A Review of The Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism

In The Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism, Ellie Levenson expresses her opinions regarding a wide-range of topics, including reproductive rights, career progression and sexual violence.  


However, I can't help but feel that Levenson has cut herself short on some very interesting topics.  For instance, I can feel Levenson's passion emanating from her writing but I do feel that she is stifling this to discuss as many issue as possible.  The result is a book which feels more like a brief dictation as to what Feminism (wait, Levenson's Feminism) is really about.  I personally wanted to see more analysis of current perceptions of sexual violence and also more of Leveson's own thoughts about this subject.  There were too many topics for any to have justice done to its current debate.  Having said this, The Noughtie Girl's Guide is indeed a guide for the hitherto uninitiated reader.  If I look at it as an introductory text to allow others to develop an interest in Feminism, then this book is fabulous!  


The language is quite basic, but this is a deliberate effort on Levenson's part to make her book accessible to a younger generation of feminists.  I would have preferred The Noughtie Girl's Guide to Feminism to have contained a slightly more sophisticated vocabulary, but acknowledge that Levenson was attempting to appeal to as wide an audience as possible and not narrow herself to an academic readership.


Levenson references other current polemics in her writing, explaining how she came to formulate her opinions or the interactions between herself and these other writers.  She even quoted Germaine Greer upon occasion, so she clearly has done a lot of research even if the book is rather condensed overall.  The facts contained within were interesting and relevantly used to highlight as well as effectively support her many viewpoints.


Overall, I found this a delightful book and couldn't put it down.  However, I was left wanting to know more; more about the topics covered within and about Levenson's own views.  After a quick bit of on-line research, I was disappointed not to find any other books by Levenson.  This book would have been a great foot-in-the-door to further writing in the same vein where her topics are even further analysed.