On Womanhood: Bodies, Literature, Choice

by Sophie Gilbert

Twelve incisive, probing essays on womanhood in popular culture. An Atlantic Edition, featuring long-form journalism by Atlantic writers, drawn from contemporary articles or classic storytelling from the magazine’s 165-year archive.
On Bodies, Literature, Choice gathers a selection of Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert’s essential and attentive essays on womanhood and popular culture. Unflinchingly positioning television and literature as capacious sites of feminist critique, Gilbert’s criticism sharply surveys our contemporary media landscape. This collection joins treatises on beloved series like Game of Thrones with thoughtful meditations on Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale ; ponders the lessons supermodels offer us on questions of consent; and examines the rebellious literary legacies of Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, and their respective contemporaries. On Womanhood offers some of the most commanding popular criticism of this generation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Feminism, Womens, Gender

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gilbert's book is comprised of twelve essays navigating notions about womanhood: How we are seen, described, and how the political tide has turned against feminism. As she is a cultural critic, the author refers to numerous novels and memoirs, from Consent: A Memoir, Asymmetry, My Body, Future Home of the Living God, Red Clocks, The Power, The Handmaid's Tale, and Daddy's Gone A-Hunting to everything by Jane Austen in order to make her points.

I absolutely loved Gilbert's Girl on Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Women Against Themselves, a non-fiction book conveying how mainstream culture has been influenced by porn, and how porn in turn has become more and more violent and extreme. Her arguments are original and eye-opening, which brings us to my problem with this volume: There's not much new to see here, and some arguments even seem a little lazy to me. E.g., criticizing Emily Ratajkowski for hypocrisy might be valid, but her own awareness of that hypocrisy is the whole point of her book, and it's also what renders My Body so intriguing. Many other book reviews rely heavily on the re-telling of very obvious plot points and messages, and thus fail to provide challenging viewpoints.

Maybe I'm slightly biased because I read her later, better work first, but this isn't as spectacular and deep as it could have been. Is Sophie Gilbert still amazing? Oh yes, and I will definitely read her next effort.

[leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

an engaging and well-written essay collection exploring womanhood, taken from gilbert’s essays featured in ‘the atlantic’. i think this book would be a great introduction for someone just getting into writings on feminism, as it’s very accessible, exploring feminist topics and ideas through a popular culture lens with modern reference points that many of us are familiar with.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was, for me, what becoming a mother was like. Who was I before? I couldn't remember. My identity, my desires, my instincts had all been subsumed by the urgency of the present, the heavy mental load of care. A year or so later, I read that the French have an expression for exactly this state of diminishment imposed by motherhood: 'femme fondue' or 'dissolving woman.'

Some essays in this collection worked more for me than others, but each one of them was intelligent and carefully considered. Naturally, I was most impacted by the introduction and "The Calamity of Unwanted Motherhood". We all know my brand by now.

I think this collection is very approachable when it comes to the topic of feminism because it examines it through the lens of pop culture. It's easier (at least for me) to digest large topics when they're broken down and sprinkled into reference points I'm familiar with.

I could definitely see myself revisiting these essays.

[abby (sumreader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this one up because all the essay titles interested me, and it did not disappoint!! my two favorites were The Unending Assault on Girlhood and The Remarkable Rise of Feminist Dystopia. 4.5 stars!!!!

[Emily]

I loved that there were various, interesting takes on popular culture like GOT and the Handmaid's Tale. It has really kept me thinking over the past few days.

[Arya · Rating 4 out of 5]

not necessarily saying anything new but all good stuff, very nice to get back to solid feminist writing. I have actually been rewatching game of thrones (which I love for the storytelling and hate for Female Representation…) so it was really cool to read her analysis of it.

[ty for lending it to me lucy!! <3]

[Anne Ferguson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Big topic! Lol. But I am trying to really understand it. I can think of little else these days. I enjoy Sophie's feminist critiques of media and agree with most of her frustrations, and I cannot waitttt for her forthcoming book on the misogyny of early aughts pop culture.

[Sofi · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is no way I will be able to fully capture all of my thoughts for every essay. I started this book on Thursday and since then every conversation I’ve had have been about one essay or another. There’s an essay on erotic romance and dystopian feminist literature, the attacks on girlhood and damaging criticism on womanhood in so many ways, and criticism on certain aspects of new wave feminism. Reading feminist non fiction, and even fiction, is my go to topic. It is rare to see it done from this perspective where it is so separated from the main things that are talked about so much.

I enjoyed reading this so much and will probably reread multiple essays. Its a super short collection and should be on everyones TBR.

[Liz Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few outstanding essays and a few just okay essays. Sophie Gilbert has important things to say about unnecessary sexual violence against women in tv/film and the literary abuser trope. A lot of this book cut deep for me but some of the pieces reinforced points that have already been made and remade about womanhood.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for Gilbert's "On Womanhood"

Essay collections are difficult to nail because how do you perfectly choose which to include, in what order, with significant themes that all relate? Gilbert's 5 essays are intriguing because they are all quite different and distinct, applying to various outlets in media, popular culture, and literature. I think she could have dived deeper into the ideas rather than brushing over examples as elaboration. She did not throughouly add her own two cents unless she made personal points of her opinion, and maybe that was on purpose. I read it in a day and did not feel bored or zoned out by the writing or ideas, so, it does the job and I would recommend to those looking to further their knowledge on womanhood in today's times.

[Roxanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5) my only complaint is that it was not longer. def scratched the itch that jia tolentino’s trick mirror left when i read it two years ago, and i would love to read a longer essay collection if she comes out with one in the future

[maggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed my time! 12 quick reads- making peace w jane austen’s marriage plots was my #1, others (red clocks imagines america without abortion, written in 2018) were eerie to read in a post roe v wade overturned world. accessible entrance to feminism as it ties itself to popular culture critiques

[Nicola Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

An approachable and accessible collection of essays concerned with feminism and modern culture that still dazzles despite its simplicity. The vast majority of articles felt as if they were written For Me. Loved!

[Sophie Kozak · Rating 4 out of 5]

womanhood is such a weird thing to think about when you do not identify with it anymore. this was good though!

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was made !! for !! me !!

[Shelby Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking aces all around; I want Sophie Gilbert’s take on everything I’ve ever read watched or listened to

[Tyffton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hard read that prioritizes awareness of the visual violence media projects on women. Sophie Gilbert asks us to take a closer look at the stories we consume and where their motivations lie.

[Armoni97 · Rating 3 out of 5]

objectively she’s a good writer but i don’t think i’ve read enough books to understand her references so i was very lost

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is just too good

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
it’s a good book, nothing to fawn over. i think it’s excellence lies in its accessibility, in that everything relates back to something in popular culture (ie game of thrones). it’s a great introduction, it’s short, concise and not terrible. i think i just expected more because most books that are titled “on…” are literally insane so anyways

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly haven’t explored much feminist literature in my reading and thought this book would be a good introduction upon picking it up.

Alike to what others have pointed out in their reviews, the theses of these essays are not necessarily new. However, I think they can provide a brief glimpse into how others perceive women (and more importantly women themselves) and as a result, how the roles women “should” play are manifested through different popular culture mediums in the Western world.

I do wonder though who the targeted audience of this collection was for (if any). I think while these essays articulate a truthful account on the progress of feminist activism, I feel as though these writings re-affirm what we already know. I would have loved to see a bit more challenging perspectives brought forward that either add to the feminist space with new insights, or to write these essays in digestible ways that engage with others outside this sphere in understanding and learning more. The essays felt more like a review on particular popular culture pieces (books, movies, etc.) rather than a focused thesis at times.

Personally for me, I’m not incredibly engaged or well-versed in popular culture so some of the essays were also difficult to engage with. I think it would have been more helpful to more fully explain the context for some of the references being made. I also found that many quotations were used for some of these essays that broke the flow of Gilbert’s own very articulate writing. I understand why direct quotes were pulled from the references being made (they are very powerful and impactful) but stood out more, and took away from Gilbert’s own writing.

Overall, I think this collection would be engaging for those who are up-to-date on popular culture and are interested in learning more about feminism at an introductory level. All this to say, I still enjoyed many of these essays and felt that my own thoughts were articulated well through Gilbert’s voice.

These were the essays I liked the most: The Literary-Abuser Trope is Everywhere, The Unending Assaults on Girlhood, and What the Sexual Violence of Game of Thrones Begot.

I also really liked this quote directly taken by Gilbert from Melissa Febos in “The Unending Assaults on Girlhood”:

“We all know the ways woman invite their victimization by walking after dark, wearing short skirts, or having big breasts. The pathology of victimhood would also claim that self-blaming and shame were my very ordinary attempt to explain what had happened to me, to assert control over it by assuming responsibility.”

[Virginia Palencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, thoughtful, essays that I would recommend to any woman. This does not take long to read, and you can pick and choose at your leisure. Some of these essays truly resonated with me.

[James Magrini · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Womanhood is a collection of short essays written by an academic. However, although dealing with complex issues, the book does not in any way resemble a work of academic scholarship. Rather, it is collection of highly inviting and accessible articles written by Sophie Gilbert gathered from the Atlantic magazine (published over the years 2017-2022).

The overarching theme is focused on the female’s relationship to herself and society – in essence, these works explore how women are projected back to themselves from out of society’s distorting mirroring–effect…

However, beyond this, there’s an undeniable post-modern vision (not-so) tacitly pervading and driving Gilbert’s critique, namely, the understanding that society is always at work, in and through various (patriarchal) power-structures (disciplines/media), shaping human (female) subject-hood. Perhaps the greatest danger women face, according to Gilbert, is the all-too fatalistic reality that society, if left unchecked, ignored or accepted in an uncritical manner, will ultimately determine women’s subject-hood at the expense of their autonomy.

The book unfolds along three interrelated lines: (1) How women are viewed in the world; (2) How women’s stories, their narratives, are constructed and told; and (3) How the power of autonomy might be reclaimed and directed into considering questions of worth, value, and liberation.

The essays are well-written and thought-provoking – in some instances they are eerily and frighteningly prescient, even prophetic, e.g., when analyzing the fiction of Leni Zuma’s book, Red Clocks, which is set in a “society without abortion,” where women are persecuted and criminally prosecuted for the choices they make regarding their bodies, readers will shockingly note that women are now (in fact), with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, living Zuma’s dark and claustrophobic dystopian vision. This is truly horrifying!

Readers will need to be informed on contemporary print, literary fiction (The Handmaid’s Tale), memoir (My Body), and television (Orange Is the New Black, Pam & Tommy). NB: Those unfamiliar with the works Gilbert references are quickly brought up to speed by her concise and focused summaries.

There is also, to the delight of the more old-fashioned and bookish among us, a wonderful chapter devoted to a critical analysis of Jane Austin’s novels and her artistic (historical) decisions to focus on the indelible theme of marriage (“Making Peace with Jane Austin’s Marriage Plots”).

Like all good social inquiry and critique, Gilbert illuminates more problems than she can solve, raises more questions than she can hope to answer, but she gets readers thinking in deep and productive ways about transformative modes of critical activism, offering the hope for the type of progress sheltering the amelioration of the bleak and troubling (contemporary) social condition her essays illuminate.

If one reads, in tandem with Gilbert's book, some of Susan Sontag's early essays on women, such as "A Woman's Beauty" (1975) and "Beauty: How Will it Change?" (1975), it is frighteningly evident that things have not changed much for the better.

James M. Magrini
Former: Philosophy/College of Dupage
NCIS

[Cece · Rating 3 out of 5]

On Womanhood by Sophie Gilbert is a collection of essays that surveys our contemporary media landscape and the state of modern feminism. This features twelve essays throughout, split into three parts: Part I: Seen, Part II: Told, and Part III: Chosen.

Perhaps I went into this with too high expectations, but overall this collection of essays fell flat for me. It promised to be an unflinching examination of current issues regarding womanhood, but it doesn’t really do much but reiterate other peoples ideas. Many of the essays are surface level, going no deeper than needed. Most of the really interesting moments in this book are quotes from other articles or researchers that Sophie Gilbert takes but does nothing with herself.

The best part of this book is it gave me a good list of books that Gilbert quotes that I would be interested in reading. I think this would be perfect for someone just getting into feminist literature and essays, but if you are already well-read in the area then this probably won’t do anything for you and I would recommend skipping.

[Kelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sophie Gilbert’s On Womanhood is a luminous collection that dissects modern femininity through the lens of culture, literature, and media with both ferocity and grace. Her essays are deeply intelligent, each one a sharp, reflective mirror held up to society’s ongoing negotiation of identity, autonomy, and representation.

By weaving cultural criticism with personal resonance, Gilbert exposes the quiet revolutions within our screens and books from The Handmaid’s Tale’s haunting relevance to the layered portrayals of women in Game of Thrones, to the enduring subversion of Jane Austen and Margaret Atwood. She writes not as a detached observer, but as a cultural surgeon, excavating the ways art both mirrors and molds womanhood.

On Womanhood isn’t just a commentary, it’s a declaration of presence, intellect, and agency. It challenges how we look at pop culture and how pop culture looks back at us.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok entering my review era. I liked this! Gilbert is a sharp cultural critic, and it was really a pleasure to absorb her readings of authors, tv shows, pop culture phenomena, etc. But in many (most?) of the essays, I found the bridges between the discussions of cultural artifacts & discussions of the broader dynamics at play to be a bit less fleshed out (and less far-reaching) than i would’ve liked. Often she would write about a piece of media at length before quickly coming to a neat, not particularly novel, conclusion about what we can take from it into the world. She’s clearly a brilliant thinker, but it all felt a little bit safe. I’m not sure this left me thinking about anything in new ways. But her takes seemed spot on and it was a totally enjoyable read.

[Jo Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. It's a great intro to several important areas of discourse (particularly in relation to media) as viewed through a feminist lens. I gave it four stars only because I felt it was too short a collection to be called "On Womanhood." There are so many facets of womanhood left unexplored, which in its own way is exciting, as I look forward to reading what else Sophie Gilbert might publish.

[hc smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked up this little book of essays as i stood in the bookstore and immediately wanted to dive into the intriguing titles, and it did not disappoint! gilbert takes an inside look at how women are portrayed today throughout media, books, politics etc. and i enjoyed reading these essays that are relevant to the now

[Haley Charbonneau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! There was nothing especially groundbreaking, but I really enjoyed Gilbert’s criticism on popular culture and the ways in which she made me reevaluate things I’ve consumed- books, shows, etc. and look at them through a new lens. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking to get into feminist literature, definitely a good starter book!

[alexandra-marie figueroa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - lo leí en una sola sentada, porque nos sigue mirando al espejo. la historia de las mujeres es repetitiva, solo espera que lleguemos al olvido.

Me hubiese encantado que fuese más largo, y que incluyera reflexiones en las intersecciones de raza y género, pero entiendo cómo derivan de una publicación como The Atlantic.