A well-read feminist reviewer of a certain age who encounters Stuff Mom Never Told You: The Feminist Past, Present, and Future may find herself sheepishly wondering: How much can she learn about feminism from a couple of young women? Answer: lots, if those women are Anney Reese and Samantha McVey, cohosts of iHeartMedia's intersectional feminism-minded podcast Stuff Mom Never Told You. Their book of this name is as elucidating as it is galvanizing.
In their authors' note, Reese and McVey say that the decade-old podcast (of which they aren't the original hosts) began "with the goal of examining everything and anything through a feminist lens," and their book shares this mission statement. It's a feminist smorgasbord in six themed chapters: on women in sports, on reproductive rights, and so on. As with any smorgasbord, there's a range of textures and tastes: each chapter features a condensed graphic novel illustrated by Helen Choi that introduces the topic at hand; a fictional cautionary tale that hypothesizes what would have happened if progress (Roe v. Wade, gay marriage) had been thwarted; and straight-up reporting on how progress was made.
If the book's clustered mini-profiles of activists representing a range of social justice movements come across as the smorgasbord's nutritive but unexciting vegetables, other sections are dessert: there are pop culture riffs, a crossword puzzle about disability rights, etc. As for things not clocked by even a seasoned feminist: Who knew that women are bigger consumers of horror than men are? And that Hugh Hefner's Playboy Foundation funded the first 10,000 rape kits?
The most powerful moments in Stuff Mom Never Told You are found in the book's "journal entry" sections, in which Reese and McVey grapple with their place in the world. (Each author's personal take is distinguished by a thumbnail of her Funko toy-style likeness.)
There's also commentary via occasional capsule-size outbursts, such as when Reese writes: "I maintain that while I'm not condoning the violent, vengeful actions of the character Ellie in The Last of Us Part II, I feel very strongly a male character doing the same thing would not have attracted the same vitriol." With its breezy tone and Feminism 101-heavy content, Stuff Mom Never Told You is a fine entry point for newbie feminists and feminism-curious young adults. For older feminists, the book offers some new info and the reassurance that there are righteous young women out there flying the flag high. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer
Shelf Talker: This book, from the cohosts of the intersectional feminism-minded podcast of the same name, is a fine entry point for newbie feminists, but it has wisdom to impart to more seasoned feminists as well.