Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates (book review)

Another of my boyfriend’s feminist collection. For bedtime reading; it has been a bit of a slog!

Each chapter of the book starts with some statistics. There is then tweets that have come under hashtag everyday sexism, other examples from people author spoke to and discussion by author. It is very much about media and social media so perhaps students of such disciplines would be interested in the book. It talks a lot about what may be a trigger object for some; rape.

One statistic in the book is: A woman with a child under 11 is 45% cent less likely to be employed than a man. UK equalities review 2007. Aside from fact this seems a rather old statistic for a book published in 2014, Bates does not in my mind disec, the statistic enough. In my mind it is not necessarily so simple. Some women may choose to work less to care for children; albeit this decision may influenced by preconceived ideas,that it is woman should stay at home; but is this necessarily blatant sexism? Being a biologist I think the book ignores the, difference in male and female biology which may affect differing role in society.

The book does not go into what i think would have been another interesting topic:  the sexism of patriarchal society such as women being given away at weddings.

Overall,  although the book discusses some interesting topics, the book was not revolutionary to me and I have read similar discussions in magazines and did not nesssecarily appreciate it all in one book. Maybe other’s who have read less on the topics would appreciate the book more.