Book Review: Nasty Women

Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America

 Edited by: Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding

Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Finished on: October 3, 2017
Publisher: Picador

Note: I received a free Advanced Reader's Copy (uncorrected bound manuscript) from the publisher, Picador.  I requested this copy, as I was very motivated to read this title.  All reviews expressed below are my own.

Synopsis:
Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America is a collection of 23 essays in response to the 2016 United States presidential election.  The essays focus along the theme of feminism and each writer focuses on what this means to them.

Copied below is the Goodreads synopsis for the title:

Twenty-Three Leading Feminist Writers on Protest and Solidarity

When 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, how can women unite in Trump's America? Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward.

Featuring essays by REBECCA SOLNIT on Trump and his "misogyny army," CHERYL STRAYED on grappling with the aftermath of Hillary Clinton's loss, SARAH HEPOLA on resisting the urge to drink after the election, NICOLE CHUNG on family and friends who support Trump, KATHA POLLITT on the state of reproductive rights and what we do next, JILL FILIPOVIC on Trump's policies and the life of a young woman in West Africa, SAMANTHA IRBY on racism and living as a queer black woman in rural America, RANDA JARRAR on traveling across the country as a queer Muslim American, SARAH HOLLENBECK on Trump's cruelty toward the disabled, MEREDITH TALUSAN on feminism and the transgender community, and SARAH JAFFE on the labor movement and active and effective resistance, among others. 

My review:
I am not the biggest fan of nonfiction.  I have to read a lot of nonfiction for my job, so it often feels like work when I try to read nonfiction for leisure.  But when I saw this title announced on Picador's Instagram, I knew I needed to read it.

I am a white female who has never really felt the call for political action.  I try to stay educated, but I am somewhat lazy about politics - I listen to NPR on many commutes and skim CNN headlines, but don't typically get more involved than that.  I will also put it out there right now that I have pretty liberal opinions and am a registered Democrat.  I voted for Hillary in the primary election versus Bernie (who I loved to hear speak) because I personally felt that she was the most qualified candidate.  I had every expectation that she would win the election.

On election night, I felt like our home was part of the later popular Saturday Night Live Skit.  We bought a ton of pizzas from Whole Foods, bought several bottles of expensive champagne, and invited all of our (other upper class white friends) over to watch the election.  As the night wore on (earlier for us in Arizona), and the results poured in, our guests slowly started leaving.  The champagne stayed in the refrigerator.  I felt like I was in a daze for the next several days.

Looking back, I have to admit to myself and to others that I did nothing to help sway the election.  I did not discuss my political viewpoints on social media, as I often shy away from these discussions.  I didn't even discuss politics with my (very conservative and Republican) parents.  I simply naively assumed that Hillary would be elected and my 8 years of Obama would continue to 16 years of Democratic joy.  I saw the election as a call to action.  I felt like I needed to do SOMETHING, but didn't know what.  Months later, I still feel a bit befuddled about what steps I could take.  So seeing this title reminded me that I need to take action.

I live a very privileged life and I often take that for granted.  I have experienced my fair share of sexual harassment and sexual discrimination.  Living in Arizona, I am constantly aware that my white skin affords me many privileges.  My household's income bracket means that I do not have to worry about changes to the Affordable Care Act or Arizona's Medicaid program.  It really doesn't change my daily life if Trump builds a wall or creates immigration bans.  But I think that means that I have even more of a responsibility to speak up for others.  I have the luxury of free time and a voice that can be heard and may be less likely to be ignored.

I will not go into detail about all of the essays and cannot quote them, as I have an uncorrected copy of the text, but this book was amazing.  It gave me so many action items (small and large) that I can use to speak up about in our current political scene.  I highly recommend this book for female readers.  I recommend it for women who voted to Hillary and also women who voted for Trump.  I think this is the perfect time for us to come together and to talk about our opinions, rather than segregating ourselves with others who already share our views.

This is not an easy read - it took me several weeks to work my way through the essays.  At times, it made me embarrassed about my limited support and activism during the election.  But it left me feeling hopeful and empowered to make a change.  

Overall, I rate this 5/5 stars.  While each essay didn't strike a chord for me, many did and I think this is an important read for women living in the US today.  See this as your call to action.  See this as a book that teaches you about the other women in your life.  Read it out loud to your boyfriend/girlfriend.  Tweet your representatives about your opinions (I did this yesterday for the first time!).  I will be purchasing a copy for my sister and trying to force my mom to read a few of the essays as well to start slowly teaching her my views.  Thank you Picador for publishing this important work.