Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

I've had SHRILL on my to-read list since 2017, so it feels really good to finally check it off my list. I've now read all three of West's essay collections and she's quickly become one of my favorite feminist essayists for her writings on body positivity, intersectional feminism, pop cultural commentary, and general amusing (or not-so-amusing) observations about how the world works. Also, I'm not entirely convinced that we aren't secretly the same person. For starters, we're both super awkward and like to shout in all-caps.SHRILL is her first book and also the weakest, which makes sense because essays are hard and finding your voice is hard, and it feels like the two things in tandem can be like trying to learn how to ride a bike and juggle at the same time. Even so, it's still fantastic. There were slow portions but some of the essays were so, so good. Like, the one about her father made me tear up a little-- and the one about the troll who terrorized her using her father's death as a weapon, only to apologize later and offer reconciliation was... WHEW.She writes quite openly about what it is like to be overweight in a society that only accepts thin bodies as healthy, attractive bodies. She brings up some pretty harsh truths about what it is like to be a woman on the internet. I watched a clip of the debate she did with comedian Jim Norton on YouTube and the comments section made me sick. Women are not supposed to take up space. They are not supposed to be loud and opinionated. They are not supposed to rejoice in the things that society says they should find shameful. Lindy flips the bird to all of that and says, YES THEY CAN, YES THEY ARE, YES THEY SHOULD, AND ALSO, YOU ARE DUMB.**I mean, I would imagine.I'm really sad she doesn't have much of an internet presence. She talks about why in THE WITCHES ARE COMING and I get it. At the end of the day, your mental health should be your number one priority, and if social media is becoming an emotional sinkhole that drags you deeper every day, then yeah, maybe social media needs to exit stage left. It shouldn't be this way, and Lindy talks about this, too, about how women (and also PoCs/LGBT+) are basically told to grow thicker skins and not disrupt the status quo because THE INTERNET IS MEAN YOU GUYS AND THAT'S JUST HOW IT IS. Why is that how it is? IDK, but it is, and is apparently meant to stay so until the ends of time. SHRILL challenges that, and encourages people to push for courtesy and really own themselves, flaws and all. Parts of it are devastating, parts of it are funny, but ultimately it's a pretty satisfying and empowering read.4 to 4.5 out of 5 stars

The more I read the more this book hit close to home. It actually made me uncomfortable while reading. I was skin and bone and then reaching puberty I blossom. Not in the good way. I was always over. The old saying she's big boned. Right. No today they call it obese. So read this down to earth in your face about the side of being overweight.

Very few books speak to me on the level of Shrill. I haven’t highlighted this many passages since college. Every facet of this book speaks a truth that I can relate to- I cheered, I cried, I got mad. Definitely worth the read.

It seems like every woman I know has read this book, which automatically made me suspicious. (I still haven't forgiven my fellow females for The Bridges of Madison County.) I finally trundled forth on my own.I'm glad I did. It just took me a while to get there. I wasn't sure what I was headed into. I figured "feminist, fat-positive, intersectionality" and that's all true. But are these essays? Not exactly. What was I reading? I finally settled on memoir-ish. It took me a while to finish this because I ended up with a ton of notes scribbled on my notebook, and I spent a lot of time reading about the surrounding circumstances. I honestly didn't have to. She explained these things well and even quotes huge chunks of some pieces. (One thing I learned: Leonard Nimoy is a photographer!)The reason I'm going on about this is that the beginning of the book is witty. It's written like essays, even if it's about being a child, a fat child, a fantasist child... This doesn't feel like a true memoir until the very final few chapters, and those are beautiful chapters -- written with a vulnerability that I found very relatable and touching. There is true wisdom in the final handful of chapters that don't feel like I'm being Taught A Lesson because she shows us her experience and her vulnerability as she learns.Earlier chapters are hilarious. The end of the book still has laugh aloud moments, but it's on a much deeper level. She's finally let the reader in. I wish she could've found a way to let me in earlier. Much of the fat-positive stuff felt very defensive. (Full disclosure: I, too, am overweight, or as West would say, "FAT," and I can attest to the different way society at large treats fat people because I was pretty thin until I hit 40.) Despite my sympathetic ear, it still came off to me as defensive. The "lessons" she tries to impart early about the way we treat fat people finally get an "aha" moment in the latter chapters when she describes her marriage and the circumstances around her engagement. Here, she's open and honest. We get to see behind the activist into the real woman.Interestingly, I found something at odds between her feminism and her fat positivity in these latter chapters. It's not glaring, and I certainly don't fault her for wanting to be desirable to her husband and show the world that he desires her, but the tension of being a woman shows up here. It brings up an even deeper set of issues for women that she doesn't touch. I don't fault her at all for that -- this is not an academic study.It's hard being a woman. I know this. And I don't even have an army of trolls attacking me on a daily basis.I'm slightly older than Lindy West. I grew up a decade or so before her. When I was growing up, it was assumed that because the world now said the "right" things, all was now fine, much like the "post-racial" nonsense that went around in 2008. It's nonsense, but I believed it as a girl, and that's brought me some real anger in adulthood. It's made me a pretty ardent feminist. This is where I've learned from women like Lindy West - how to be unapologetic about my feminism, including my anger.This book didn't change my life, and I doubt it will change anyone else's. Nonetheless, West has a real point about chipping away at the old truisms and making the world a little better with our every interaction."It's hard to be cold or cruel when you remember it's hard to be a person."This is a pretty wise young woman, and it'll be great fun to watch and read her in the future. Rumor has it that she has two more books in the works.Originally posted at "So It Goes" book blog

Dealing with; rape jokes and rape culture, abortion, online harassment and meeting the troll who set up a Twitter account using her dead father's name, finding her voice and learning to appreciate her body the way it is 'Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman' by Lindy West is a smart, funny and frank memoir about what it's like to be an outspoken fat woman in a world that, so often, tells women to sit down and shut up.Stand out quotes include:"Please don't forget: I am my body. When my body gets smaller, it is still me. When my body gets bigger, it is still me. There is not a thin woman inside me, awaiting excavation. I am one piece."and"We're all building our world, right now, in real time. Let's build it together."

I loved this book. Lindy West pulls no punches. The book is heartfelt, hysterical, and grim - all in one go. It's also refreshing and straightforward. Lindy drops all the academic jargon and just talks to you - person to person. It's fantastic writing and a book that, I think, can't help but change you, or at least plant a seed of change somewhere. There are humans out there suffering and we are passing by and allowing it to happen. Lindy asks us not to take up the banner, because not everyone is ready for that, but to be aware of others' struggles and be kinder, more considerate and realize that each person has their own demons to slay. I can't recommend this book enough ❤️👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

I was close to tears but more angered by the horrendous abuse West has endured for years. A real passionate insight into how West has made a mark in a profession and a world which is both sizeist and misogynistic. West asks why are we supposed to see online rape threats as a social norm and why do we blame fat people for everything. Only she does it in a way which is clever and insightful and funny.

Watched the TV show based on her life and then bought the book. Really interesting, witty and honest. Would recommend.

Omg! This book is amazing. It made me tear up and cracked a laugh. It is about to empower women by amazingly strong and funny one! Well written