Crispin Jessa. Why I Am Not A Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto

Black Inc., 2017. — 176 p.Outspoken critic Jessa Crispin delivers a searing rejection of contemporary feminism and a bracing manifesto for revolution. Are you a feminist? Do you believe women are human beings and that they deserve to be treated as such? That women deserve all the same rights and liberties bestowed upon men? If so, then you are a feminist... or so the feminists keep insisting. But somewhere along the way, the movement for female liberation sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing, fiercely intelligent manifesto, Jessa Crispin demands more. Why I Am Not A Feminist is a radical, fearless call for revolution. It accuses the feminist movement of obliviousness, irrelevance, and cowardice—and demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression.The point of 'Why I Am Not a Feminist' isn’t really that Crispin is not a feminist; it’s that she has no interest in being a part of a club that has opened its doors and lost sight of its politics—a club that would, if she weren’t so busy disavowing it, invite Kellyanne Conway in. Crispin’s argument is bracing, and a rare counterbalance; where feminism is concerned, broad acceptability is almost always framed as an unquestioned good. Small but mighty, a bracing, contradictory volume full of fury. It’s a rousing call for unity that’s not afraid to alienate, at once breezy and foreboding. It’s a radical text written in accessible, entertaining prose, slipped nonchalantly into the mainstream. A blueprint for women who care about equal rights for all women, and really, all humans. Jessa Crispin offers a biting critique of modern feminism. This is a good read for any feminist looking for an opportunity for self-reflection, or any person who questions the consumerist bent that modern feminism has taken.ContentsIntroduction
The Problem with Universal Feminism
Women Do Not Have to Be Feminists
Every Option Is Equally Feminist
How Feminism Ended Up Doing Patriarchy’s Work
Self-Empowerment Is Just Another Word for Narcissism
The Fights We Choose
Men Are Not Our Problem
Safety Is a Corrupt Goal
Where We Go from Here
Author’s Note