This book was clearly written for the high-school to early college crowd. as a grad student i knew a lot of this stuff. but still an interesting read and i got a few insightful nuggets out of it. if anything its a good jumping-off point for those new to feminist works and women's studies, etc. since it has some good references in the back. i would definitely recommend this to my younger sisters or any other teen girl (or boy) in my life. wish i had read a book like this when i was in high school. ( )

So I’m a bit biased for two reasons; 1. I am completely an out and proud feminist, and I’m not ashamed to admit it, and 2. I love, LOVE Jessica Valenti, I’m very familiar with her work and I read feministing.com every single day. So having said that, I think this is a really excellent, very important contribution to the wealth of feminist literature that is out there. Although Valenti writes in a very casual style, and she is not afraid to throw out a swear word every few pages or so, I think that for this particular book, her style works for her. She wrote the book especially for teens and young women (perhaps 15-25), and because of that targeted audience her writing style is acceptable and probably works to her benefit. She’s very relatable and she simplifies and breaks down complex feminist issues to help younger readers more easily see how important these topics are for them to understand and analyze in their daily lives. She makes feminism seem like the most obvious choice for women, in fact the only choice (and I completely agree with that, I definitely feel that it is the only choice for women if we’re going to understand ourselves and the larger culture), and I think the way she talks about it will help to open a lot of readers’ eyes.

While I think this is a good start, it is by no means a very intellectual or exhaustive study in feminism. I think this is a good book for anyone curious about why feminism is important, what it is, and how it relates to their daily lives, but I do not think that it should be the last book about feminism that someone ever reads. It is kind of like a primer (albeit a hip, casual conversation type primer), and after finishing it if one’s eyes are open there are PLENTY of other books on feminism that should be tackled to really examine the issues in a deeper way. But really, I’m a huge fan of Valenti and I think she wrote an excellent book that many readers will get a lot out of. ( )

I'm a bit torn by Full Frontal Feminism. On one hand, it is very readable and engaging. It seems to be aimed at teenagers, and the language and tone reflects that. On the other hand, I feel like the tone detracts from the seriousness of the issues Valenti writes about. It spends more time trying to convince the readers that they are already feminists than it spends talking about feminist issues. I'd recommend this book to teenagers unfamiliar with feminism, but not to anybody with a serious interest in it. ( )

As a loud and proud 30-something feminist, I don't think I was really the target reader for this book, which is really designed for younger woman who might think that "feminist" is a dirty word. Valenti spends a lot of time trying to convince the reader that feminists are not dirty, man-hating lesbians or whatever...and that feminism can be cool. The fact that this book is even necessary is a little sad. Plus, like the other reviewer, I regularly read www.feministing.com (which you should too!), so a lot of this wasn't new to me.

That all having been said, I thought this was a fun little read and I am always glad to support the ladies of Feministing in their endeavors. The one thing I really wondered about though - is this really how young people think and is the language they use really this dumb? I think Valenti's writing style on the blog is pretty funny and sometimes really all you can say in response to some of these news items is "what the f*ck?!" - but in a book form, it just doesn't fly so well. I know that Valenti was trying to appeal to a young audience that isn't down with feminist theory and whatnot, but sometimes I wished that her analysis went a little deeper than "what the f*ck?!" ( )

A good beginner's look at issues in feminism for the younger woman in America. As a regular reader of feministing.com, it didn't captivate me as much because I pretty much knew everything in the book. That said, it was still entertaining and framed issues nicely. ( )