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Liked It “everyone should read this book. as it has been put before, this IS a book about freedom” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Ugh. I am so fucking disappointed with this book. |
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0 of 1 members found this review helpful“I read this my first year of college when I was starting to get interested in feminism. It totally rocked my world. Now I think the author is a little weird, but some of her ideas still come into my mind now and again. Her section on rape was really intense and interesting. ”
Brie M wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“everyone should read this book. as it has been put before, this IS a book about freedom”
christina T wrote this review Wednesday, November 4 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“First half of the book blew my mind, the second half I didn't finish reading just because it was repetitive and rant-ish, haha. Still, one of my all time favorites. I am currently reading it for the second time :]”
Padee Otxoa wrote this review Thursday, October 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“An important book. Not my favorite--in the genre of examination of social construction/language use. Muscio has a sense of humor but is also smart. It's a fast read. Besides, it's fun buying this one in public.”
Kelly D wrote this review Tuesday, September 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Meh. I would have eaten this book up when I was 17 - it would have been wonderful, empowering, fabulous. Now that I'm older, calmer, more informed, it's just a rehashing of everything I already know and am - but with unnecessary bitterness.”
Misty wrote this review Friday, August 14 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Ugh. I am so fucking disappointed with this book.
K.H. wrote this review Wednesday, August 5 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
Cunt: A Declaration of Independence, was authored by Inga Muscio, a feminist writer. The book is about, well, cunts, and how they are treated in our society. Muscio discusses a variety of vulva and vagina oriented topics, from the stigmatization of menstruation to the million dollar industry that encourages women to cleanse, deodorize, and rip the pubic hair from their cunts, despite the fact that the aforementioned vaginas are perfectly fucking capable of taking care of themselves. Muscio is a strong advocate of midwives, natural medicine, and the like. She goes in to a fair amount of detail about her efforts to escape the exorbitant costs of tampons, seven dollars for a box of cardboard and cotton, and instead uses a variety of cheaper, more natural, and more messy alternatives to staunching her flow. She expresses a strong dislike current methods of hormonal birth control, really the only reliable method of birth control aside from condoms, and instead advocates learning your body's cycle, knowing when you are ovulating and abstaining or wearing condoms then. She discusses sexual assault, domestic violence, double standards, and a multitude of similar feminist issues. Like me, she places little stock in so called, "bad," words, and sees no problem with including such prohibited words in her writing.
Yes, based on the subject matter, the upfront title, and the cavalier attitude towards bad words and bad behavior, I was expecting to adore this Inga Muscio's book. I was certain that upon reading it, Cunt, would earn a permanent place in my personal library. I was terribly wrong.
Cunt, is poorly written, from the Muscio's writing style to the book's editing, the entire thing is horribly written. Technical errors, spelling and grammatical mistakes, are littered throughout. As an English major, I realize that this sort of thing is a bit more glaringly obvious to me than it would be to some, however, I think that nearly anyone with a college level English class under their belt would notice it. Now, I realize that my own blog has its fair share of technical mistakes as well, however, there is a crucial difference between, "The Hooters Girl," a personal blog written by an unpaid, unprofessional college student, and, Cunt, a published book written by a paid, professional writer. Call me crazy, but my standards rise when a publisher and an editor are involved. Even if one can resist the urge to break out the red pen, however, there are plenty of other aspects of this book to hate. Muscio's voice and writing style are dreadful, in my opinion. She often comes across as just as preachy and hypocritical as those that she denounces for such. Even where I agreed with her I was put off by her attitude. Her prose is meandering, continually diving off on new tangents, never to return to the initial, unfinished discussion. Much of her advice is inappropriate, at best, and down right dangerous at worst. When denouncing hormonal birth controls, for example, the only form of birth control with 99% effectiveness, Muscio recommends an alternative form of avoiding pregnancy, one wherein you track your cycle and avoid sex when you are ovulating. Unfortunately, this method is a very poor one. Sperm can reside in the vaginal canal for several days, thus causing a woman to become pregnant even if she abstains from intercourse while ovulating. That Muscio readily admits to three abortions is a testament to the inferiority of such an ineffectual method of avoiding pregnancy. Muscio also denounces Plan B, while simultaneously admitting that she has never actually researched it at any length. I can tell you right now that Plan B is much less difficult on your body than an abortion, and the emotional consequences that many women experience with abortion are absent as well. Ugh. I found myself getting pissed off while I was reading this shit.
In a nutshell, Cunt, is poorly written. It contains technical errors, incorrect information posturing as fact, and terrible advice. The writing style is pushy, meandering, and full of hypocrisy. I am not dramatizing when I say that this was one of the worst books that I have ever read.
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“Very much enjoyed this book! I found it to be empowering in some senses, and it certainly was thought-provoking - in some cases I was prone to agreeing with the author, and in other cases I found some of her opinions to be very different from my own.
Katherine H wrote this review Monday, August 3 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
This is not necessarily a negative thing, however - I wasn't seeking a full-on feminist bible in which I would agree with every single point ever made in the book, but rather I preferred to find a diving-off point of a feminist book, and this was definitely a good choice. I am not as radical as Muscio is, certainly, and by reading some of her opinions, I was able to more fully delineate my own, which is always a beautiful thing. :)”
“Yay for Inga Muscio! :) Saw her on a book tour for "Blue-Eyed Devil," and she's phenomenal.”
Mischa T wrote this review Saturday, June 20 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“This book is one of my favorite books of all time. I've re read it four or so times and each time have found some kind of new wisdom. I love her candid, conversational, and informal style. She presents topics that are sometimes distasteful to the mainstream in a way that allows them to be understood. I HEART this book.”
Rachel S wrote this review Monday, June 15 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
