A bold and uncompromising feminist manifesto that shows women and girls how to defy, disrupt, and destroy the patriarchy by embracing the qualities they've been trained to avoid. Seizing upon the energy of the #MeToo movement, feminist activist Mona Eltahawy advocates a muscular, out-loud approach to teaching women and girls to harness their power through what she calls the "seven necessary sins" that women and girls are not supposed to commit: to be angry, ambitious, profane, violent, attention-seeking, lustful, and powerful. All the necessary "sins" that women and girls require to erupt. Eltahawy knows that the patriarchy is alive and well, and she is fed the hell up: Sexually assaulted during hajj at the age of fifteen. Groped on the dance floor of a night club in Montreal at fifty. Countless other injustices in the years between. Illuminating her call to action are stories of activists and ordinary women around the world--from South Africa to China, Nigeria to India, Bosnia to Egypt--who are tapping into their inner fury and crossing the lines of race, class, faith, and gender that make it so hard for marginalized women to be heard. Rather than teaching women and girls to survive the poisonous system they have found themselves in, Eltahawy arms them to dismantle it. Brilliant, bold, and energetic, The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls is a manifesto for all feminists in the fight against patriarchy.
Not going to lie, this book was a little intimidating to me. Now you might look at me, shaved head, 10+ piercings, tattoos, Docs, and crazy colors and think... Seriously? It's a book.
But due to my upbringing, the wording of this title brought to the surface some uncomfortable truths that I had to face head on and decide whether I was going to keep "saving them for a rainy day to weather through" or do it now. And, well there's no time like the present...
The truth of the matter is, our world is the way it is because too many people have been scared of words and differences and gender and so called societal norms for generations. And it has gotten us nowhere. We look back on ancient times and scoff, imagine the stupidity and feeble minds that thought black women's hair was witch craft! Or who burned people alive when they conquered them! No wait, that was in Jim Crow South. Sorry, hard to remember our "civilized" society is different during some of my reads.
I told the friend who recommended this book to me that I had not taken more notes from any other books I've read so far. It felt like I needed to highlight every chapter (in my head, obviously, never deface a book!). It was mind blowing, truth speaking, world righting justice and peace. And like many other books I've gone through, it came at just the right time.
10/10 recommend, especially for men. Because some of you are truly living in the dark of what it's like to be a woman today.
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