Shrewed

March 12, 2018
Journalist and novelist Renzetti (Based on a True Story) delivers a sharp assessment of what it is to be a woman in a man’s world in these short, punchy essays about, among other things, the myriad reasons women stay silent after being assaulted by men, the things the author wants her daughter and son to know about misogyny, and the way the patriarchy normalizes inequality. Entertainingly mixing the personal and political, Renzetti describes the voice in her own head and most women’s as “an asshole who does not want you to test your wingspan... ask for a book contract, or go for an audition, or apply for a job promotion.” She then explains, “There are people... who instead have a throaty-voiced cheerleader reclining on the chaise lounge of their consciousness, saying Damn, they’d be lucky to have you for that job. These people are called ‘men.’ ” She takes readers into her own frantic efforts to balance work and family life, as well as her interviews with remarkable women such as Germaine Greer. Renzetti acknowledges the criticism that white feminism has excluded women of color and candidly describes the difficulty and necessity of having “to pass over the grievance microphone” to other people. Throughout, Renzetti’s prose is clever, witty, and accessible, making the book fun for feminists and a good gift for anyone who questions why feminism is still necessary.

March 15, 2018
What does feminism look like in the age of Trump? As Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Renzetti outlines with clarity and wit in this collection of essays, the challenges facing women today are urgent and pervasive. For example, despite the very small numbers of women holding elected office, a recent poll found, astoundingly, that more than half of Canadians believed there are enough?or even too many?women in politics. Renzetti traces the evolution of society's expectations and denigrations of women through her own family's experiences, from the indignities her mother faced working as a nurse in the mid-twentieth century, to her own developing understanding of what it means to be a feminist and the heartfelt letters she pens to both her daughter and son about the difficult world they must learn to navigate. Renzetti moves effortlessly between serious systemic inequality and the equally enraging, if sometimes amusing, everyday absurdities women face, effectively capturing this cultural moment and offering a resounding call to recognize?and organize against?the pernicious sexism that still exists in the world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)