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A review by aasplund
Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen
5.0
I was really excited to read this book...until I saw that the author was from Buzzfeed. I had been looking for an in-depth and serious book about women's issues and wasn't sure a publication as silly as Buzzfeed could deliver. That definitely dampened my spirits a bit. Luckily, this book lived up to my initial expectations and I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned quite a bit from it.
Petersen examines several noteable women in pop culture today and analyzes society's reactions to these women's "unruliness" - which Petersen classifies as basically anything that would make the woman not a perfectly well-behaved lady. The idea of some of these women being "unruly" was interesting to me, as I generally think of that as a harder, more dark term than any of these women live up to, but upon further reflection (and after reading the book), the word "unruly" is a perfect fit for what Petersen intended.
To begin with, Petersen picked some interesting women. A handful of them weren't on my radar at all I had to look them up to make sure I knew who she was talking about. Some of the other ones (i.e. Hilary Clinton) were impossible not to know. The women Petersen chose to talk about were an interesting mix and I appreciated how they were selected to contrast and compliment each other. Many of the women are compared to each other throughout the book, but not in demeaning ways. Each woman is primarily discussed as someone who is "too" something - loud, shrill, gross, etc. Any comparisons done elsewhere in the book on other topics seemed to stem from Petersen's intense research on each woman and the comparisons drawn from that.
I appreciated how thorough Petersen's analyses were. In each chapter, we not only see how the woman fits (or doesn't fit) society's perspective, but how perspectives on each issue have changed over time and how the perspectives have changed over the celebrity's lifetime. I was most intrigued by Petersen's chapter on Kim Kardashian, who's state of being "too pregnant" is examined. Not only did I learn quite a bit about societal expectations of pregnant women over time (especially the past 50 years), but how those expectations have changed in recent years and what happens to women who don't fit into those expectations.
While this book could have been more in-depth, it was perfect for what it was. This book is an excellent start into researching women's issues and confronting the many different parts that factor into women's place and expectations in society right now. Anyone with an interest in women's issues should start with this book - it's accessible, clear, and fascinating.
Petersen examines several noteable women in pop culture today and analyzes society's reactions to these women's "unruliness" - which Petersen classifies as basically anything that would make the woman not a perfectly well-behaved lady. The idea of some of these women being "unruly" was interesting to me, as I generally think of that as a harder, more dark term than any of these women live up to, but upon further reflection (and after reading the book), the word "unruly" is a perfect fit for what Petersen intended.
To begin with, Petersen picked some interesting women. A handful of them weren't on my radar at all I had to look them up to make sure I knew who she was talking about. Some of the other ones (i.e. Hilary Clinton) were impossible not to know. The women Petersen chose to talk about were an interesting mix and I appreciated how they were selected to contrast and compliment each other. Many of the women are compared to each other throughout the book, but not in demeaning ways. Each woman is primarily discussed as someone who is "too" something - loud, shrill, gross, etc. Any comparisons done elsewhere in the book on other topics seemed to stem from Petersen's intense research on each woman and the comparisons drawn from that.
I appreciated how thorough Petersen's analyses were. In each chapter, we not only see how the woman fits (or doesn't fit) society's perspective, but how perspectives on each issue have changed over time and how the perspectives have changed over the celebrity's lifetime. I was most intrigued by Petersen's chapter on Kim Kardashian, who's state of being "too pregnant" is examined. Not only did I learn quite a bit about societal expectations of pregnant women over time (especially the past 50 years), but how those expectations have changed in recent years and what happens to women who don't fit into those expectations.
While this book could have been more in-depth, it was perfect for what it was. This book is an excellent start into researching women's issues and confronting the many different parts that factor into women's place and expectations in society right now. Anyone with an interest in women's issues should start with this book - it's accessible, clear, and fascinating.