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⭐️⭐️⭐️My first book I‘ve read written by a feminist. A memoir. It was easy to read and reflective but not necessarily happy, just someone‘s story. I do like to read people‘s stories. It makes you think about the interactions of men and women as we grow. Read without judgement of her choices and situations and she was brave and honest with what she shared.

#theyearofthememoir
A short #audiobook read by the author about all of the times she has been made to feel like a sex object and not a person. This is only 4 hours which I felt would have been overkill had it been any longer. Valenti begins her troubles as a child, (often the setting is the NYC subway where men expose themselves regularly to her) and ends after her premature daughter‘s birth. I‘m calling it a “pick”.

Finished this yesterday. I liked the beginning of it, and Valenti made some very important points regarding sexism, feminism, and womanhood overall. However, the middle was especially boring and repetitive. The ending felt sudden; I didn't like it. Overall, I was disappointed by the book especially since I like other works by Valenti.

I‘m not sure why I don‘t like this more- maybe because it‘s made me sad and angry that women have to go through these things. I like JV but this just wasn‘t my fav.

To say I enjoyed reading this book would be inaccurate. I felt heard, I felt understood, I felt uncomfortable, and I felt angry. Not with her or her stories, but the fact that these are stories that SHOULDN‘T have happened. I shouldn‘t feel so relieved that I can empathize giving my phone number because it was safer than the alternative. 5 Stars.

Taking a small break at work to read a bit for #mounttbrreadathon

‪[#BookReview] Sex Object by Jessica Valenti explores the painful, funny, embarrassing, and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Valenti‘s adolescence and young adulthood in New York City, revealing a much shakier inner life than the confident persona she has cultivated as one of the most recognizable feminists of her generation. ‬
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5

‪review: http://heathersreadinghideaway.blogspot.com/2018/02/book-review-sex-object-by-je...

I cannot say I liked this book - but I do not think that is the purpose. It definitely made me think and brought about some interesting conversations with my daughter.
I am glad I read it - this is one that after I read it I had to discuss this. For me this is one that cannot go undigested.

Reading about feminism as it relates to sex/sexuality is always interesting to me because my lived experience is not the norm. Also, I live in a small town and married young so pretty much everything Valenti describes is completely outside my purview. Still an interesting memoir that made me think a lot about my relationship to sexuality and the misogyny that colors so much of our culture's (and likewise my) ideas about sex and bodily autonomy.

One of my library holds came in today.

Best place to finish a book!
I liked the first half of this one more than the second half.

Tough to read - but really making me think.

I am not familiar with this author who is apparently a well known feminist. She writes well and I really enjoyed when she would analyze what it means for young women to be objectified on a daily basis. I was less convinced that her personal stories of drug use, sex at a young age, and general bad behavior are relevant. There's more to the story there than that she also felt like being a sex object was all she was worth. I wanted more analysis!!!

The Austin Litsy meetup was great! So nice to meet all of you (and go home with new books). The second book was No Knives in the Kitchens of This City.

Thanks again @Soubhiville! Glad to meet all of you @Eyelit @Bookzombie @k.reads @Fortifiedbybooks @Snakes6atx 🐙

Author and Guardian US columnist #JessicaValenti has been leading the national conversation on gender and politics for over a decade. Now, in a darkly funny and bracing memoir, Valenti explores the toll #sexism takes from the every day to the existential. #SexObject explores the painful, funny, embarrassing, and sometimes illegal moments that shaped Valenti's adolescence and young adulthood in NYC. #TBR #AugustLibrary17 #SunshineYellowBooks

This book was a bit of a doozy. Valenti talks very openly about her relationships, mistakes, and hardships. Her honest dialogue about what it means to be a woman in the world is one that any woman can relate to.

Relatable and a little sad. Being a woman sucks sometimes! Topics jumped around a lot and were sometimes too inconsistent but it was still enjoyable. 😀

"Men's pain and existential angst are the stuff of myth and legends and narratives that shape everything we do, but women's pain is a backdrop- a plot development to push the story along for the real protagonists. Disrupting that story means we're needy or selfish, or worst of all, man-haters - as if after all men have done to women over the ages the mere act of not liking them for it is most offensive."

Excellent, excellent memoir. I listened with tears in my eyes and my teeth gritted. This was not an easy read but it's brutally honest, hold nothing back stuff. Painful only because it's the truth and so much is all too familiar.

This book is doing my head in. So good, but so horrifyingly familiar. I took the NYC subway to high school in the 90s like she did and those parts are bringing back memories of being harassed and cat-called that I've long pushed down. It's true what she says that once you hit 17, 18 years old you were much better off, which is such a disturbing thought in retrospect. This audiobook will require some breaks, I think.

A book I read last year that's on sale today.... I really need to stop getting books the year they come out and wait a year or two.... but enough about me, if you haven't read it, that's a great price!

This book is killer as in oh my god true yet depressing.

Soooo whoever had this library book before me ate it while eating cheetos...for two chapters. 😕

#2017Book88
Valenti's a great writer, and she brings a unique perspective on many social issues that affect women today. Her somewhat disinterested attitude about some topics seemed a bit forced, but for the most part I was here for what she had to say.

New lunch read

It's good to see women brave enough to tell the truth in writing. #audiobook #autobiography #tellthetruth

Another library download! 🎧 Lots of reading to do this week!

Fantastic, honest, and funny at times. I loved this book. The writing was good as well. Makes me want to read more of her work. I would recommend this one. Quick read as well.

I was going to fold laundry and HELP Man Cub clean his room this morning, but I want to finish this instead. I did get his bed striped and started the wash. Now reading time.

I'm now halfway through and YES! I do need to break though not only for sleep but because the last chapter was a little to close to home for me.

Started this one tonight after finishing 'Bitch Planet'. I'm only on page 39 but I'm liking it so far.

A compelling memoir, and this wasn't an easy read. Caution for those with sexual abuse in their past; this book could be relentless at times. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

#feminism #memoir

The feeling that everything is your fault....

#feminism #truth #memoir

This memoir/essay collection is now out in paperback. The audiobook, read by the author, is pretty good too.

New #tbr, bought at my favourite indie bookstore. #buyindie #canadareads #memoir

Logging in to finish my work day but can't wait to dive in tonight!

Here are some of my #recentnonfiction reads. So far, it's been a heavy #nonfiction year for me. These five have been highlights. #marchintoreading

Valenti makes no excuses for the language she uses or for the principles in which she believes. She's been dealing with chauvinism and men who are pigs for decades. She is not alone.

When men stop treating women like objects instead of valid humans, feminism won't be such a fight. We have a long, long way to go and I appreciate Valenti for shining a light on the reasons why. #resist

Longer review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1663525368

I loved feministing when I was in college. I admired Valenti's success as a feminist who clearly had her shit together, because my life was a mess back then. I found Sex Object validating; so much of feminism is tied up in the myth of the exceptional woman, an overachiever who never makes bad decisions (even in the aftermath of sexual violence). The truth is that none of us are perfect, and that doesn't make us any less deserving of equality.

I just finished this. I hated it. And I feel (like a) bad (feminist).

Blunt. And real.

I absolutely loved this book. It was honest and pure and beautiful. Reading this, I felt like I wasn't quite so alone in my feelings.

Listened to this on audio & was unfamiliar with Valenti before this book.

The first third or so is the strongest part. Valenti's discussion of the eponymous experience is more relatable and relevant to the book's purported aim than that of motherhood. Having recently read The Argonauts, I found her writing about motherhood lackluster.

She a good narrator but a bit self-indulgent. It's probably unfair to expect otherwise from a memoirist, though.

It's 60 degrees in New York today and they're predicting a giant snowstorm will hit us tomorrow. But today, I'm taking a walk through Central Park in short sleeves while listening to Sex Object on audiobook.

This is a shot of the West Side from the CP reservoir.