A Little F'd Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word

by Julie Zeilinger

Overview

Young women today have a bad reputation, and for good reason: They’re sexting their classmates, they spend more time on FaceBook than they do in class, and their appetite for material possessions and reality TV is matched only by their overwhelming apathy about important social and political issues. Right?

Wrong.

FBomb blog creator Julie Zeilinger debunks these (and other) myths about modern youth in A Little F’d Up, the first book about feminism for young women in their teens and twenties to actually be written by one of their peers. In this accessible handbook, Zeilinger takes a critical, honest, and humorous look at where young feminists are as a generation, and where they’re going—and she does so from the perspective of someone who’s in the trenches right alongside her readers.

Fun, funny, and engaging, A Little F’d Up is a must-read for the growing number of intelligent, informed young women out there who are ready to start finding their voice—and changing the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781580054478
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	04/17/2012
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	389 KB

About the Author

Originally from Pepper Pike, Ohio, 18-year-old Julie Zeilinger is currently an undergraduate at Barnard College, Columbia University. The founder and editor of FBomb (thefbomb.org), a feminist blog and community for teens and young adults who care about their rights and want to be heard, Zeilinger has been named one of the eight most influential bloggers under the age of 21 by Woman’s Day magazine, one of More Magazine’s “New Feminists You Need To Know,” one of The Times' “40 Bloggers Who Really Count,” and one of the Plain Dealer’s “Most Interesting People of 2011.” She has contributed to the Huffington Post, Feminist.com, Skirt! magazine, and the Cleveland Jewish News, among other publications.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jessica Valenti vii

Introduction l

Part 1 The Badasses Who Came Before Us: A Brief History of Feminism 9

Part 2 Please Stop Calling Me a Feminazi (or Houston, We Have a PR Problem) 77

Part 3 Feminists without Borders: Why Us v. Them Is Self-Defeating 113

Part 4 Feminism and the Internet: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly 137

Part 5 Global Misogyny: The Cold, Hard Facts 163

Part 6 Feminism: Your Secret Weapon for Growing Up 187

Resources 227

Notes 237

Editorial Reviews

Zeilinger, an undergraduate at Barnard College and the creator of TheFBomb.org, a feminist blog for teens and young adults, consolidates the ideas and goals of her website into this informative (and hilarious) debut. Zeilinger elucidates the importance of feminism for a new generation by offering a comprehensive view of the movement and how it relates to young women today, detailing its history from Ancient Mesopotamia to the digital age, addressing global issues like sex trafficking, eschewing unrealistic beauty standards, and positing that feminism is "Your Secret Weapon for Surviving High School." Her colloquial use of wit and sarcasm in addressing serious gender issues makes the complex world of feminism approachable, though Zeilinger never claims to be path-breaking. The text's ultimate goal is to prove that despite having made great strides in terms of economic, social, and political equality, the feminist cause is still entirely relevant—to women and men. While the book's snarky criticism of sexually conservative politics may be off-putting to some, this is ultimately an empowering and timely treatise, complete with resources for further reading (though neither Mina Loy nor Simone de Beauvoir make an appearance). Zeilinger's honesty and straightforwardness will appeal to the often jaded members of Generation Facebook, encourage newcomers to climb on board, and reenergize those already on the bandwagon. (May 15)

Publishers Weekly

Zeilinger, creator of a popular feminist teen blog, thefbomb.org, has written a primer on feminism for teenagers and young women. Now a student at Barnard College, she draws on her own high-school experiences to connect to readers who may be put off by both the language and the ideas of feminism. She devotes the book's first third to the history of feminism or, as she puts it, "The Badasses Who Came Before Us." Like the rest of the book, it is talky and thinly resourced (with the occasional error), but Zeilinger's goal is to entice her readers to stick with her as she demonstrates her understanding of their plight: the abundant "bullshit," "the fucking nightmare" of dealing with body image. (The patois seems intrinsic to her presentation of the issues.) Focusing on global issues, the Internet, and surviving high school, she describes feminism as both inclusive and empowering, with sound advice to young women dealing with the ongoing double standard and the images of perfect women that surround them. She concludes with a short list of other recommended resources for budding feminists. VERDICT Zeilinger has the bona fides to reach teenaged and twentysomething women. This just might work.—Cynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC

Library Journal