This is an abridged review. You can read the full thing here. Also, I demoted it by one star because while I was writing the review, I got to further reflect on (and remember!) all the reasons this book pissed me off so much in the first place. It's pretty bad.

The thought of this book serving as anyone's introduction to feminism horrifies me.

Let's start with Moran's take on a subject near and dear to my heart, women's history:

Even the most ardent feminist historian...can't conceal that women have basically done fuck-all for the last 100,000 years. Come on -- let's admit it. Let's stop exhaustively pretending that there is a parallel history of women being victorious and creative, on an equal with men, that's just been comprehensively covered up by The Man. There isn't.

This really pisses me off for a couple of reasons. The first is that she's distorting an entire academic field. I read a decent amount of women's history; not once have I ever come across a serious historian claiming that there was a "parallel history" of women being equal to men. Like, ever. However, the real reason this flippancy angers me is because it is the same attitude used to dismiss Native American history, or Black history, or Latin@ history, or any other kind of history that isn't white and European. This attitude has been quite the problem in the legacy of mainstream feminism.

Since we're on the subject of feminist legacies, let's talk about the chapter that's very much the heart of the book: the one specifically dedicated to converting people to feminism (a.k.a. An Illustration of What NOT to Do When Preaching Feminism):

Rule #1: Don't start by paraphrasing Germaine "Transphobe" Greer (but if you absolutely must, don't double down by paraphrasing creepy, cissexist shit like "you need to taste your menstrual blood," for christ's sake).

Rule #2: Don't say that people who can't say "I'm a feminist" are "basically bending over, saying, 'Kick my arse and take my vote, please, patriarchy." Plenty of people know damn well what feminism is and reject the label (but not the principles) precisely because of dumb, alienating shit like this.

Rule #5: Don't say, "I want to reclaim the phrase 'strident feminist' in the same way the hip-hop community has reclaimed the word 'nigger.'" (SHE ACTUALLY SAYS THIS.)

There are tons of other problems with the book, but since the book is being marketed as fun feminism, I'll just touch on Moran's take on what her intended audience might consider fun: sexy stuff! Like pole dancing classes! And burlesque! But don't you dare become a stripper:

I can't believe that girls saying, "Actually, I'm paying my university fees by stripping" is seen as some kind of righteous, empowered, end-of-argument statement on the ultimate morality of these places...One doesn't want to be as blunt as to say, "Girls, get the fuck off the podium -- you're letting us all down," but: Girls, get the fuck off the podium -- you're letting us all down.

However!

pole-dancing classes, on the other hand, are fine! I know! Who would have thought!...So long as women are doing it for fun -- because they want to, and they are in a place where they won't be misunderstood, and it seems ridiculous and amusing...then it's a simple open-and-shut case of carry on, girls. Feminism is behind you.

Also!

With burlesque, not only does the power balance rest with the person taking her clothes off...but it also anchors its heart in freaky, late-night, libertine self expression: it has a campy, tranny, fetish element to it.

Strippers are letting us down, feminism supports pole dancing classes, and it's totally okay to use a derogatory term that hurts trans people on top of tying adjectives like "campy" and "fetish" to trans identities. Got it. Yay, feminism! 

So what is her problem? Why does this book have so many issues?

Earlier this month, Moran interviewed Lena Dunham to talk about her TV show, Girls. Someone on Twitter contacted Moran to ask if she had addressed the lack of representation of women of color on Girls (an issue that has been cropping up pretty much since that show first began):

And there it is. Intersectionality? She doesn't give a shit about it.