Wow – I am just so overwhelmed with all of the knowledge, feelings, and emotions I have consumed after reading A Little F’D Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word by Julie Zeilenger. This book has opened up many doors for myself and I feel that being new to Feminism, I have learned so much, yet still have so much more to learn.
For starters, I enjoyed how Zeilenger took an informal approach to writing this book. I felt that it made me more interested to continue reading the book, because of it’s side notes and jokes that were incorporated into it. I also think that I was able to understand and relate a good amount with the author because we are around similar ages. Although the structure of the book was somewhat chaotic, I think it’s structure represents Feminism in a way- unstructured, undefinable, limitless.
The first main point that I was excited to finally understand and learn more about was each wave of Feminism. I enjoyed the history that was displayed and incorporated into the book when teaching the meanings and motivation behind each wave. I had always heard people discussing “first wave Feminism”, but was never positive what the meaning behind the term was. Aside from Zeilinger teaching me about the different waves with the history of women’s rights, I also learned many different occurrences and monumental things that have happened in history, that I had never known. This book showed me that if it were not for our history, then today would never exist.
At first when reading A Little F’D Up: Why Feminism Is Not A Dirty Word, I did not see the difference between first and second wave Feminism, but then Zeilinger made it clear for me. The first wave being focused on the mechanics of legal rights and equality, while second wave focuses the unity and sisterhood between women. I think that both of these two waves hold great significance in the Feminist movement, leading us to where we stand today.
My favorite topic that Zeilinger discusses in her book is about young girls conflict with identifying as Feminists. I felt that this topic was something that I could really relate to, being a new Feminist myself. The book goes through many different reasons why women struggle to fully identify as a Feminist, reasons that I had never even considered before. For example, “We already have equality”, “Feminist. Ew” It was these two reasons that somewhat angered me to hear that women themselves are thinking. The media is something that definitely creates a black cloud for Feminism. With slander like “radical, extremists, threatening”, the media is wrongly informing our society. The only way to change this incorrect stereotype is for those who are CORRECTLY informed to speak out. It has gotten to a point where we can no longer sit back and hope for the best, we have to create the best for ourselves through reaching out.
Julie Zeilinger’s book is interesting to me as a Feminist, but it also is interesting to me as a young woman who is still finding herself. You do not need to be a Feminist to read this book, in fact, majority of this book’s audience are those who are curious. Long story short, no matter who you are and who you want to be, this book is a great place to start and/or end!
ShoutOut! James Madison University 