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    F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism
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    F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism
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    F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism
    Ebook318 pages4 hours

    F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism

    By Lauren McKeon

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    “However you define feminism, read this book . . . Race, privilege, gender, sexuality; the work to be done, your invitation to the conversation, is here” (Karen Walton, screenwriter of Orphan Black).
     
    In a world where sexual harassment allegations regularly dominate news coverage and in which fifty-three percent of white women voted for Donald Trump, F-Bomb presents an urgent and necessary discussion on women’s lives today.
     
    Everywhere we turn, there’s evidence anti-feminist bombs have exploded, sometimes detonated by the unlikeliest suspects. Between women who say they don’t need feminism and women who can’t agree on what feminism should be, the challenges of fighting for gender equality have never been greater.
     
    F-Bomb takes readers on a witty, insightful, and deeply fascinating journey into today’s anti-feminist universe as investigative journalist and feminist Lauren McKeon explores generational attitudes, debates over inclusiveness, and differing views on the intersection of race, class, and gender. She asks the uncomfortable question: If women aren’t connecting with feminism, what’s wrong with it? And she confronts the difficult truth: For gender equality to prevail, we first need to understand where feminism has gone wrong and where it can go from here.
     
    This book is not authorized by and has no relationship to the Women’s Media Center FBomb, an inclusive feminist blog that has been publishing since 2009. See www.womensmediacenter.com/fbomb.
     
    “A much-needed commentary that will both anger and inspire you.” —Rachel Ricketts, activist, speaker, and writer
     
    “The antidote to feeling at a loss for examples of why intersectional feminism is so very urgently needed now . . . McKeon has written a necessary call to action.” —Erin Wunker, author, Notes from a Feminist Killjoy
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 6, 2018
    ISBN9781946885180
    Unavailable
    F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism
    Author

    Lauren McKeon

    LAUREN MCKEON’S critically acclaimed first book, F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism, was a finalist for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize and was selected by the Hill Times as a book of the year and by the Feminist Book Club as one of their top five feminist books ever. McKeon is the winner of several National Magazine Awards, including a Gold in the Personal Journalism category. Her writing has appeared in Hazlitt, Flare, Chatelaine, and Best Canadian Essays, on TVO.org, and in the book Whatever Gets You Through: Twelve Survivors on Life After Sexual Assault. McKeon has taught long-form writing at Humber College and holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of King’s College. She was the editor of This Magazine from 2011 to 2016 and the digital editor at The Walrus from 2017 to 2020, and she is currently a contributing editor at Toronto Life and the deputy editor of Reader’s Digest.

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    Reviews for F-Bomb

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Canadian investigative reporter McKeon delves into conversations with leaders of the anti-feminist movement in an effort to understand the growing appeal of the movement and what it means for the future of feminism.Some of the chapters in this book are infuriating but it is worth exploring what about feminism is driving women away from the feminist movement. McKeon's conversations towards the end of the book with young women do leave the reader with hope for the intersectional future of feminism.
    • 5/5
      Women undoing the progress of womenI seem to be adding a new shelf: books that look at the unimaginable side. I was fascinated by What Slaveholders Think, and flabbergasted by Women Against Abortion. Now comes F-Bomb, in which Lauren McKeon ventures to interview and understand women vociferously against feminism. It gets ugly, but she handles it with aplomb. And thankfully, humor.McKeon says the dictionary definition of feminist is “someone who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes.” Yet only 5-20% of women consider themselves feminists. There is a huge anti-feminist movement across the continent. A lot of it is right wing, conservative and/or faith-based. But there are vast numbers of indoctrinated girls staking their futures on no say over their bodies, lower wages, and rape culture. This is the conundrum McKeon tackles.From her base in Canada, McKeon, who teaches at Humber College and edits some of the biggest magazines in the country, takes a journalist’s approach. She went to conferences, and contacted groups, Youtube stars and ordinary schoolgirls to find out why they say what they do. She doesn’t hide her astonishment and distaste, but gives everyone respectful treatment. She doesn’t argue with them; she reports.The lack of unity and non-symmetry of the feminist message becomes more apparent with every chapter. McKeon learned that everyone is a reductionist; they all want a simple, media-friendly message for this complex, hurtful issue. All groups and self-proclaimed leaders have the same fault; they generalize what “all women” want. If there is any general message here at all, it’s that all women do not want the same thing. There are groups that want to put men on pedestals and groups saying that women should not have the vote. Mostly, they hate the word feminist and whatever it conjures in their minds. It appears that feminists are learning the hard way that with any more than two people in the room, unanimity is all but impossible.She describes in eloquent detail her own rape in high school, and how that changed everything. As well as how common it is. For boys too. She recites the failures of the justice system and government. And joined the Toronto bus to the Women’s March on Washington for Trump’s inauguration. McKeon is totally immersed in her subject.One thing glaringly missing in F-Bomb is the failure of firms where women lead (either on the board or in executive positions, or from investment bankers who can set terms for client supplicants) to implement a feminist agenda. Is there still a wage gap at those companies? Are there still discrimination cases where women are discouraged for speaking up, or even fired? Are their boards 50% female? Are there family care benefits? Do they institutionalize equality? No word in F-Bomb. Ironically, McKeon spends a lot of time fielding flak from older feminists who criticize millennials for dressing like sluts and not being feminists. She has coffee with a klatch of successful women in finance, now in their 60s. They say they fought for the breakthrough, and young women are abandoning it. They are disgusted by it every day. McKeon says she has no answers on behalf of her generation, but I do. It’s the older women’s fault. Why haven’t they mentored every generation in the importance of feminism? Why haven’t they used their senior positions to establish policy? Why haven’t they institutionalized equality so no one ever has to think about it again? Instead, we have the 70s generation whining about the millennials, while anti-feminists and male apologists take center stage. McKeon needs to throw it right back at them, especially with her far deeper understanding of the greater picture.McKeon has a fast-paced style that is most accessible. The chapters of F-Bomb are focused and well-defined. The writing is clear, and the pacing is a pleasure. She puts her remarks on people and events in brackets, instead of footnotes (the ugly new trend I keep encountering, even in science books!), which is a great relief and helps keep up the pace. This is not a feminazi screed. It is not preachy. It provides far more insight than the referential We Were Feminists Once, by Andi Ziegler. McKeon is constantly surprised by what’s out there vying for acceptance, and so am I.David Wineberg
    • 4/5
      I'm not sure who the intended audience of this book is. Given some of the authors personal, often snide, comments, I think she is writing for feminists. But isn't that like preaching to the choir?What I did appreciate what the author's ability to report on and, to some extent, explain, the views of antifeminists. I feel I understand some of them a little better, although I continue to strongly disagree with them. I will never understand women who advocate against women.I the 1980s, I think feminism did send, intentionally or not, the message that being a married, stay-at-home mom was not the best idea. I think that feminism did introduce a culture of victimhood as well as a culture of empowerment. These are issues we should learn from.I'm still working my head around intersectionality. Obviously, we shouldn't leave women behind or be exclusionary. But must the feminist movement be all things to all women? Wouldn't it be better to actively partner with other minority groups struggling for a full place in society?The problem I have with men's rights is that they seem to have to come at the expense of women's rights -- like men can only advance if society as a whole regresses. As Margaret Atwood once said, women are afraid men might kill them; men are afraid women might laugh at them. I don't want to see men treated unfairly -- I have sons! But some Men's Rights Activists are scary.This book is well worth reading. It has sparked a lot of thought about the issues in me. And some great discussions with other women.
    • 4/5
      In this book McKeon illustrates the many ways in which feminism has been eroding in the last couple of decades. Although written in 2017 it's even more relevant now after the pandemic considering the economic loss suffered by women compared to men.I liked her thorough research, personal perspective, and Canadian context.I disliked her classic approach (the conversation is still framed in a 1960s narrative), her pushy tone (only convinced feminists will read this book - it's preaching to the choir although it makes for a fun read) and lack of index/list of resources she mentions.It's definitely a worthwhile read, if not as basis for further discussion at least as a reminder that women's rights are still not where they should be.
    • 3/5
      Part of me feels like I should pretend to like this more than I do because y'know, sisterhood. But I firmly believe feminism can take it, whatever damage misogynists might have inflicted on it recently.

      Ms. McKeon has plenty to say on the subject of anti-feminists and why they are wrong but I don't think her intermittent snarkiness really makes her voice more credible and it does nothing to bring said anti-fems back onside. Basically this book is only interested in preaching to the converted. Which makes me sad. Especially since most of said converted are already well-acquainted with all of the information being presented. I feel like, after writing a whole book about everybody needing to be on the side of feminism, our girl Lauren has sort of missed the point.

      I recieved a free copy of this book for review from Goose Lane Editions via Goodreads.