Synopses & Reviews
"We live in a society where sex is used against women as much as its used by women.
Sexy Feminism calls foul on that (and other) double standards—and makes manifest my frequent observation that feminists are almost always the sexiest people in the room.” —Jennifer Baumgardner, author of
Fem!: Goo Goo, Gaga, and Some Thoughts on BallsNot your mothers feminism! A humor-filled action plan for an accessible, cool, and, yes, even sexy brand of 21st-century feminism
Feminism can still seem like an abstract idea that is hard to incorporate into our hectic, modern lives, but Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Heather Wood Rudúlph show how the everyday things really matter. In an age when concern-trolling, slut-shaming, and body-snarking are blogosphere bywords, when reproductive rights are back under political attack, and when women are constantly pressured to “have it all,” feminism is more relevant than ever. For many young women the radicalism of the Second Wave is unappealing, and the “do me” and “lipstick” feminism of the Third Wave feels out of date. Enter Sexy Feminism. Its an inclusive, approachable kind of feminism—miniskirts, lip gloss, and waxing permitted. Covering a range of topics from body issues and workplace gender politics to fashion, dating, and sex, Sexy Feminism is full of advice, resources, and pop culture references that will help shape what being a feminist can look like for you.
“Genius! Sexy Feminism is a delicious primer for budding feminists (and the feminist-curious), as well as a sigh of relief for long-term third-wave feminists who long to be understood and are tired of explaining our beliefs. Jennifer and Heather do an outrageously good service to us all by bringing feminism into its sexy, confident maturity.” —Katie Goodman, feminist comedian and actress
Review
"
A fun and enlightening guide...Though the tone is light and playful,
there is plenty of information packed into each chapter.
A sexy heads up for young women who may not grasp how culture and media continually manipulate women into thinking that what they have and how they look are never quite good enough."
-Kirkus Reviews
“Genius! Sexy Feminism is a delicious primer for budding feminists (and the feminist-curious), as well as a sigh of relief for long-term third-wave feminists who long to be understood and are tired of explaining our beliefs. Jennifer and Heather do an outrageously good service to us all by bringing feminism into its sexy, confident maturity.”
-Katie Goodman, feminist comedian and author of Improvisation of the Spirit
“We live in a society where sex is used against women as much as it's used by women. Sexy Feminism calls foul on that (and other) double standards—and makes manifest my frequent observation that feminists are almost always the sexiest people in the room.”
-Jennifer Baumgardner, author of Feminista and F'em!
Synopsis
A rallying call for a new brand of twenty-first century feminism—a feminism that is doable, cool, and, yes, even sexy.
Synopsis
Not your mothers feminism! A humor-filled action plan for an accessible, cool, and, yes, even sexy brand of 21st-century feminism
A Mariner Original Paperback
Feminism can still seem like an abstract idea that is difficult to incorporate into our hectic, media-saturated, modern lives, but Jennifer Keishin Armstrong and Heather Wood Rudúlph show how the everyday things matter. In an age when “concern-trolling,” “slut-shaming,” and “body-snarking” are blogosphere bywords, when reproductive rights are back under political attack, and when women are still pressured to “have it all,” feminism is more relevant than ever. For many young women the radicalism of the Second Wave is unappealing, and the “do me” and “lipstick” feminism of the Third Wave feels out of date. Enter Sexy Feminism. Its an inclusive, approachable kind of feminism—miniskirts, lip gloss, and waxing permitted. Covering a range of topics from body issues and workplace gender politics to fashion, dating, and sex, Sexy Feminism is full of advice, resources, and pop culture references that will help shape what being a feminist can look like for you.
About the Author
Jennifer Armstrong is a pop-culture writer with fifteen years of journalism experience. She spent nearly a decade at
Entertainment Weekly, where she was a senior writer covering TV and women in entertainment. She is the author of
Why? Because We Still Like You, a history of the original Mickey Mouse Club published by Grand Central, and is currently working on a book about The
Mary Tyler Moore Show, to be published by Simon & Schuster in 2013. She has provided pop-culture commentary for CNN, VH1, A&E, and ABC, and her writing has been featured in Salon, Details.com, Match.com,
Glamour,
Budget Travel, and the
Chicago Sun-Times. She also co-founded and continues to run SexyFeminist.com. Her essays have appeared in the anthologies
Altared: Bridezillas, Bewilderment, Big Love, Breakups, What Women Really Think About Contemporary Weddings,
and
Coffee at Lukes: An Unauthorized Gilmore Girls Gabfest.
Heather Wood Rudúlph is the co-founder of sexyfeminist.com and a lifestyle writer and editor. She has spent twelve years covering entertainment and pop culture for outlets such as the Los Angeles Daily News, AOL and Movies.com, and editing lifestyle content for the likes of the Huffington Post and DAYSPA Magazine. She specializes in writing about feminism, pop culture and relationships, and teaches writing for the Gotham Writers Workshop.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Foreword: Our Own Feminist Journeys vii one Why Feminism Is Sexy 1
Two Our Poor Vaginas 17
Three Plastic Surgery: Can You? 36
Four Vanity Is Not a Feminist Sin 55
Five Is Dieting Antifeminist? 69
Six Being a Fashionista Can Be Empowering 85
Seven The Working-Woman Problem 100
Eight Be a Sexy Feminist, Not a Slut-Shaming One 114
Nine Flirting and Dating: The Rules, The Game,
and Real Life 132
Ten Feminism in the Bedroom 146
Eleven Feminist Relationships: from Long-Term
to Lifelong Partnership 165
Twelve Female Friendship: the Ultimate Feminist Act 184
Afterword: Activism Is Sexy 197
Appendix: Resources for Sexy Feminists 213
Notes 217
Acknowledgements 229