Click : when we knew we were feminists

by Courtney E. Martin (Editor)

Other authorsJ. Courtney Sullivan (Editor)

Paper Book, 2010

Status

Checked out

Genres

Publication

Berkeley, Calif. : Seal Press, c2010.

Description

When did you know you were a feminist? Whether it happened at school, at work, while watching TV, or reading a book, many of us can point to a particular moment when we knew we were feminists. In Click, editors Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan bring us a range of women- including Jessica Valenti, Amy Richards, Shelby Knox, Winter Miller, and Jennifer Baumgardner- who share stories about how that moment took shape for them. Sometimes emotional, sometimes hilarious, this collection gives young women who already identify with the feminist movement the opportunity to be heard- and it welcomes into the fold those new to the still-developing story of feminism.

Media reviews

Feminist Review

User reviews

LibraryThing member ironicqueery

Good book of short essays by various women (and one male) about the moment they realized they were feminists. For the most part, this means the moment they realized there were gendered inequalities in the world that were not acceptable. The essays are varied and show a range of experiences. The

essays also show how feminism has evolved from the 60's and 70's to the 2000's.

The collection makes for a quick, easy to read journey through many peoples' lives. The only part that got on my nerves were the biographies in the back of the book. After reading all these essays on people being individuals and understanding the issues with gender inequality, I found that most of the writers ended up married or coupled in a heterosexual relationship. Most biographies made sure to mention the husband and kids they each had. For me, this was disappointing, as each women still defined a significant part of her life by a man. In addition, it doesn't seem many gay writers were included and if they were, they kept that status hidden. A bit more diversity in the writers would have been welcome.

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LibraryThing member BraveNewBks

I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. It's exactly what it promises: each contributor basically tells the story of when she (or he) decides either to claim the label "feminist," or realizes that feminism is important/relevant/meaningful in a personal way. The range of the contributors'

experiences is pretty wide, from a girl with a conservative-Christian background coming up against the out-of-control teen pregnancy rate in her town, to an Asian engineering student confronting the intersecting stereotypes of her race and gender (Asian = smart, girl = not smart) and wrestling with questions of whether her gender and minority status played a role in her admission to a highly selective engineering college. Obviously I enjoyed (and identified with) some of the stories more than others, but that's what's great about this book: there's something for practically everyone. The voices are diverse, the tone is nonthreatening and non-dogmatic, and overall the stories provide frank, honest, and personal discussions of when each member of this impressive group of feminists, well, knew that they were feminists. I found it inspiring and heartwarming at the same time.

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