Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation

by Julie Bindel

'Timely, necessary and important' J.K. Rowling'[This book is] guaranteed to remind us what we have still to fight for. I can't think of a single person who wouldn't benefit from reading it' Observer'Bindel is a rock star of second-wave feminism . . . an important, courageous book' The Times'Bindel delivers a robust call to arms in every chapter . . . this book could not be timelier . . . As a young feminist who has finally seen the light, I consider it essential reading' The CriticFeminism is a quest for the liberation of women from patriarchy. Feminism strives for a world in which women are not oppressed. Feminism prioritises exposing and ending male violence towards women and girls.This is Julie Bindel's feminism, a definition born of 40 years at the front line of the feminist movement. Why then, she asks, is feminism the only social justice movement in the world that is expected to prioritise every other issue before pursuing its own objective of women's liberation? Why does the movement appear to be moving backwards, accommodating the rights and feelings of men and leaving women in the cold? Women make up half the global population yet why is feminism still treated as a minority movement?In this searing and ground-breaking book, Bindel deconstructs the many pervasive myths about feminism - Do women really want what men have? Can men be feminists? Are women liberated by sexual violation? - assessing whether feminism has achieved its goals and debunking theories that second wave feminism is irrelevant and one-dimensional.Bindel shines a light on the most important issues, including pornography, sexual violence and prostitution. Drawing on Bindel's own experiences, as well as countless interviews with women and girls of all ages and backgrounds (as well as contributions from commentators such as Gloria Steinem and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie), Feminism for Women presents a clear-sighted view of why feminism is a proud social movement that every woman on the planet benefits from.The invisible forces of misogyny affect us all.This book is a call to arms to reclaim feminism for all women.Only together can we resist and overcome.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Politics, Gender, Womens, Sociology, Social Issues

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Chris Boutté · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a guy who grew up with a lot of female friends and some of them are still best friends to this day. Many of these women are feminists, so I try to learn as much as I can. I’ve recently been reading some books about the state of feminism as well as various ideas of feminism in modern times, so I was excited to get this early copy of Julie Bindel’s work. Prior to learning about this book, I hadn’t heard of any of Julie’s work, but you can consider me a huge fan now. Out of all of the books I’ve read in recent years on the topic, this is definitely one of the best, and I learned a ton.

For those who don’t know Julie Bindel, she’s a feminist who has been discussing these topics for decades. In my brief time paying attention to social issues, I’ve seen massive changes and strange things happening, so I could only imagine what someone like Bindel has seen over the years, but she lays them out perfectly in this book. Bindel discusses so many important topics and made arguments that are extremely compelling and thought provoking. She discusses violence against women, issues with the sex positive movement, so-called feminist celebrities that are doing more harm than good as well as topics around the trans conversations.

Throughout the book, Julie Bindel shares stories of other women as well as parts of her own personal story. She discusses how she came out as a lesbian, her personal stories of being harrassed and assaulted, and how she’s been attacked for her opinions and views. Personally, the author seems like a compassionate woman who genuinely cares about others, and she brings up valid points on topics where conversations are definitely needed. If nothing else, I benefited from this book a ton because it helped me be more aware of issues that many women face that I was ignorant of, and it also let me know what I can do to better support the women in my life (and others) in a better way.

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

“A feminism for women will liberate, and nothing less should be tolerated. Women and girls deserve a world without rape and abuse in which we are not raised to fear and avoid men’s violence. That world awaits us. Utopia is underrated.”

For once, you can judge a book by its cover. It is really about what it says in the title; this is a book about feminism for women.

Bindel takes a quick snap of the landscape in which the contemporary feminism operates and damns it to hell. Her suggestion is the obvious one: women need to reclaim feminism. Women should start connecting with other women about women’s issues, build solidarity and focus on the shared experience of being a woman across generations, countries, continents and even class and not on the lines that divide us. In short, Bindel’s message is loud and it is clear: Women of the world! Unite!

[Kattley · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book littered with bigotry and poorly structured and written. Unfortunately some quite important messages about misogyny and women's struggles in society are overshadowed by the author's extremely obvious anti-trans agenda.

A diatribe on exclusionary feminism by someone who is only interested in elevating women's place in society for those women who are like them, and agree with them. Really very disappointing.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

based on her extremely rich organizing experience.. its fucking awesome. really solid as a like 101 intro to feminism read but also plenty of interesting thoughtful positions and stories from her organizing to be interesting to someone with more background

[Anna Chetwynd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to start? This book is one of the best I've read in the past year, perhaps the past decade. I've never been more aware of the battle women have right now, in the 21st Century, to hold on to their rights, to defend themselves from abusive men, and to fight for the right to speak out. How easy it is to be silenced, whether through fear, discomfort or plain apathy. Whether its abortion rights, adoption laws, rape, domestic abuse, misogyny, women are kept down, silenced, mocked and bullied into submission. It doesn't have to be this way. But only we can change this. And we have to fight for what we want.
This book was a light-bulb moment for me. I've read feminist literature in the past, the landmark, must reads for any pretentious young woman- The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer and The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir. From both, one thing stuck in my head, women are really made into the Other, and this makes them the target of lust, abuse, fantasy, violence, control...Both these books depressed me, and although Feminism for Women is at times a harrowing, depressing read, I found myself regularly grimacing at the grotesque oppression women the world over suffer, it's enlightening, funny, so unexpectedly dry and witty, so eye-opening. And it is a call to arms. 51% of the world's population are women, for god's sake let us be in control of our our destiny! At least in the West we have a duty to stand up and be fearless in our condemnation of the attacks on women. Reading Julie Bindel's book has given strength and courage to stand against what I know in my heart to be true-Men have controlled us long enough, demanded rights over ours, infiltrated every sex-based, woman only group until nobody can call themselves a woman without fear of a backlash. This is a lie. Woman have to stand up to this. Feminism is for Women.

[Adriana Sth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many anti-feminists would go as far as to say that feminism is white and academic. Yet, Julie Bindel goes back to the roots of feminism that stemmed from the second wave so as to show why we need it and why we should fight for women's many needs. She shows why we need to practice feminism of action so as to produce discourse. This is my first book of 2022 and it gave me back the motivation I thought I lost in the last year. I definitely recommend.

[Anna Bettina · Rating 5 out of 5]

nothing but respect for this woman. she's amazing

[Karen Moe · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in The Pimping of Prostitution: Abolishing the Sex Work Myth, Bindel once again demonstrates that 'radical' feminism is logical feminism as all backlash is confronted, dissected and shut down. Hers is a non-compromising fight for the inherently sexist system that oppresses women and girls to be eradicated rather than tepidly negotiated, re-perpetuated and excused.
However, radical feminists (myself included, although I prefer the term 'logical') must be mindful of the fact that, even though many radical feminists do not accept transwomen as 'real' women (I would say that trans women are a kind of women but are obviously different from biologically born women ... and why can't that be ok. We share some things and we don't share others). One of the things that transwomen share with biologically born (or cisgendered women) is violence in patriarchy. We share this; however, one should never erase the importance of the other and currently, in this malicious climate of transphobia, biologically born women cannot even say that "we are different and why can't that be okay" without risking being cancelled. Biologically born women are also the only sex/gender that are demonized for choosing to have their own spaces. All other sex/genders can, even what I have recently learned about as Sissy Boy Clubs. As Bindel argues in Feminism for Women, biologically born women (sexed female and gendered women) are being silenced again in patriarchy. This is an analyses that needs to be discussed and not immediately dismissed as transphobic.

[Vee 27 · Rating 1 out of 5]

A collection of opinions tied together with no structure, no coherence and absolutely no evidence or research. Disgusting and offensive as well as irrelevant and dated.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Feminism is about giving women the strength and courage to say no, the most important word in the feminist dictionary." A stirring defence of practical, coalface, female-centred, anti-male violence feminism, as opposed to those types of feminism which centre the sexual and social interests of the male sex. Made a nice change to hear an audiobook read by someone with a working class accent.

[David Lamb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear God, the amount of anti-trans hatred in this book is terrifying. I'd say that about 1/3 of the book argues why feminism is essential and needed (great!), 1/3 why trans women are the problem and why sex workers are less than dirt and 1/3 why she's a victim because she believes trans women are filth.

[fara · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a radfem, I appreciate this book and am grateful to the author for writing it, that's what I will say in the beginning to avoid any confusion about the rating. Although Goodreads tells me 3 stars still means "I liked it" so it's all good.
My main criticism of it is probably the same as seems to have been mentioned by so many reviewers - which is lack of coherent structure. I unfortunately didn't save any quotes as I listened to this book on a*dible and not read it as text, but it's very clear all throughout and especially closer to the end. I can't say that the order of the topics that arised was illogical, only that there seemed to be no logic to it when there really should have been.
Also I'm planning to read Bindel's previous book about prostitution but I'm a little confused as to what may possibly be written there because in this book there was a lot on the topic... which is of course not a bad thing, and I guess since this book is aimed at people who probably haven't read her previous one, it's alright. But I'm not so sure who it's aimed at actually because like in many cases with literature about some specific concept the line between being too pop and general audience targeted versus being too highly specialized is not clear. For me it was somewhere in between as I learned about many cases of injustice and statistical data that I haven't encountered more tgan very briefly before, however there was far too much emotion and pathos. Again, I agree with everything (except for the part about political lesbianism and origins of human sexuality in general) she says, but the tone was off sometimes.
About the sexuality thing... It's pretty clear that it's party innate and partly socially constructed, the real question is what the proportion is, and I am under the impression that the author of this book believes it's entirely social. And I'm not even going to argue with that as I have no knowledge (although intuitively and based on bits of information I've been hearing over the years, I'm inclined to strongly believe in at least some natural reasons for some people to be homosexual). What I am going to do is say that I always wished I was attracted to women but it never came naturally to me, and while I actually believe that it's possible to if not begin to have sexual feelings towards women then at least stop having sexual urges towards men - not even any actual men but as a concept - I think it would be harmful as any suppression of sexuality. Some women were lucky enough to feel attraction to women from early age but most didn't and for a woman with a high sexual drive it really is only going to make her life more miserable on that front if she feels guilty having the sexual feelings she has has since forever. Yes, it's a must to fight the pornography industry and all the institutions that perpetuate the unhealthy sex dynamics - which would be all institutions I guess, and I actually agree that taking men as sexual and romantic partners is much more harmful than it is good; but actually trying to stop being heterosexual is cruel. I envy lesbians and bisexual women but this type of thinking woulf make me hate myself for not being able to be more like them. So I won't engage in it. I admit that maybe my current understanding of Bindel's (and many believers in political lesbianism) position on this is lacking and that's why this is the only way I can percieve it for now, but it is what it is. Oh, going back to the idea of sexuality being completely socially constructed: I might need to read up on that but as far as I see it right after finishing the book, it's totally ludicrous because how are lesbians lesbians then? Like, if gay men and lesbians come from different backgrounds then why do they realize they are homosexual and other people don't?
Anyway... It's a book about real feminism and that's why it is so precious. Many books are written today about the harms of gender ideology but that is rarely done by actual feminists first and everything else second. It's especially scary how conservatives are taking over the fight against these things because they are definitely not friends of women's, but they are rather going to turn out to be those advocating to stop the spread of pornography because poor men have troubles with self-esteem and unsatisfying orgasms than because women are literally being tortured...
I really like the position that radical feminism is a positive movement but I don't agree with it and however nice the message in this book is, I am even more decidedly black pill after reading it. Not because of reading it, but because it really is more realistic.

[Mark Robison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of primers on feminism, and this is the first one I'd recommend to others. It's a smart, sharp common-sense look at what feminism should be (women-centered) and what it should not be (benefitting men and making them feel included). The author takes down many third wave feminists who label things empowering that really end up exploiting women, like prostitution.

The author's personal focus is combatting male violence and helping women at the bottom of the social ladder. That's probably why the book isn't filled with jargon and esoteric philosophical digressions like so many other how-to feminism books, and it's also why the author is not in an ivory tower but out in the streets debating men's rights activists, bringing tampons to remote places in Africa and starting a legal charity to defend women who kill their abusive partners.

I wasn't a fan of the introduction, but once I hit the first chapter, it was all I could do to not finish it in one go. I didn't want to go too fast because I wanted to absorb what I was reading.

What this book added to my personal understanding of feminism regards equality: having an equal right to walk down the street at night alone is something men can easily get behind but in practice, it doesn't liberate women from a lived reality under male power and violence. The author notes that men and women have the equal right to walk around topless in New York City. As she writes, Feminists should not be seeking an equal place at the table but rather to smash the table to smithereens.

A few mini-excerpts from the literal 100 highlights I made:

* ‘People who have power do not daydream about empowerment.’ (Marcie Bianco, 2017)

* ‘Only when women’s bodies are being sold for profit do leftists cherish the free market.’ Andrea Dworkin

* In 1980, the year I first met feminists who were campaigning to end sexual assault, one in three reported rapes ended in a conviction. In 2020, the conviction rate is one in every sixty-five.

* To argue that the sex trade is bad for women, surrogacy is exploitation, and women do not enjoy being strangled during sex until they pass out often earns us the labels of ‘prude’ and ‘regressive’.

[Fran Badham · Rating 1 out of 5]

From reading the cover, blurb and contents page for this book, I was hopeful to delve more into feminist literature and research. Whilst I appreciate the need to read research or writing that may not align with your own thoughts or beliefs to understand a different perspective, this book came across as extremely transphobic. It felt as if I was reading a bitter diary entry filled with a persons dislike for wide ranges of people and or events. What could have been a book full of positive feminist writing left me feeling incredibly disappointed.

[Dia]

I don't think any feminists are ok with violence either from males. But to go after extremely vulnerable trans women is just as gross as it has always been. Poorly written on top of that. Sad, bigoted, book cloaked in the very real violence ALL women, cis and trans, face.

[Deborah Siddoway · Rating 4 out of 5]

What follows is not an academic review, but the review of an ordinary (middle class, middle-aged, white, so therefore boring) woman, fairly new to feminist activism, wanting to explore different feminist view points and learn. And Julie Bindel's book, which claims to set out the real route to liberation, seemed like it should be on my required reading list.

From the outset, Bindel is on fire, furious at her assessment of the state of modern day feminism, that 'bends over backwards to accommodate the rights and feelings of men but leaves women out in the cold.' And as I started nodding along in recognition, I was grateful for the definition of feminism that she also outlines at the beginning of her book. Put simply, feminism is the quest for the liberation of women from the patriarchy. With this definition firmly cemented in the mind of the reader, the book reads as a battle cry against the progressive, woke definition of feminism that seems to centre every other group, identity, or ideology, yet keeps failing women time and again, as women's sex-based rights are eroded.

Describing her own introduction to feminism, we get a real feel for why the issues are so important to Bindel. It was easy to relate to her journey, while at the same time be in awe of it and when she moved on to her chapter of "Are We Nearly There Yet" questioning whether or not feminism has reached its goals, I had to concede this was a question worthy of being raised, because when I hit university, in the early 1990s, I personally believed that the feminist job was done. I thought that we were there. I was wrong - very wrong - but it would take a while for me to figure that out. But that is my story, so I will leave it out of this review.

Bindel goes on to explore issues including pornography, the sex trade, the normalisation of sexual violence against women, surrogacy and in a distinctly uncomfortable analysis, explores the backlash against feminism by women such as Naomi Wolf, amongst others, with their development of the concept of 'power' feminism, which draws attention away from women's oppression and effectively accuses women of embracing victimhood to their detriment. Going on to link the development of 'power feminism' with the current plague of eroticised sexual violence, which has been normalised, putting women at risk of injury or death through a narrative that endorses all sex as good sex, Bindel goes on to deconstruct this narrative, as she returns to one of the key aims of feminism - giving women the courage and the strength to say no to men.

Plain speaking is very much Bindel's forte. She aligns the human rights movement with men's rights, attacks the appropriation of intersectionality which she argues is used as a tool to silence women, and explores the TERF wars, unequivocal in her analysis of trans politics. Drawing on the experience and the feminism of others, such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Karen Ingala Smith, and Vaishnavi Sundar, Bindel's is not one voice shouting into the void, but becomes a striking testament of the state of modern day feminism and the discourse around feminist activism today.

The book is not without problem, but that says more about the state of identity politics, and the way in which language is misinterpreted, misconstrued, or misappropriated in the battle to subvert the gains that have been made by feminism over the decades. One example is her description of Paris Lees as a 'white person raised as a boy'. But what does being 'raised as a boy' actually mean? Are we saying that Lees was born male, and is now a trans woman? Or was Lees a 'natal' man, which is a term Bindel also uses, before reverting to 'raised as a man' in her description of Shon Faye? Given her later analysis of the necessary distinction between sex and gender, her assertion that the misuse of language causes 'insidious, seeping, corrosive rot', and her pointing to the sex stereotypes that serve to keep women subordinated to men, the terminology Bindel used could have done with being a little more consistent. As for pronouns, I can only assume that the following sentence was deliberate to make her point about liberal feminism: If a trans man who's had HER breasts and ovaries removed is being told in HER LGBTQIAA+ group that SHE has to shut up because, as a trans man HE (emphasis mine)... It really does say it all about pronouns.

The book is timely, albeit with a pink cover (in an almost farcical visual affront, given the pinkification culture that Bindel rails against in the book). Easy to read, spoken with heart, honesty and anger, Bindel rallies women of today to move away from meaningless superficial feminism, reestablish the principles of liberation feminism, and move forward with purpose with a feminism organised by women for women. With her book, Bindel is true to the words of Maya Angelou, whose words preface the book: 'Every time a woman stands up for herself... she stands up for all women.'

[Jeremy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A passionate book communicated with authority and experience. I learnt a huge amount.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you want to know my feminist beliefs, read this (my thoughts are a slightly more nuanced version of this book)
only issue with this book was the lesbian chapter, it didn't necessarily reflect my own outlook (as a lesbian myself)

[vicky]

a strongly worded strongly argued piece of feminism—however, unequivocally trans-exclusionary radical feminism and actively harmful toward trans people. dnf.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing style is so Julie Bindel you can practically read it in her voice - unfortunately, it also reads like one of her twitter rants. Very thin on theory, history, or practicalities. It's unclear who the target market is, as she spends a long time taking swipes at unfeminist women but feminist women know more than there is in this book. The chapters on porn, prostitution, and surrogacy are interesting and have a bit more substance to them. Overall wouldn't recommend reading if you already follow JB on twitter/know a bit about women's liberation.

[annabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

agreed with some stuff, really didn't agree with some stuff. but i don't have to agree with someone to hear their opinion obviously!!

"women and girls deserve a world without rape and abuse in which we are not raised to fear and avoid men's violence."

could not agree more.

but some of the other content discussed in here was like really not okay.

[Berni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains some important ideas on the state of modern feminism and the way it is loosing its strength by catering to men and promoting anti-feminist ideas. However, the structure of the book could have been stronger. I also disagree with political lesbianism which is something that she seems to endorse in some sections of her book. Overall, it's an okay read which would support people just getting into radical feminism as it is easy to read and understand.

[Crazyjamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really difficult one to rate. In large parts I found it to be well argued and compelling, with numerous really strong points that hit home pretty hard. But there are also some pretty glaring logical inconsistencies at times, as well what very much appears to be selectively quoting from individuals and sources to make easy and cheap points rather than engaging with the wider points.

The main logical inconsistency is that when it comes to the sex trade, Bindel acknowledges the theoretical point that women who enter the trade willingly and without external pressures can be empowered, but highlights that such women are a small minority, and so justifies her stance against the sex trade by relying on the fact that, in the main, it is a tool of and a result of oppression, and not a mechanism for empowerment. That is all absolutely fine, and for what it’s worth, I tend to agree.

However, when it comes to trans rights, exactly the same argument can be made, namely that theoretically there is a risk to women from men who would identify as trans women solely to access women only spaces, or those who would interfere or undermine women’s rights in how they conduct themselves as trans women. But again, those individuals are a small minority. As much as there is a strong theory as to how trans rights can undermine women’s rights, in practice the vast majority of trans women get on with their lives without having any practical effect on women at all, let alone a negative one. Yet unlike with the sex trade issue, Bindel chooses to completely ignore that practical reality, and instead makes her point theoretically using a small number of atypical examples.

To me that is a glaring inconsistency. You cannot decide to fight feminism on a practical front as regards the sex trade, pornography, misogyny etc, and then flip the script and focus entirely on theory and minority examples when it comes to trans rights. That doesn’t mean you have to concede that trans women are women (for what it’s worth, I do have sympathy with the gender critical view on that), but the approach must be consistent.

Now I do release that I have just written three chunky paragraphs on that point, but have still rated this four stars. I think it’s a 3.5 in reality, but I didn’t feel right giving it a three, because there are a lot of really good, forceful points here. I do think books like the Authority Gap are a more compelling call to arms, particularly reading these books as a man, but that is not to say that this isn’t worth reading. It absolutely is, so even if I can’t give it five stars because of the issues I’ve mentioned, I still unreservedly recommend it. It’s a book that, at times, some will find uncomfortable to read, because it is absolutely uncompromising. But in my view that’s a reason to read it, not to avoid it. If you’re serious about reading properly on feminist issues, I think you have to read Bindel regardless of the extent to which you end up agreeing with her.

EDIT: Rounded the 3.5 down to a 3 stars after reading some other books in this genre, particularly Kathleen Stock’s Material Girls, which I’ve rated 4 stars and I think was slightly better than this in the round (albeit they’re by no means the same book with the same content).

[Girl Interrupted · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fair book that covered the main issues women are facing today in the current neoliberal, post-modernist climate of sex-based oppression denialism. Some topics will definitely require further research on one’s own part if you are new to radical / second wave feminism, but the book wasn’t meant to serve as theory, from what I could glean, but Bindel’s own rallying cry against the horrendous state of ‘feminism’ available to women and girls and urging them to get back to genuine feminist roots.

One critique I do have of this book is the subtle biphobia.

Bindel references the 2019 attack of a same-sex attracted female couple on a bus in London for refusing to kiss for a group of teenage boys. They are mentioned as a ‘lesbian’ couple, and indeed the attack in nature was due to their same sex attraction - a homophobic attack - but Chris, one of the women, is bisexual and has frequently stated so. I understand the desire to subsume bisexual women into lesbian status as it was a homophobic attack, BUT in a chapter specifically about lesbians I feel like it was unfair and disingenuous to not include this detail as the point could have still been made about the nature of attack without denying her sexuality. For records of crime against lesbian, gay and bisexual people to be recorded accurately and have specific needs met we must not obfuscate data. This is an example of bisexual erasure, unintentional or otherwise.

Bindel also mentions that bisexuals experience homophobia when in same sex couples and are perceived as straight when in opposite sex couples. I agree with this, but it doesn’t completely delve into the unique oppression of bisexuals for their sexuality as its own separate and distinct orientation. Whilst homophobia and biphobia are cut from the same cloth 90% of the time, there are specific ways in which biphobia manifests. For instance, a recent attack and rape in Hong Kong of a lesbian by a Trans Identified male was dismissed because the judge decided to label her as bisexual. Here we see not only homophobia in the dreadful dismissal of a lesbian attacked by a male whom she did not consent to have sex with, but also the perpetuation of the myth that bisexuals are sexually lascivious, effective sexual dumping grounds for whom rape does not exist. By claiming that she was bisexual the court sought to remove her ability to meaningfully withdraw consent as she is fine with either sex - this harmful myth is constantly used to belittle bisexual men and women and justify their assault and mistreatment. In this instance, both biphobia and homophobia were employed together to harm a lesbian and further perpetuate myths against bisexuals.

My little rant aside, I highly recommend this book as an introduction to current feminist issues and for those seeking to break away from liberal feminism. Julie Bindel has been through so much shit and faced so much abuse throughout her life fighting for women’s liberation - I have unending respect for her, what she has achieved and continues to fight for.

[Shania Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Minor spoilers..

I didn't know who Julie Bindel was before reading this book, so keeping in mind she is a radical feminist, I found what she stands for quite polarising. She writes very well and provides unique comparisons etc. But I found that the messages she was sending were extreme. I honestly had to restart the book after the first chapter in case I got the wrong idea about her messages.

For 2/3 of the book, there was an incredibly high focus on sexual assaults when the title of the chapters suggested she would discuss other aspects of feminism and barely gave any reason for assault to be in the chapter. It felt as if the stories/facts about assault were forced into every paragraph possible and came across as purposely provocative. I whole heartedly believe that violence against women is an incredibly important aspect to be aware of, but I felt that the context in which it was brought up made it seem like the statements were fueling some sort of brain washing hatred for men as a whole.

Despite one of her chapters ridiculing women who identify by their marital status and ethnic background etc- or as Bindel worded it "isms", this book had an incredibly strong focus on her identity as a lesbian, which she made abundantly clear in many chapters. Although the fact she is a lesbian proved interesting and meant she could share a unique and difficult point of view, I found that it was a bit hypocritical and almost felt that this book focused on facing discrimination against sexuality instead of gender/sex. Additionally, I found the way Bindel wrote about trans women to be a bit discouraging. Everyone has a right to their own views and opinions, but I felt the way she wrote to be a bit tainting as she didn't believe that trans women had a right to promote feminism.

I also found that a lot of "evidence" she gathered was cherry picked and biased. All the evidence supported her claims and provided no other alternative view points from other feminists for many of her arguments.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book because it educated me in a different way to what I was expecting. It allowed me to reaffirm my own beliefs as a feminist and I proved to myself that I cannot easily be swayed by such strongly worded messages. It does worry me how many readers like and agree with these messages without challenging her on even one opinion.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in radical feminism - to educate yourself and join the feminist movement, or to educate yourself and improve your awareness of how strong radical messages can be.

Either way, I hope you enjoy the read :)

[Smitha Murthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Phew, this was confusing at times. I had no clue who Julie Bindel was when I picked up this book, but I came back with some understanding.

Feminism can be a bit of a confusing path to tread. Bindel shows us why it matters for us to continue this path. Eye-opening for me in some places. Confusing in other places.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hopefully feminism resurrects in 2022

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read and well-written.

[Terry Saint (TERF) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feminism for women. Brilliant title, brilliant book.

[Clare Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Depicted as an anti trans diatribe in the media but it’s more than this, I agreed with many (not all) points and found it well written and moving