Please note that this book was read by the Angels in January 2013.

The first book of the New Year to be read by the Angels book club is How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. The last book that we read, Tall Poppies by Louise Bagshawe, ran along the theme of equality of women in the work place and how they can be stereotyped by society, so it was interesting to follow this up with Caitlin Moran’s take on modern feminism.

How to be a Woman is the first non-fiction book to be read by the book club. It is a (very humorous) study of where feminism stands in the 21^st century. Has it changed since its height in the 1960’s? Has it benefited women? Why has ‘feminism’ become a dirty word? Moran expresses how she believes feminism has been effected by (and could help with) 21^st century issues such as internet porn and botox.

Moran is not an author who minces her words. Some of the book club members felt uncomfortable with her descriptions of her childhood, abortion and giving birth. But she is an honest writer and not as intimidating as some other feminist writers.

During the meeting, we discussed why and how feminism had become a ‘dirty’ word and why a lot of women felt almost ashamed to call themselves a feminist. It seems to have become fashionable to proclaim the opposite. But as Moran shows us throughout the book, feminism, when taken in a modern context and applied to modern issues is still a benefit to women. It is perfectly alright to want a career, or to have children, or to have both. It is alright not to understand the modern world’s expectations of women and to not want to aspire to them.

The road from childhood to womanhood is a rocky slope (as is the journey to being a comfortable feminist), but as Moran demonstrates, it is the things that we learn on this journey that carry the most value.

The Angels awarded How to be a Woman with 7.5/10. We all felt that we could take a positive message away from this book, even if it was not up all of our streets.