Moranifesto in Our Shared Shelf

Dec 07, 2017 Lord Beardsley rated it liked it

Shelves: feminism, read2017

Reading this gave me solace during these times of intense darkness and despair. I adore her radical optimism, because it reframes things in a way that offers some possibilities and perspective that I myself very much need.

That being said, reading this made me more aware of Moran's strengths and weaknesses as a public commentator on modern life. She is an autodidact - homeschooled and raised in a family of 8 on a council estate during Thatcher's reign of shit. I appreciate her thoughts on being Reading this gave me solace during these times of intense darkness and despair. I adore her radical optimism, because it reframes things in a way that offers some possibilities and perspective that I myself very much need.

That being said, reading this made me more aware of Moran's strengths and weaknesses as a public commentator on modern life. She is an autodidact - homeschooled and raised in a family of 8 on a council estate during Thatcher's reign of shit. I appreciate her thoughts on being working class, classism and socio-economic inequality: all things she is intimately aquainted with.

The trouble comes when she shows the tendency to be a bit essentialist. If someone is speaking out against discrimination against marginalized people, they had best also examine their own marginalizing language. Making fun of fat people or using the fat phobic discourse of obesity talk, the differently-abled and the neurodivergent comes off as (as she described the wealthy) - blithe.

I don't think she is a bigot whatsoever, but it's during these times that her lack of knowledge on these issues shows. This shows her lack of research and consideration on these issues and loudly illustrates her failings. Perspective on some issues is half-formed, and made me question if one should try to tackle every woe of the world in one go. Just because issues exist, doesn't mean we all must have an opinion on every one of them. Especially if those opinions have not been truly fleshed out and informed. In this way, I find this book overly ambitious. Then again, powerful men who are public figures trot out their half-baked opinions every day of the week, so I don't want to come for her for doing the same. I just don't feel like half-baked opinions released into the world from on a large scale from anyone necessarily adds anything to the conversation.

She is a very relatable and kind voice, with plenty of wit and earnestness. There were times when I wanted to reach through the pages and hug her, when I felt so uplifted reading it that I felt like soaring. I needed to read this as happy medicine. As always, I would love to get crunked with her on gin and talk until 5am. I adore her, but I also think she could do better. It frustrates me, because I know she can do better. That being said, I would never accuse her of insincerity. ...more

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May 14, 2017 Denise Cormaney rated it liked it

I think readers need to be up on British pop culture to fully appreciate Moran. So many references went right over my head! The book is a collection of essays written for a British newspaper, and they are grouped by theme. "The Feminisms" section is by far the best of the entire book; I wish everyone (men and women) would read the essay titled "The Two Things Men Need To Understand About Women." Its worth getting the book from the library for that essay alone!

I have one issue with Moran, and tha ...more

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Nov 20, 2017 Anna rated it it was amazing

Moran is funny, smart, and a wonderful writer with a clear voice. This collection of essays - some previously published and some new - managed to make me sigh and cry at the same time. So wonderful!

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