Inspired by a talk about book-purchasing with a friend of mine, I ventured forth to my local Indigo Books and hunted down Full Frontal Feminism, a brand-spankin' new manifesto by Jessica Valenti, one of the bloggers from Feministing.com. I wanted to read it since I read about it on the site, but it was on my "later's work" list. And now, despite not only planning on going to bed early, and also having planned to finish The Barmaid's Brain before cracking its spine, I've finished it and am all riled up and raring to go.
Just as a sidenote, it was a bitch to find... call me naive, but I thought that perhaps it'd be on one of those handy display tables. I couldn't remember her last name, which I thought was what was hindering me; really it was just that the women's studies part of the Community and Culture section was on the other side of the shelving, so I missed it completely. After I commandeered one of those handy computers and searched the title I scoured the area and was victorious.
Sometimes, it seriously made me nauseous--and I ain't talking about the writing. I self-identify as a feminist and freely get angry about stuff, but I had no friggin' CLUE about some of the shit that goes down. It's mostly State-side stuff, but they are our elephant, so it's best that Canadian girls know what the hell is happening to women's rights south of the border. Anyway, now I'm all pissed about things that I was peripherally aware of, but too damn lazy to look into myself.
Also, I'm feeling super bad about a snarky comment I made about the chick in Disturbia. I said I just didn't believe that she read anything; our hero (who I WILL refer to as TheBeef) charmed her by having noticed that she reads books... although he finds this out by spying on her doing yoga and swimming in skimpy bikinis. Oh, I'm still torn on this issue. They never make it entirely clear if she knows TheBeef has been spying on her when she first goes over to his house. Having an ass like that pretty much means you can get straight guys to do your bidding. It shouldn't be like that, but it is; hell, I'm certainly guilty of using a smile to get what I want. Anyway, deepest apologies to that fictional character: rock your improbable body and (plotwise) un-utilized smarts. If I had your legs I'd probably wear stuff like that too. And hopefully still read books. But I think I'd have gone for the Asian guy instead of TheBeef. He was much more hilarious, and cuter (I don't care what you say, L.Ro).
Back to the informal book review at hand: go read it. It's an easy and fast read, and it'll change your perspective. I wish I'd read it when I was younger; being a feminist is no cake walk, but having a guide like this would have helped me cut through some of the bullshit that influenced me (and still does, really). I've been trying to get into The Female Eunuch for a little while, and my inability to do so was vaguely making me feel like a bad person. But Full Frontal Feminism was straight-up awesome and incredibly current. I just wish it were in hardcover, so I could whip it out and beat a couple people with it. I've got a mental list.
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