Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm moving past the language and sexual topics because there are plenty enough reviews of that and honestly, though neither would make a book enjoyable to me, there's a bigger issue here. Moran professes to have a specific feminist outlook necessary to be an empowered woman in modern Western society--the book's title points to its content as basically the "right" way to be a woman. But Moran doesn't actually write about women. She barely moves past writing about herself. This book is "how to be a woman" if you're a white, middle-or-upper-class, cis, able-bodied, educated, young, atheist woman. For the rest of us, all this book--& the self-congratulatory media response--does is further marginalize us. For my trans* friends, sorry, you can't be women, according to Moran (Moran states that all women should have specific physical characteristics). For a Muslima like myself? Sorry, but Moran's writing centers the same religion-equals-oppression argument that we get from Maher or Dawkins--misogynist at its core by assuming women aren't capable of making informed choices about faith. On the fence about abortion, or pro-life? Mourning after an abortion, or choosing not to have one? Again, not the "right" way to be a woman. I get that this is first and foremost autobiographical. But Moran wants this book to be applicable to women as an entire group, and so a fair critique must look at this text as it pertains to people other than the author. Truth is, it doesn't work. There are countless more examples to be found where Moran either marginalizes already othered voices and experiences or, what's worse, ignores their existence entirely. Those of us who face oppression and discrimination based on not just our sex but on our skin color, gender identity, income, physical & emotional disability, faith, etc. are not served by Moran's brand of feminism, but are actively harmed by it. This particular privilege-centered feminism doesn't raise all women up, but creates a matrix of oppression that actively requires racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, etc. to be reinforced by those few who are finally being given a seat at the table. This book isn't about how to be a woman, but how to be Caitlin Moran, and to try and extrapolate the author's experience as somehow universally serving any woman other than herself is legitimately damaging.