Status
Checked out
Publication
Brooklyn, NY : Abrams, 2018.
Description
Biography & Autobiography. History. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML: Based on Mackenzi Lee's popular weekly Twitter series of the same name, Bygone Badass Broads features 52 remarkable and forgotten trailblazing women from all over the world. With tales of heroism and cunning, in-depth bios and witty storytelling, Bygone Badass Broads gives new life to these historic female pioneers. Starting in the fifth century BC and continuing to the present, the book takes a closer look at bold and inspiring women who dared to step outside the traditional gender roles of their time. Coupled with riveting illustrations and Lee's humorous and conversational storytelling style, this book is an outright celebration of the badass women who paved the way for the rest of us..… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member BenKline
I had gotten this for Olivia-Grace from the library, she read it, then I did. Very interesting and entertaining read. Obviously, go into this knowing, you are basically reading a Twitter feed. Its written exactly like that, and for that demographic. It is "factual", but things are... a bit nebulous
There is a lot of conjecture done on the parts of men in the book. Which.... is ... eh, its here-or-there. You have to take it with a grain of salt given what the book topic is, and who the target audience is, and hand-wave that away. Same with the little pokes and belittlement(s) of men. However, in that vain, the one true criticism I have is that there is a constant comparison to similar men. An inventor woman gets compared to Tesla, a scientist woman gets compared to Einstein, several women are listed in a way that almost more or less espouses their husband's virtues (or opposite) instead of their own. Its kind of a game of one-ups-man-ship (one-ups-WOman-ship?) at times. Like, oh you thought Paul Revere was great.... well there's this badass chick.... well you thought Einstein was great.... well there's badass chick... etc. And its not so much a problem when done solitarily, but when done continuously, it feels like its either kind of like pro wrestling mechanization, its a way to put over the woman compared to a contemporary that the audience would be more inclined or likely to know, and its also a way to take down 'the man' in the same breath. So kind of like a win-win, except over the over-usage of it, it kind of hurts itself.
This is definitely a powerful read for young girls. I got this from the library and immediately gave it to Olivia-Grace (11 years old) who devoured it, and then gave it to me to read. (I maybe should have read it first, as a few things are a bit.... not PG? But I'm OK with the women and how their portrayed, it was more or less the author's writing approach to the subject matter at times that was more out of the league of an eleven-year old.) I definitely recommend it for girls 13 I think, as a great way of looking at people to look up to. Role models and what not.
I also think it's a great book for most men to read just to get a perspective and some form of education on 'the other side' of things. Something most men are typically lacking. Sadly, I think the men most likely to get any benefit from this, will definitely pass it over. However, I doubt those men put much emphasis on reading anything outside of their own echo chambers anyway, so its all a moot point on that.
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on that front. The bare bones of each of the women's stories are factual. However, there are a lot of add-ons and vernacular slang used to punctuate what they did and to theorize what/how/why they did/say things. Also, if your a man with a fragile ego, or just misogynistic period, this is definitely not for you. (Or if your homophobic, anti-liberal, transphobic, anti-millenial, etc.)There is a lot of conjecture done on the parts of men in the book. Which.... is ... eh, its here-or-there. You have to take it with a grain of salt given what the book topic is, and who the target audience is, and hand-wave that away. Same with the little pokes and belittlement(s) of men. However, in that vain, the one true criticism I have is that there is a constant comparison to similar men. An inventor woman gets compared to Tesla, a scientist woman gets compared to Einstein, several women are listed in a way that almost more or less espouses their husband's virtues (or opposite) instead of their own. Its kind of a game of one-ups-man-ship (one-ups-WOman-ship?) at times. Like, oh you thought Paul Revere was great.... well there's this badass chick.... well you thought Einstein was great.... well there's badass chick... etc. And its not so much a problem when done solitarily, but when done continuously, it feels like its either kind of like pro wrestling mechanization, its a way to put over the woman compared to a contemporary that the audience would be more inclined or likely to know, and its also a way to take down 'the man' in the same breath. So kind of like a win-win, except over the over-usage of it, it kind of hurts itself.
This is definitely a powerful read for young girls. I got this from the library and immediately gave it to Olivia-Grace (11 years old) who devoured it, and then gave it to me to read. (I maybe should have read it first, as a few things are a bit.... not PG? But I'm OK with the women and how their portrayed, it was more or less the author's writing approach to the subject matter at times that was more out of the league of an eleven-year old.) I definitely recommend it for girls 13 I think, as a great way of looking at people to look up to. Role models and what not.
I also think it's a great book for most men to read just to get a perspective and some form of education on 'the other side' of things. Something most men are typically lacking. Sadly, I think the men most likely to get any benefit from this, will definitely pass it over. However, I doubt those men put much emphasis on reading anything outside of their own echo chambers anyway, so its all a moot point on that.
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LibraryThing member cloidl
Some hidden gems in there but overall to little detail, as can be expected in 5 minute sections about each "Broad", but then a good chunk of that is wasted on unnecessary feminist rhetoric other then sticking to the facts.
LibraryThing member Eavans
This was cute! The stories were interesting and the art made it a beautiful addition to envisioning these women. So many are lost to history and I'm embarrassed to say I only knew 8 or so of the women written about, and so Mackenzie Lee writing this book as a gap to the absolute void of good
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historical stories about women is awesome in my book. The hipness of the writing did though me off in the beginning, and sometimes I think it was bit too informal (there were one or two references in there that are already dated, and as someone mentioned in another review the AAVE was... awkward) but overall the book was a treat :") I see how great this would be for middle grade readers and can't wait to try and get my sister to read it. Show Less
LibraryThing member mktoronto
I loved this so much! Most of these women I didn't know and the author tells their stories in a breezy, feminist style. And the illustrations of each are so gorgeous!
Language
ISBN
9781419729256
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