Yes, All Men (And Everyone Else) Need To Read ‘Sex Object’” — NPR
“Powerful...incredibly readable... she wants to take us back to a place of telling stories.” — The Nation
“This aching account of attempting to live, date and work while female is a brave admission of vulnerability.” — Washington Post
“A bold undertaking… consciousness raising. Valenti is one of America’s best-known and often divisive feminists.” — The Guardian
“Valenti writes in impressively honest detail.” — Salon
“Valenti uses the personal to shed light on a universally female political problem. There is an awakening that happens as a woman reading this book.” — Bust Magazine
“[Valenti’s] memories are relatable and raise important questions about how society treats and views women.” — Bustle
“An entertaining and shocking memoir from a leading feminist writer.” — Booklist
“Amazing...a profoundly raw and honest book.” — Ezra Klein, Vox
“A powerful literary memoir that expertly makes the case for feminism today.” — Harper's Bazaar
“Powerful.. more than the sum of its parts… a bold and unflinching road map of Valenti’s journey to become the woman she is.” — Publishers Weekly
“A zesty, zeitgeisty memoir.” — O Magazine
“Jessica Valenti is widely known as a feminist leader- with this stunningly brave and often funny memoir, we get a chance to know her as a human being. This is an incredibly powerful book. I can’t recommend it loudly enough.” — Jill Soloway, writer, producer, creator of the Emmy-winning show Transparent
“Adrienne Rich wrote, ‘When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.’ In Sex Object, Jessica Valenti tells her truth with stunning vulnerability and courage, defying easy answers and daring us to look away. You won’t forget it.” — Irin Carmon, New York Times bestselling author of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Deeply moving, honest, and unflinching, Sex Object secures Jessica Valenti’s place as one of the foremost writers and thinkers of her generation. Her personal story highlights universal truths about being a woman, and makes the case for why feminism today is an unstoppable force.” — Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
“Jessica Valenti’s powerful personal story offers unique perspective on how sexism and patriarchy manifest themselves in the daily lives of American women. Sex Object is a necessary read for women and men alike.” — Jamil Smith, Senior National Correspondent, MTV News
“I began reading Jessica Valenti’s Sex Object before the most recent tape (as of this writing) leaked of a presidential candidate bragging about sexually assaulting women for fun, but there could hardly be a better validation for the subject.” — AV Club
An entertaining and shocking memoir from a leading feminist writer.
A bold undertaking… consciousness raising. Valenti is one of America’s best-known and often divisive feminists.
Valenti uses the personal to shed light on a universally female political problem. There is an awakening that happens as a woman reading this book.
Amazing...a profoundly raw and honest book.
Valenti writes in impressively honest detail.
This aching account of attempting to live, date and work while female is a brave admission of vulnerability.
I began reading Jessica Valenti’s Sex Object before the most recent tape (as of this writing) leaked of a presidential candidate bragging about sexually assaulting women for fun, but there could hardly be a better validation for the subject.
A zesty, zeitgeisty memoir.
Jessica Valenti is widely known as a feminist leader- with this stunningly brave and often funny memoir, we get a chance to know her as a human being. This is an incredibly powerful book. I can’t recommend it loudly enough.
A gutsy young third wave feminist.
2016-04-30
A new memoir from the Guardian columnist and "professional feminist.""Who would I be if I didn't live in a world that hated women?" asks Valenti (Why Have Kids?: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness, 2012, etc.). As she skips around through her memories, the author does include some examples of unpleasant encounters with men: the guys who whistled at her or rubbed up against her in subways as she was growing up in Queens, New York; the college boyfriend who indulged in a nasty species of revenge after they broke up; the high school teacher who said that he would give her an A if she gave him a hug; the married friend who expressed sexual interest in her. On the other hand, Valenti, who admits that she overindulged in alcohol and cocaine for years, acting on the theory that "cocaine let me drink as much as I wanted without passing out or embarrassing myself," seems to be at least partially responsible for some of her own suffering. When she notes, "I cheated on almost all my boyfriends with regularity and without remorse," it's difficult to give her much sympathy when she complains about a boyfriend who was chronically half an hour late for everything. The sections of the memoir that deal with the premature birth of her daughter, her difficulty bonding with the infant, and her daughter's selective mutism are touching, but they are not concerned with pain caused by the hatred of men; Valenti has not a word of complaint about her "lovely" feminist husband. The author ends the book with pages of insulting or demeaning emails and Facebook posts directed toward her, an odd choice since it gives the last word to her critics. Ultimately, the scattered narrative includes some jaw-dropping scenes but fails to live up to its provocative premise. Though lively and richly detailed, Valenti's work lacks the self-awareness essential to a memoir worth pondering.
[Valenti’s] memories are relatable and raise important questions about how society treats and views women.
Powerful...incredibly readable... she wants to take us back to a place of telling stories.
Yes, All Men (And Everyone Else) Need To Read ‘Sex Object’
A powerful literary memoir that expertly makes the case for feminism today.
Deeply moving, honest, and unflinching, Sex Object secures Jessica Valenti’s place as one of the foremost writers and thinkers of her generation. Her personal story highlights universal truths about being a woman, and makes the case for why feminism today is an unstoppable force.
Jessica Valenti’s powerful personal story offers unique perspective on how sexism and patriarchy manifest themselves in the daily lives of American women. Sex Object is a necessary read for women and men alike.
Adrienne Rich wrote, ‘When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.’ In Sex Object, Jessica Valenti tells her truth with stunning vulnerability and courage, defying easy answers and daring us to look away. You won’t forget it.
An entertaining and shocking memoir from a leading feminist writer.
This aching account of attempting to live, date and work while female is a brave admission of vulnerability.
Sharp and prescient… The appeal of Valenti’s memoir lies in her ability to trace objectification through her own life, and to trace what was for a long time her own obliviousness to it…Sex Object is an antidote to the fun and flirty feminism of selfies and self-help.
