The Grumpy Guide to Radical Feminism

by Andreia Nobre

Tired of explaining reality to fiercely obstinate men about why women need feminism, Journalist Andreia Nobre, a collaborator at Brazilian publication QG Feminista, took to the task to clarify some of the misconceptions widely spread about the radical feminism and the feminist theory. The author would like to make it very clear that feminists don't hate all men - but you can, if you want to.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Adult

74 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 21, 2020

About the author

Andreia Nobre was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1977, and finished Journalism School in 2003 at University Estacio de Sa. She started writing poetry at 10, and went on to write short tales. After graduating, worked as a freelance Journalist, writing pieces for online magazines like Brazil Post (Huffington Post Blog) and QG Feminista).

She lived in Portugal, Scotland and Spain before moving to France. In UK, she came into contact with stand-up comedy, and since then she started writing humour content as well. Her first published book, The Grumpy Guide to Quit Smoking, was written after she succeed to quit smoking for a second time.

Reviews

[Jenifer Lavery · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is a radical feminist

Well it's any women who said I'm tired of this shit. I'm tired of asking if it's ok that I pee alone, that I'm not cat called, that my dress is too revealing, that its not revealing enough, having to explain why I don't want to be touched, not wanting to explain why I don't want to be touched. Every adult human female

[Katy W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alternative title:

Radical Feminism: I Can't Believe It's Not Butler

:D

Brilliant

[Book Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book achieves exactly what it sets out to do. It's short, witty, accessible, and highty entertaining. I read it in one sitting, then sent it to my mother who read it the next night, and my father read it later that week. It helped them understand the basics of my feminist position, started some good discussions, and made sure we were on the same page before delving in to anything deeper. I plan to loan it to my libfem friends whom I'm working on peaking, and I think it makes an excellent resource in any radical feminist's library. I fully recommend giving it a read, and if you have money to spare, ordering a physical copy for ease of peaking. It's not incredibly profound, nor will it be a lot of new information for anyone familiar with radical feminism, but it is great fun to grump along with Andreia, who is a remarkable woman.

[Léa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, concise, well written. Would make a great gift for someone receptive but not yet fully grumpy.

[Keara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a mercifully quick read. It started off so strong and then… oof.
The trans/intersex/non-binary erasure was abhorrent. Any good points that the author made went out the window when she essentially admitted to being a TERF and backed JK Rowling.
The two stars are for the abundance of quotes in the piece from other women.
This “stream of consciousness” type piece maybe should have stayed an inner monologue.
More editing was also needed as there were several grammatical and spelling errors.

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

if you associate the term “radical feminism” with white women being transphobic than this book will not subvert your expectations. like holden caulfield hates women but needs to make it clear to you through seemingly endless words about them, this author hates intersex, trans, nonbinary, and anyone outside of cis-heteronormative expectations.

[Cynthia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a DNF at 28%.

I thought this would be a great book until the chapter

“Who is feminism for and by”

There was so much trans/non cis erasure…. it was disgusting. Truly believe this author is a TERF because of this…

Will not read anything by this author again.

FYI you cannot be a feminist and not support trans/lgbtq+ rights

[Gwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet, a no-nonsense guide to the branch of feminism that still recognises that feminism is for women.

[Steph Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book, with thanks to the author. The decision to review and my opinions are my own.*

Andreia Nobre presents an accessible guide to RadFem ideas, which is not so much ‘grumpy’ as downright furious… and not without good reason!

Still, the tone is leavened with plenty of sarcasm and humour, whilst retaining a blunt, no-nonsense approach to this always-topical and definitely touchy subject.

For those unsure what constitutes ‘Radical Feminism’ (as opposed to ‘feminism’), this book explains it way better than I ever could, and covers a lot of issues that you will have seen raised in the news and on social media – things like the need for ‘women-only’ spaces, or why ‘not all men’ provokes such rage, or why women aren’t keen on being extorted to smile by strange men.

I did find that the whistle-stop approach to complex subjects like gender politics and sexual identity, while entertaining and easily digestible, really doesn’t lend itself to detail, nuance or structured arguments/explanations, and therefore I would expect this book to be more suitable for reaffirming and solidifying currently-held RadFem beliefs, rather than to making any new converts to the cause.

The most important thing though, is that such issues continue to be held up to the light and talked about on all sides, rather than stifled in the name of sensitivity. Whether you agree with this author’s position or not (and on a personal note, my beliefs are firmly feminist, but in no way ‘radical’), these are incredibly important issues and ought to be discussed freely, without fear of name-calling, threats or ridicule.

For more detail and debate on this issues, further reading and research would be required, but if you’re looking for a short, snarky summing-up of some of the key points of Radical Feminism, then this guide is just the thing.


'For the sake of truth, fairness, and for being fed up about not being able to take down Patriarchy because – quelle surprise – most people won’t even fathom the idea that we live in a patriarchal system – I’ve decided to try and dismantle a few misconceptions about what radical feminism actually is.

But in the sacred tradition of ranting relentlessly.'

– Andreia Nobre, The Grumpy Guide to Radical Feminism


Review by Steph Warren of Bookshine and Readbows blog
https://bookshineandreadbows.wordpres...

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up because I follow the author on Twitter and I enjoy her posts. It’s a humorous and very quick read, you can get through it in minutes.

I feel it’s best suited to people who already know about radical feminism and just want some lighthearted reading, or people who are willing to accept it as a snarky overview and then (importantly) go and look up some of the issues and references in more detail, if they want to know more.

Some of the humour, analogies, and references might not be appreciated by everyone, but I think the book is what its title describes.

[Ruth Lavery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this if you are a feminist and even if you aren't

A funny guide to radical feminism which covers all the main points in a concise , informative and darkly funny way

[Ioanna-nolia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great, quick, funny intro to the basics of radical feminism.
"I can't believe it's not Butler"

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m assuming everyone who gave this book any review above 1 star is a raging transphobe. I mean the author really buckled down with the TERF language, even going so far as openly agreeing with JK Rowling, who is also a known TERF. Yikes. What kind of radical feminism really exists without being inclusive to ANYONE who identifies as a woman? Despite this books insistence that women are only women if they have the ability to gestate. Gross.

Not only that, but the writing is terrible. It’s like reading a rambling stream of consciousness if someone took 100mg of adderall, chugged a Red Bull, and then just started writing whatever bullshit came to mind.

Trash. If I could give it zero stars, I would.

[Stephen Theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Radical feminists don't hate men. But you can, if you want to." A jolly scamper through radical feminism, explaining that it's about gaining liberation from the patriarchy rather than equality under it. Lots of typos and errors, but they don't hurt its chatty, friendly and informal tone.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely worth a read

I recommend this book even if it made me grumpy. Feminism and what it means is changing in today's society.

[Charlotte Louise · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 stars from me! Was ok UNTL I got to the chapter of who woman is for and by and she totally erased trans, non binary and other gender non conforming people from her writing. It became quite clear that this woman’s feminism is not intersectional in the least.

[luiza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um ótimo livro para compreender o básico do feminismo radical. Para quem está começando a estudar, é uma perfeita introdução. A autora usa uma linguagem simples, de fácil compreensão, com certo tom debochado, mostrando o cansaço que as mulheres sentem ao explicar centenas de vezes as pautas da teoria radical. A apresentação da autora sobre os temas do feminismo radical ajuda os(as) leitores(as) a quebrar paradigmas acerca do movimento, tão mal disseminado e cheio de falácias pela internet. Adorei a leitura, que pode ser feita facilmente em um dia só, e gostaria de ver mais livros e escritos da Andreia sobre esses temas de forma mais aprofundada.

[Domhnall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very brief but amusing.

[Inês Etulain · Rating 5 out of 5]

mundinho andreia nobre aqui! ri gostoso! muito bom ser feminista radical

[Tiffany Hanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book fails to deliver on its promise to be centered around radical feminism and feminine stereotypes. Not only is it poorly edited, with grammatical errors, it is also blatantly transphobic. Instead of focusing on why we need feminism, the author spends time quoting JK Rowling and discussing gender binary. Frankly, I’m shocked this has good reviews. A piece about radical feminism and why it’s so needed should focus on the systems that actually hurt women instead of trying to define what constitutes a “woman.”

[Makenna Stugus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not inclusive whatsoever. I get it you want to go to the biological level, but I don’t think the author understands what the term “people who menstruate” means it’s not a derogatory term idk it was very very radical, so radical that it had A LOT of right wing views. It gave “real women vote for trump” vibes and I didn’t like it

[Lucy-Jane Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Radical Feminism: I Can’t believe It’s Not Butler.

Here are some of my favourite quotes:

📕Rape culture: rampant sexual abuse with victim blaming on top. A bit like someone punching you in the face and then suing you for braking their hand on your nose.

📕“I’m a feminist. I’ve been a female for a long time now. It’d be stupid not to be on my own side.” - Maya angelou

📕“The concept of virginity was created by men who thought their penises were so important it changes who a woman is.”

📕“Feminism is the radical idea that women are people.” - Cheris Kramarae

📕Someone compared a pregnancy termination with a Polaroid photo. For those against, an abortion of a non-viable baby or an embryo is like that blank, glossy paper inside of the camera: it’s the potential of a baby and a photo, respectively. Irrationality takes many forms…

📕I can’t help but think of that funny name for a margarine in the UK, called “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. In this case, I would go, rather sarcastically: “Damn. I Can’t Believe It’s not Oppression”.

📕Audre Lorde’s words: “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

📕Boys need to learn that “no means no”, that girls have a right to their bodily autonomy and personal space, that boys can play with dolls and cooking play sets, and that porn is not the default setting for the way girls and women should look and behave.

[S.M. Jenkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific, if brief read. It was clear, concise and easy to follow. Andreia has broken down the main areas of thought of radical feminism, together with a lot of thought provoking quotes from many feminists.
Her work is funny, too, and that contributed to my pleasure while reading this book.
I read it in one sitting, but I don't doubt I will return to it.
Published in 2020, her work weaves together the second wave of feminism with the feminism of today.

[ジェリアン · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a blog post written in bad faith, meant to insult and dissuade anyone who is curious about radical feminism - not a guide at all. It’s essentially a rant, a cathartic vent at best, from the author after probably spending a year on Twitter and reading the spark-notes on some cherished feminist literature. All “grumpy” and no “guide”. If you want an introduction to radical feminism that doesn’t center itself around toilet politics, just pick up any Dworkin book. Disappointing

[Sarah Mooney · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so unnecessarily dangerous, ridiculously factually wrong, and transphobic. How was this even published???? She had no idea what the difference between sex and gender was, then continued to unknowingly demean anyone with a female reproductive system while excluding and demeaning transgender people and gender fluid people at the same time. Basically the main belief is that yes gender is a social construct but our sex is what makes us who we are. Don’t waste your time with this.

[Emma (of South Woobeewoo) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy. For those interested in radical feminist theory, the base information in here is good. However, if you’re going to publish something, you might consider giving it a quick once-over first. There are constant spelling and grammar mistakes—just glad I didn’t have to pay for it. I’d recommend starting with something coherent instead of this.

[Vika Gal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, short and consise read about todays feminist climate.

[Mr Simon J Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

À lire absolument !

Une question d’actualité traitée avec de l’humour. À lire absolument, que vous soyez une femme ou un homme, vieux ou jeune ...

[Mexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so insightful and shocking, although it was short it was well written and loaded with good remarks and words, must read feminist book!!!

[RecycledWords · Rating 1 out of 5]

Trying to read this made me grumpy. Such horrifically bad writing i couldn't get past 20%.