Made to Be She

This is a complicated review to write. There were a lot of areas I wholeheartedly agreed with and areas that I was appalled at. As a Catholic, one of the things I try to do most, is love thy neighbor. It's easy to judge others, but easy isn't right and we are not the judge, only God is. This book held a lot of judgment toward others - working mothers, divorced women, transgender individuals, non-Christian women, and more. It ruined a lot of the good message the authors were trying to get across. I love that they discussed the harm that the purity culture movement caused, the snares of the beauty industry, and falling into religious ditches. As another reviewer mentioned, some of those chapters could have been greatly expanded and been whole books. The authors chose to dedicate a lot of time however on transgendered men and women and casting judgement their way. Trans women existing doesn't diminish me as a woman. I love that I am a woman. Trans women aren't trying to take my rights away, but you know who is... men. All the time. Another chapter talked about how important it was to be a mother and to stay at home with your children. Well wouldn't that be nice. But in this economy... Come on. Nowhere in that chapter did the authors talk about the rising cost of housing or food. They mention how sad they felt for single mothers ONCE. The rest of the chapter was lamenting how much moms are missing out on by working. What about the dads? They are missing those moments too! If we are called to go forth and procreate in this awful American economy then most mothers will have to work. We unfortunately live in a time that demands that both parents work. We CAN'T have it all. Most women I know would love to stay home but can't. Most women I know would love to have more kids but can't afford to. The authors mention none of that. Another point I took issue with was that the authors villainized every wave of feminism and gave an awful over simplified view of them all. No mention of the benefits we got, only the negative downsides. We can own property, we can have credit cards, we can get custody of our children. They mentioned women getting the right to vote like it was a bad thing because the men should get the vote of the household... but even if that were the case what about unmarried or widowed women?! The final thing I take issue with is the oversimplified science of sex. According to the authors there are only males and females with absolutely NO VARIATIONS WHATSOEVER. However, intersex variations and hermaphroditism demonstrate that sex exists on a spectrum, and in some species, individuals do not fit neatly into a simple male/female binary. So I guess people born intersex can go jump off a cliff? I mean, what the heck. They are people too. Sorry they don't fit neatly in your little box. Not everything is black and white. Love one another. So actually now that I've typed all this out... maybe there wasn't that much good in here.