 29, 2017
I didn't know much about Tracy Spicer but now I have so much respect. This book is an honest and witty account of her successful career and how she has tackled sexism head on. Being a contemporary there was much to relate in her experiences growing up, entering the workforce, having children, but where I have been quite passive, she has blazed a trail for the way women are treated in tv news in particular as well as in the broader context.
It's easy to be dismissive of feminism when you're young and unencumbered but it's a different story when you have a child and suddenly find yourself in a vulnerable position. When you lose, as Spicer so poignantly puts it, your "fuckability", career doors start slamming all around.
I wish men would read this book. (It's funny and includes masturbation, you should!) It's not bitter or nagging, heaven forbid, she's a "good girl" after all. It's a simply told insight into the life of a courageous and inspiring woman.
It's easy to be dismissive of feminism when you're young and unencumbered but it's a different story when you have a child and suddenly find yourself in a vulnerable position. When you lose, as Spicer so poignantly puts it, your "fuckability", career doors start slamming all around.
I wish men would read this book. (It's funny and includes masturbation, you should!) It's not bitter or nagging, heaven forbid, she's a "good girl" after all. It's a simply told insight into the life of a courageous and inspiring woman.
March 19, 2019
I found Spicer vey witty and funny, but at the same time I struggled with a few of her references, which at times distracted me from the point that was originally being made.
Nevertheless, the issues that she touches on is at the forefront of the 21st Century, and has been for a very long time. I am grateful that she has shared her experiences with readers and am in awe of the sharp talkback lines that are dispersed throughout the book.
Also, as an audiobook, it was cool to hear her words come directly from her which added conviction and sincerity to the messages she wanted to get across.
Nevertheless, the issues that she touches on is at the forefront of the 21st Century, and has been for a very long time. I am grateful that she has shared her experiences with readers and am in awe of the sharp talkback lines that are dispersed throughout the book.
Also, as an audiobook, it was cool to hear her words come directly from her which added conviction and sincerity to the messages she wanted to get across.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 24, 2017
They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But in the case of Tracey Spicer’s femoir it’s a clever way of summing up her memoir’s content and is a clever depiction of her famous TEDx talk. Many readers will be familiar with Tracey Spicer through her work as a newsreader and TV journalist, but The Good Girl Stripped Bare proves that there is so much more to her life story. She bravely tackles an array of different subjects – from personal anecdotes and stories from her life to polemic where she explorers her ideas about important topics like feminism, voluntary euthanasia, and structural sexism among others. She also does this in a way that is articulate and accessible and with some great dashes of humour, too.
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July 2, 2018
3.5 Stars
There was lots of really important information in this book and I’m glad I read it. For me though, it tended more towards the “Lean In” style of feminism and less towards the “dismantle the entire patriarchal system” which frustrated me at times.
There was lots of really important information in this book and I’m glad I read it. For me though, it tended more towards the “Lean In” style of feminism and less towards the “dismantle the entire patriarchal system” which frustrated me at times.
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April 13, 2018breezy read but some confronting anecdotes!
January 6, 2021
3.5* interesting look at sexism in Australian media
July 31, 2019
Three and a half stars
November 5, 2019
Rough industry for a working woman. Kudos to Tracey and other trail blazers!
June 17, 2017
Funny and clever. Everything I expected and more. I hope Tracey puts fingers to keyboard more again in future. A great read!
Minor gripe is that some of the sentences steered too far into punchline/news grab style, too often. I think it was a little intentional though, it certainly added to my perception of Tracey's whirlwind life. But it was a little wearing in places. I still give it a 5 though as I think this was down to personal preference and it didn't slow my reading of the book.
Minor gripe is that some of the sentences steered too far into punchline/news grab style, too often. I think it was a little intentional though, it certainly added to my perception of Tracey's whirlwind life. But it was a little wearing in places. I still give it a 5 though as I think this was down to personal preference and it didn't slow my reading of the book.
May 12, 2019
I did this as an audiobook and the beginning has a lot of clunky jokes which probably flow better when read to yourself instead of read aloud, but you get through them and it settles into more of a story. Having Spicer read it herself means she gets to include her own inflections and express her humour as she intended which is good because as slightly jarring as it was to hear, I fear it would have been worse having someone else try and do it.
One thing I noticed early on is that Spicer doesn’t seem to know who her audience is. She makes jokes about using encyclopaedias before the internet and explains obvious references in a slightly condescending manner like she is addressing children or teenagers, ignorant teenagers at that, whom I doubt are her main readership. I don’t doubt most of her readership are people over 30 who have enough sense to know that people used encyclopaedias before the internet without needing the patronising explanation. This happens a fair bit as she explains things that while even at my age I might not have been alive to experience, I still understand.
There are themes much like Fight Like A Girl as Spicer takes us on a journey through the decades as a women, a teenager and a girl, exposed to sexism, abuse, and disrespect in her life and workplace. Her own sarcasm and opinions adding some nice flare as she mocks the industry and those in it with humour and disdain.
I waited through the first half of the book, which was not uninteresting, but not entirely engaging either waiting for The Moment. I thought that suing for discrimination was going to be a more defining moment, the “good girl turns bad” moment. In the end it comes and goes a little lacklustre and after I was expecting it to be the climax that shifted this story into a fight for equality and the moment Tracey said “no more!”, it kind of wasn’t.
I think we got more about her moving house then we did about her confrontation with her network. I understand non-disclosure agreements and terms of settlements, but I still think this could have been explored a little more, considering it was such a huge event, something I had been expecting to be a climax of this book.
However, if you set aside that my expectations were skewed or I read too much into it, the book is still interesting and not unimportant. There is feminism and anger at the patriarchy but no real solutions. Unlike Clementine Ford who tells us how to burn down the establishment, Spicer keeps pointing out the inequality but doesn’t help us find a solution.
As a look at her life and her career it is interesting and shows you the behind the scenes and bones of her career. She strips away the flare and the lights of the television industry and she shows off her amazing achievements. I think this should be what is taken from the book, a great career from a great woman.
A longer version of this review was published on my blog Lost in a Good Book
One thing I noticed early on is that Spicer doesn’t seem to know who her audience is. She makes jokes about using encyclopaedias before the internet and explains obvious references in a slightly condescending manner like she is addressing children or teenagers, ignorant teenagers at that, whom I doubt are her main readership. I don’t doubt most of her readership are people over 30 who have enough sense to know that people used encyclopaedias before the internet without needing the patronising explanation. This happens a fair bit as she explains things that while even at my age I might not have been alive to experience, I still understand.
There are themes much like Fight Like A Girl as Spicer takes us on a journey through the decades as a women, a teenager and a girl, exposed to sexism, abuse, and disrespect in her life and workplace. Her own sarcasm and opinions adding some nice flare as she mocks the industry and those in it with humour and disdain.
I waited through the first half of the book, which was not uninteresting, but not entirely engaging either waiting for The Moment. I thought that suing for discrimination was going to be a more defining moment, the “good girl turns bad” moment. In the end it comes and goes a little lacklustre and after I was expecting it to be the climax that shifted this story into a fight for equality and the moment Tracey said “no more!”, it kind of wasn’t.
I think we got more about her moving house then we did about her confrontation with her network. I understand non-disclosure agreements and terms of settlements, but I still think this could have been explored a little more, considering it was such a huge event, something I had been expecting to be a climax of this book.
However, if you set aside that my expectations were skewed or I read too much into it, the book is still interesting and not unimportant. There is feminism and anger at the patriarchy but no real solutions. Unlike Clementine Ford who tells us how to burn down the establishment, Spicer keeps pointing out the inequality but doesn’t help us find a solution.
As a look at her life and her career it is interesting and shows you the behind the scenes and bones of her career. She strips away the flare and the lights of the television industry and she shows off her amazing achievements. I think this should be what is taken from the book, a great career from a great woman.
A longer version of this review was published on my blog Lost in a Good Book
February 1, 2019
A very funny, very honest and sometimes heartbreaking memoir. I knew little about Tracey Spicer other than I saw her on the news sometimes years ago, and she's been instrumental in helping women tell their stories of workplace sexual harassment more recently. It was good to get an insight into what really happened behind the scenes in Australian newsrooms in the 80, 90s & beyond. I remember the story breaking about her lawsuit against Channel 10, but had no idea what was involved at the time. Now, reflecting back on it, I can't help but see a direct line between what women like Tracey did in standing up for their right to work and be mothers, and age in front of the camera too, and the way women are now 'allowed' to be openly pregnant on television (I'm thinking specifically of Carrie Bickmore here - in the 90s she would have been given the boot for the crime of becoming pregnant, I think). I'm full of admiration for the journey Tracey took from 'good girl' to outspoken champion of womens' rights.
I didn't grow up in Redcliffe but my childhood and adolescence was so similar in many ways to what was described here I felt this book could have been about me. lol. Running around like a barefoot bogan, one of the boys without a care in the world, until suddenly you're thrust out from that innocence into a world where men try to take advantage of you when you're far too young yet to understand it. The casual violations that were just part and parcel of life 30 years ago are detailed with the offhand nonchalance we were taught to treat them with, because being upset made you seem like a troublemaker. Sigh. I've also been plagued by the responsibility of being 'good' and 'nice' and 'polite' in order to keep others comfortable (especially the men who were behaving inappropriately, as if calling them out for their behaviour is worse than the actual behaviour). It was a relief to read about a woman so successful also admitting to years and years of putting up and shutting up because she didn't see another way to get along in the world. I feel less embarrassed about how long it took me to start speaking up about things that bother me.
The stuff about women in developing countries is so heartbreaking, and rage inducing that I tear up again just thinking about it.
Anyway, terrific book, I could barely put it down. Highly recommended.
I didn't grow up in Redcliffe but my childhood and adolescence was so similar in many ways to what was described here I felt this book could have been about me. lol. Running around like a barefoot bogan, one of the boys without a care in the world, until suddenly you're thrust out from that innocence into a world where men try to take advantage of you when you're far too young yet to understand it. The casual violations that were just part and parcel of life 30 years ago are detailed with the offhand nonchalance we were taught to treat them with, because being upset made you seem like a troublemaker. Sigh. I've also been plagued by the responsibility of being 'good' and 'nice' and 'polite' in order to keep others comfortable (especially the men who were behaving inappropriately, as if calling them out for their behaviour is worse than the actual behaviour). It was a relief to read about a woman so successful also admitting to years and years of putting up and shutting up because she didn't see another way to get along in the world. I feel less embarrassed about how long it took me to start speaking up about things that bother me.
The stuff about women in developing countries is so heartbreaking, and rage inducing that I tear up again just thinking about it.
Anyway, terrific book, I could barely put it down. Highly recommended.
July 26, 2017
4 1/2 stars
Tracey Spicer’s memoir is a must read for all women. (and men).
For older women, who have experienced different waves of feminism, the book is a reminder of the slow small steps that were needed to achieve the present-day situation for women in our society. Nevertheless, all of the hard work by many brave, strong women has achieved a certain level of equality in many western countries, but is not sufficient and we should not be complacent as “the war is not over”. Feminists have won many battles but until we have true equality of opportunity and representation in all levels of society (in all cultures and countries of the world) women must continue to support each other and fight for change.
Unfortunately, many younger women are still being manipulated by the pervasive images of women in society. They are duped by the mantra’s repeated over the last few decades and it has been assumed that women should be satisfied with what they have won, ‘you have equal pay, maternity leave, education, child care, what more do you want? Nonetheless behind the scenes, as illustrated by Spicer’s employment in the media industry, the male dinosaurs still hold the upper hand, positive “natural” role models are almost non-existent and likewise in most large companies the “old boys network” is very strong keeping women from attaining the top levels of employment or Board membership.
However contemporary social media has the possibility to change things dramatically as women are setting up their own networks. Despite the trolls who attack any high-profile woman, many courageous women like Tracey, are working courageously to change the mindsets that are holding us back.
Tracey Spicer’s memoir is a must read for all women. (and men).
For older women, who have experienced different waves of feminism, the book is a reminder of the slow small steps that were needed to achieve the present-day situation for women in our society. Nevertheless, all of the hard work by many brave, strong women has achieved a certain level of equality in many western countries, but is not sufficient and we should not be complacent as “the war is not over”. Feminists have won many battles but until we have true equality of opportunity and representation in all levels of society (in all cultures and countries of the world) women must continue to support each other and fight for change.
Unfortunately, many younger women are still being manipulated by the pervasive images of women in society. They are duped by the mantra’s repeated over the last few decades and it has been assumed that women should be satisfied with what they have won, ‘you have equal pay, maternity leave, education, child care, what more do you want? Nonetheless behind the scenes, as illustrated by Spicer’s employment in the media industry, the male dinosaurs still hold the upper hand, positive “natural” role models are almost non-existent and likewise in most large companies the “old boys network” is very strong keeping women from attaining the top levels of employment or Board membership.
However contemporary social media has the possibility to change things dramatically as women are setting up their own networks. Despite the trolls who attack any high-profile woman, many courageous women like Tracey, are working courageously to change the mindsets that are holding us back.
April 20, 2017
This book takes you through a range of emotions. Nostalgia, humour, anger, grief and shock. It tells a story that women, I can only guess, can relate to and one men should take notice of. The writing is sharp, funny and quirky with enough facts and figures to make the feminist notes ring with authority without being preachy. Tracey's self effacing style, makes this book one that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. By the end of it, I wanted to give her a hug, then go out for a big night on the town with her.
June 30, 2017
This book brought up many feelings, chiefly of the negative kind. The author is four years younger than me, so it was disheartening to hear that many of the misogynout behaviours I experienced in my early years are still rampant.
The narrative is written in 30 second sound bites, which I guess is to be expected when the author is a television journalist. There are many words but many rapid shifts from one topic to another and it seems, not much depth. For me, not a satisfying read, although others may find this style refreshing.
The narrative is written in 30 second sound bites, which I guess is to be expected when the author is a television journalist. There are many words but many rapid shifts from one topic to another and it seems, not much depth. For me, not a satisfying read, although others may find this style refreshing.
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