Throughout history, feminism has been fought by difficult women. Difficult in the sense that they have been awkward and annoying (according to the patriarchy) in order to achieve their aims because when you're fighting for a cause, you don't really get anywhere by being liked. People like the status quo - it's comforting, even if you're not really benefiting from it - and when someone tries to change it, a lot of people get upset.
The women Helen Lewis focuses on are also have also been difficult to like by fellow feminists. Lewis makes a really salient point in this book, in that one cause cannot hope to speak for 3.5 billion people. My experience of the world, as a woman, is going to be totally different from how a disabled, black woman experiences it and what I need from feminism will be different too. There's no one single aim in feminism, but there is crossover with fights for equal rights for other marginalised groups. She also points out areas where feminism has clashed with fights for other rights (e.g. transgender rights).
Although the chapters each focus on are different aspects of the feminist movement (time, abortion, sex etc) I'd never heard of most of the women mentioned. I now want to go out and find out more about them!
Lewis's writing style reminded me of that of Caitlin Moran and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - intelligent and incisive and approachable.
Have the women in Lewis's book been effective? Undoubtedly, yes. Are they nice people? Not always, no. Feminism isn't about being nice, though. That's the point. It's an imperfect fight for the right to be imperfect.
5 stars