Jessica Valenti is one of a select group of Generation X feminist bloggers who have cemented their careers online – She is a force to be reckoned with, after publishing a litany of feminist tomes ( Full Frontal Feminist, He’s a stud she’s a slut ) Sex Object is her brutally honest, darkly funny memoir.
By retelling a series of formative events in her life, Valenti describes what toll everyday sexism takes on a young woman’s life. The events that helped shape her confident persona hid her damaged and insecure self, everyday sexism that was brushed off as a compliment or just boorish behavior became so destructive that Valenti struggled to maintain that confident identity.
Sex Object is a series of confronting episodes which made me look at the decisions in my own adolescence and the everyday sexism that surrounds me. Even in a small country on the other side of the world the situations Valenti finds herself in are not completely foreign to me – Her lessons about self translate into a memoir about society. The Change that we need to see in the world will begin to happen when more women speak out like Jessica Valenti has – and, more importantly, we believe them.
Valenti ends her memoir with an afterword that rapidly brings us down to earth – a series of emails and posts from her twitter and facebook feeds, tantamount to hate mail.
This is a book that has been heavily reviewed by the male patriarchy ( I really wanted to use another phrase here but that is the only one that truly represented what rubbish these men regurgitate. . . ) and to them it is a whinging, whining, #notallmen attack on the male species, I believe it is Valenti being true to herself, at times she makes poor choices but she owns them and doesn’t shift blame, she can appear frustrated but then who wouldn’t be in her situation. . . Its a book all Women should read and embrace.
