02/15/2016 Sexism as it exists today in Western culture is a normal, everyday experience in the lives of women, according to Bates. She knows this from personal experience as well as from the thousands of women who have shared their experiences through the Everyday Sexism Project, a website founded by the author and dedicated to cataloguing instances of sexism. With pages of facts, well-reasoned and detailed arguments, and an expanding supply of painful stories of women and girls told in their own words, Bates shines an unrelenting light on sexist acts of oppression, laying in stark detail and clear language how sexism causes problems for women in every area of their lives, from girlhood to education to their working years. The argument she builds is inescapable: sexism affects everyone, with damaging consequences not just to women but to all people and to society as a whole, and no one could read this book and fail to be moved. (Apr.)
"Everyday Sexism started in the streets, homes and offices of London, and now has spread to thirty countries around the globe—for good reason. Daily humiliations have been mostly unreported until now. Such big crimes as sexualized violence in war zones may get noticed, but the death of the spirit is also the death of a thousand cuts. Laura Bates has challenged the normalization of sexism, and created a place where both men and women can see it and change it." —Gloria Steinem "Readers, whether newly educated or empowered by Bates’ comprehensive, well-researched report, will find it useful for starting discussions between the genders." —Booklist "Bates invites provocative, much-needed dialog that will promote more nuanced exchanges regarding the issues women face." —Library Journal "Laura Bates didn't just begin a movement, she has started a revolution. Women are speaking back and she is giving them the megaphone to do it. Anyone who isn't convinced we live in a world where women are still treated as second class citizens needs to read Everyday Sexism. Women are shouting, and everyone better listen." —Liz Plank, Senior Correspondent at Mic and host of Flip the Script "Read this book for two reasons: Bates offers a startlingly astute analysis on violence and inequality that breathes much-needed life into what is often tired gender politics. But more than that, she gives space to our voices—the voices of those of us who have been grabbed, jeered at, or made to feel invisible. The societal silencing of sexism is what Bates truly upends, and it’s this that does a public, and personal, service to thousands and thousands of women around the world who have stood up and finally—finally—been heard." —Lauren Wolfe, journalist and Director of the Women's Media Center's Women Under Siege Project "In Everyday Sexism , Laura Bates has created a much needed and important space for people to come forward, share their experiences and understand why they are important. The hundreds of jarring stories she shares in this book are those society would rather continue to pretend don't happen or don't matter. Bates' clear, and critically on-target demand that society pay attention is evident on every page. Her thorough, relentless and accessible approach to difficult and complex issues is catalyzing a global conversation about gender inequality." —Soraya Chemaly "By documenting story after story of both small and large incidents of sexism in public spaces, homes, schools, workplaces, media, and politics, and by using corroborating data and news articles, Bates has shown just how frequently women face discrimination — and the toll it takes. But she also has shown how, as women realize they are not alone or to blame for the sexism, harassment and assault they experience, they begin speaking out and— in many cases — they successfully challenge the sexist status quo...As more people read her book, undoubtedly more will be inspired to speak out, pushing along the groundswell of outrage and action that will one day result in the end of sexism." —Holly Kearl "Laura Bates book Everyday Sexism is powerful and very effective. Going to become required reading for my boys." —Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, President of International at The New York Times “It is as uncomfortable a read as it is laudable. I shall relish giving it to my goddaughters and sons, niece and nephews.” —Telegraph “Often shocking, sometimes amusing and always poignant, everyday sexism is a protest against inequality and a manifesto for change. It's 'a game-changing book, a must-read for every woman.” —Cosmopolitan “Admirable and culturally transferable. 'A storm is coming,' writes Bates. After reading this book you'll hope so.” —Independent “This is an important work and if I had my way would be compulsory school reading across the globe.” —Feminist Times “As founder of the Everyday Sexism project, Laura was one of the first women to harness the power of social media to fight sexism and misogyny and give millions of young women a voice. ” —Grazia “You may think you're familiar with the facts in Everyday Sexism. But nothing can prepare you for the emotional punch of hearing the stories of so many real women, from so many backgrounds, each struggling in a world that refuses to see them as fully human. Laura Bates deftly makes visible the spider web of oppression that holds us back and binds us all together.” —Jaclyn Friedman, co-author of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape
You may think you're familiar with the facts in Everyday Sexism . But nothing can prepare you for the emotional punch of hearing the stories of so many real women, from so many backgrounds, each struggling in a world that refuses to see them as fully human. Laura Bates deftly makes visible the spider web of oppression that holds us back and binds us all together.
co-author of Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Jaclyn Friedman
02/01/2016 Based on a successful social media project—a response to what Bates describes as her "tipping point," the moment following a series of episodes of harassment she was expected to accept as part of an investigation into what it means to be a woman inhabiting public space—this debut examines the deeply entrenched, systemic sexual double standards that marginalize and oppress women today. As a contribution to research and studies of sexism, Bates' book offers a confident mixture of personal narratives, data, and anecdotes the author has collected over the years and is most compelling in its utilization of a nonlinear approach to the subject. Rather than start with girlhood and move through the phases of women's lives, the author opens with the political realm and goes on to interrogate preadulthood, the education system, the workplace, and public space; a strategy that allows her to spotlight the ways in which systemic oppression has no beginning or end. Occasionally, the author's tone and syntax seems off-putting (e.g., using "his junk" in reference to a man's online presence)—a phrase that risks alienating readers from an important point about sexual double standards. VERDICT Bates invites provocative, much-needed dialog that will promote more nuanced exchanges regarding the issues women face. [See Prepub Alert, 8/24/15.]—Emily Bowles, Building for Kids Children's Museum, Appleton, WI
12/01/2016 Using hundreds of tales from women (and men) about sexual abuse, catcalling, and sexism, Bates draws from her social media project, Everyday Sexism, to create a must-have title about social justice, feminism, and microaggressions. (http://ow.ly/iyXM305ME9V)—Sarah Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, IL
2016-02-03 A British feminist activist gathers together stories from women worldwide about gender-based denigration suffered in both private and public spheres.When Bates realized just how many "little pinpricks" of sexist intrusion— which included everything from male leering to outright physical assault—she had to deal with every day, she finally fully understood the deeply rooted nature of gender inequality. In this book, she shares her experiences alongside those of women who have written on Bates' website about everything from "the niggling and normalized to the outrageously offensive and violent." As she sees it, the main issue at stake is that "sexism is often an invisible problem." Moreover, society forces women into silent compliance through various forms of abuse. Stories from young girls and adolescents, for example, reveal how they are still faced with the difficult and unfair task of reconciling pressures to be sexually available with those that condemn the expression of female sexuality. As adults, young women just out of college, who routinely face sexual harassment on the job, earn on average just 82 percent of what men do. And those holding elected office are still in the minority worldwide and are themselves often the targets of belittlement due to their gender. Bates suggests that the media, a social apparatus that "is controlled by men, for men," plays an especially invidious role in the creation and perpetuation of damaging messages about female identity. Furthermore, those who do not fit the desirable image of femininity—whether because of age, race, class, or sexual preference—face even greater discrimination. The points the author makes about the struggles girls and women face worldwide are not new, but Bates' digital activism and the passion behind her project to "force people to recognize that [sexism] is real" are forces to be reckoned with. A potent reminder of how far feminism has come and how far it has to go.