This is one of those books that I read slow, so I could think about everything said, and that I'll probably have to read again to truly understand. Despentes has some very interesting ideas about gender expression, femininity, feminism, and the portrayal of women in media. This is a very complex book, and she draws from her own very personal and oftentimes disturbing experience to illustrate her arguments. Part of the problem I had was that Despentes is French, writing from a French perspective, I am not really familiar with French literature and culture. In fact, this book reminded me of just how much I've neglected non-English literature and philosophy. Jean-Paul Satre, Simone de Beauvoir? I know who they are, but I've never actually read either. Shameful. Still, even without that background, this is a very powerful book, packing a lot of content into a deceptively short package.
Progress toward goals: 293/365 = 80.3%
Books: 51/75 = 68.0%
Pages: 14649/15000 = 97.7%
2010 Book List
cross-posted to
50bookchallenge, 15000pages, and 
gwynraven 