Girl Up

by Laura Bates

They told you you need to be thin and beautiful.

They told you to wear longer skirts, avoid going out late at night and move in groups - never accept drinks from a stranger, and wear shoes you can run in more easily than heels.

They told you to wear just enough make-up to look presentable but not enough to be a slut; to dress to flatter your apple, pear, hourglass figure, but not to be too tarty.

They warned you that if you try to be strong, or take control, you'll be shrill, bossy, a ballbreaker. Of course it's fine for the boys, but you should know your place.

They told you 'that's not for girls' - 'take it as a compliment' - 'don't rock the boat' - 'that'll go straight to your hips'.

They told you 'beauty is on the inside', but you knew they didn't really mean it.

Well screw that. I'm here to tell you something else.

Hilarious, jaunty and bold, GIRL UP exposes the truth about the pressures surrounding body image, the false representations in media, the complexities of a sex and relationships, the trials of social media and all the other lies they told us.

'Bates takes a myth-busting approach to body image, food, sex and advertising, and is particularly good at boiling down feminist language into a snappy, everyday vernacular without diluting its power.' Metro

'Essential reading for young women and girls, Girl Up is set to become a key guiding text for the next generation like The Beauty Myth and The Feminine Mystique have for preceding generations. Morning Star Online

It’s hardly headline news that feminism can be funny. But, heavens, is it refreshing to see it done as well as it is [in this book]. Telegraph

‘Girl Up is something between a self-help book and a bracing love letter to today's teenage girls... I wish I'd had Girl Up when I was growing up. I could have used such no-nonsense survival guide.’ Sunday Times

‘Girl Up will be the first book on feminism many young women will read.’ Guardian

[Girl Up] tackles all the propaganda that women get bamboozled with from childhood. From the myth of the 'ballbreaker’ in the office to the ‘dangers’ of short skirts, Bates is funny, piercingly astute and will have you furious and politicized over the impact social media, pornography and advertising have on our bodies.’ Stylist

‘If you have a daughter or a niece or a younger sister or a god-daughter, buy it for them now… the book is an absolute must for girls navigating our hyper-sexualised, deeply sexist culture.’ The Pool

‘Feminist writer Laura Bates returns with another hard-hitting but hilarious book which exposes the truth surrounding pressures on body image, false representations in the media and lots of issues very relevant to girls today. This no-nonsense guide to being a girl in 2016 and is one all teen girls should read.’ Red magazine

‘For any woman who is sick of being told how to act, how to dress, or how to ward off unwanted advances, this book could be for you. Independent

‘This book is fabulous. It is inclusive and empowering. It is funny and frank and, as actor Emma Watson writes in the preface, “not for the faint-hearted”. It is the kind of sex and life education you wished you had at your at your disposal when you were 14.’ Irish Times

• ISBN10: 1471149501
• ISBN13: 9781471149504
• Publish Date: 21 April 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Jo]

Originally posted on Jo's Scribbles.

I absolutely loved the book Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates, so I had to read her second book, Girl Up. It's just brilliant!

I was really surprised to discover Girl Up is actually aimed at teenage girls, young women - with young women being those of university age - and people with a vagina. Girl Up is pretty much a guide book and introduction to to sexism and feminism, full of advice and blasting misconceptions on numerous topics.

It talks about body image and self-love, but also how the media fills our heads with impossible beauty standards. It talks about sex and sexuality, talks in depth about the vulva and vagina and praises masturbation, with images, and discusses how porn has led to confusion and sometimes fear for young people about what sex is (Bates tells us that at one school she visted, she was told how when a eacher asked a boy who raped a 14-year-old girl why he didn't stop when she started crying, he replied, "Because it's normal for girls to cry during sex."). It covers social media - the good, the bad and the ugly. Bates goes into detail about what feminism is any why so many people have issues with it. And the book talks about many other things in between.

There was a lot discussed in Girl Up that readers of feminist non-fic would have come across before, but what's different about this book is it's aimed at young people. Bates had teenagers as well as young people in mind when she wrote this book, and it shows. She hasn't dumbed anything down for her audience, but she has written with humour and to the interests of young people these days, to apply what she's discussing to their everyday life. Although the focus is on sexism and feminism, Girl Up really is a guide book on how to navigate those years when you're working out who you are, and you're facing all sorts of pressure from every direction. Pressure with exams, pressure from boys, pressure to look a certain way, and so on. It was an eye-opener to me that a lot (though not all) of the angst teenagers who identify as female/who have a vagina face is rooted in sexism. While reading, I would think back over my own teenage years and all I went through, and realised how so much of it would have been easier to deal with if I'd just known more about feminism and sexism. I would have had some idea what to do about it all; I would have learned to love myself and my body sooner, and stopped reading magazines; I would have understood the bullying I faced had sexism at it's heart and have a language to try and combat it; I would have learnt so much more about sex and my body, and that it was perfectly fine, and not weird, that I didn't want to have sex then. If I had known about feminism and sexism, if I had had Girl Up, the whole of my teenage years could have been so different.

And so now I believe that Girl Up is an absolute must read for teenagers of all genders - boys can learn so much from this book, too - but especially for those who identify as female/have vaginas. This book could make those turbulent years all the much easier to bear. This book should be in school libraries, though because of the content and the language, I'm not entirely sure it would make it there. So buy a copy, read it, then buy another for your daughter, your little sister, your younger cousin, your niece, your friend's daughter. Let's open the eyes of young people, and help bring about a more confident, clued in generation who won't stand for sexist crap. This book has the potential to change everything - or at least get the ball rolling.