Taking It Like a Woman

by Ann Oakley

Ann Oakley is one of the foremost feminist writers today. In her autobiography she describes the events which made her a feminist and the kind of mother, wife, academic and writer she is. 'This book is about my life, but it is also about others,' she writes, and in this honest, sometimes painful, and absorbing account of her life so far in the second half of the twentieth century, every woman will find some reflection of her own personality and feelings.

Ann Oakley's life has encompassed great achievements, and powerful crises - including a breakdown and serious illness. Interwoven with the account of her own life is the description of a haunting love affair which raises many unsolved problems faced by women today. Ann Oakley's life has never embraced easy answers, and her book, written with clarity and inner perception, encourages us to understand that living with contradictions is not such a bad way of life after all.

'a contrary, combative and often appallingly funny account... By the time I had reached the final page I felt like cheering'
PHILIP OAKES, NEW SOCIETY

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Biography

212 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 1984

Reviews

[james !! · Rating 4 out of 5]

a really interesting twist on an autobiography. filled with tons of insight, wit, joy & terror all combined in a narrative that seems to blend 1st, 2nd & 3rd person all at once. this is actually where my only main complaint comes from, at times it felt the text was swapping tenses/direction at will, making it a little hard to follow the weighty topics at hand a few times!!

other than that i think this book was a great read & even the semi-confusing shifts were great to read simply from a literary standpoint. some incredibly well written passages (even if some flowed odd into the next.) some great insight into the early feminist movements of the 1960’s & Oakley’s further involvement in the movement throughout the 70’s. a lot of talking points still heavily important in today’s modern discourse.

although the book goes through some incredibly depressing segments, Oakley rallies behind the reader in a way to deliver an ending & outcome to at least send you off with hope & some clarity about the incredibly volatile thing that is life.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a memoir by a feminist of the last century, so I was intrigued to get her take on stuff for what you might call historical-comparative reasons. It was interesting, in that sense, if not as illuminating as I'd hoped.
Other than that, she does all the things non-popular writers used to feel obliged to do back in the 80s: mixing genres, blurring the fact-fiction divide, addressing individuals directly in the second person... in this she is very much painting by numbers, and not with any great skill at that. But it was moderately fun as a nostalgia trip.

[Sophie Eacock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oakley strips back the fundamental questions of feminism; what does it truly mean to be a feminist? She considers the complexity of motherhood vs the patriarchy and other such poignant issues. This book is a beautiful consideration of the human condition.