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Without Apology: Girls, Women, and the Desire to Fight
“Any girl who boxes challenges, wittingly or not, the idea of what it means to be a girl in our culture. Through the prism of what she does with her fists, she sheds a fiercely contrarian light on our most fundamental notions about femininity and power and appetite and shame and desire.” Thus writes Leah Hager Cohen in Without Apology, her singular exploration of the world of female aggression.
In the fall of 2001, Cohen met up with four girls, ages ten to fifteen, and their female coach at the Somerville Boxing Club. Over the course of a year, she grew close to them all–spending time at the old-style boxing club where they trained several times a week and at their homes, schools, and neighborhood hangouts. She learned about their families, the housing projects where they lived, their explosive friendships and steadfast loyalties, and especially about the damage that had turned each of them into a fighter.
Fascinated by the freedom the girls had in the ring, Cohen began training and sparring with them and their coach–only to find herself astounded by the strength and authority of her body, and by the way boxing opened up and brought clarity to her old issues about eating, anger, sexuality, and survival.
Spirited and provocative, Without Apology is Cohen’s account of what she discovered in the about herself, about girls who box, and ultimately about the buried connections between femininity and aggression.
“Aggression and desire are inseparable,” writes Cohen. “For they are forbidden to girls in equal measure, and they are also in equal measure requisite for life.” Without Apology is sure to influence the ways in which all women–mothers and daughters, athletes and artists, teachers and learners of every description–see themselves in the world.
In the fall of 2001, Cohen met up with four girls, ages ten to fifteen, and their female coach at the Somerville Boxing Club. Over the course of a year, she grew close to them all–spending time at the old-style boxing club where they trained several times a week and at their homes, schools, and neighborhood hangouts. She learned about their families, the housing projects where they lived, their explosive friendships and steadfast loyalties, and especially about the damage that had turned each of them into a fighter.
Fascinated by the freedom the girls had in the ring, Cohen began training and sparring with them and their coach–only to find herself astounded by the strength and authority of her body, and by the way boxing opened up and brought clarity to her old issues about eating, anger, sexuality, and survival.
Spirited and provocative, Without Apology is Cohen’s account of what she discovered in the about herself, about girls who box, and ultimately about the buried connections between femininity and aggression.
“Aggression and desire are inseparable,” writes Cohen. “For they are forbidden to girls in equal measure, and they are also in equal measure requisite for life.” Without Apology is sure to influence the ways in which all women–mothers and daughters, athletes and artists, teachers and learners of every description–see themselves in the world.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2005
3 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Leah Hager Cohen
24 books180 followersLeah Hager Cohen has written four non-fiction books, including Train Go Sorry and Glass, Paper, Beans, and four novels, including House Lights and The Grief of Others.
She serves as the Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, and teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review.
She serves as the Jenks Chair in Contemporary American Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, and teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University. She is a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 28, 2017
A quick and easy read - about a young petite women who explores the intimate world of girls and women's boxing. And how it changes these girls lives, and hers. She has some interesting thoughts on how girls and women learn to channel their aggression and challenge previously held concepts of strength and femininity. Its a close look at a largely unknown culture. I do have a young female patient who is involved in the Women's Boxing World, so I know secondhand something about the power of this. But its still alien to me for myself. But so glad that women can feel empowered in this way. I enjoyed the read, but no less personally inclined to try it.
August 8, 2015
Not bad, but also not nearly as engaging as other similar works in the genre (The Boxer's Heart and Looking for a Fight were much, much better). Cohen desperately tries to demonstrate significant personal development in each of the girls as a result of their involvement in boxing, though it's not really clear any of them make much development - or any real commitment to boxing.
Currently reading
February 8, 2009I think my mother gave this book to me two Christmases ago. It is about a reporter who starts studying (and then training at) a boxing gym in a poor Boston suburb. Not only is learning about boxing interesting and exiting, the subtitle of the book ("Girls, Women, and the Desire to Fight") is the real reason to read this book.
She writes a lot about her own fears, misconceptions and anxieties watching teenage girls beat each other for fun. As a blackbelt who teaches at a martial arts club with two other women, I have never heard someone speak so clearly about those fears, misconceptions and anxieties.
It's enough to make me want to try boxing!
She writes a lot about her own fears, misconceptions and anxieties watching teenage girls beat each other for fun. As a blackbelt who teaches at a martial arts club with two other women, I have never heard someone speak so clearly about those fears, misconceptions and anxieties.
It's enough to make me want to try boxing!
July 15, 2008
I read this in one giant gulp and was sad when it ended. Cohen delves into the complex issues of women, bodies, power and desire in a candid, thoughtful and personal way. The boxing is riveting--her journey both exciting and moving.
August 9, 2007
So, does boxing make one more or less violent? I still don't know - would ahve liked some more conclusions.
February 3, 2009
It's a bit overly sociological, but Cohen's intimate character sketches and strikingly evocative descriptions of the feel, rythym and art of boxing are priceless.
Want to read
March 21, 2009and yet, i am willing to give her (cohen) another try.
December 23, 2010
I tried to read this but just couldn't get that into it. I enjoy the stories of the girls but boxing isn't my thing. I'll probably try this again another time.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews