This resonated so much with me, I read it all in one evening. As a mother to two children, I feel it's my responsibility to raise in them the values I think they deserve to have in the future. One of these qualities is embracing uniqueness and accepting people for what they do rather than what they look like, what gender they have or what their sexuality is. It's such an important issue to raise at the moment when the country is facing so much uncertainty following Brexit, the election of Trump and the rise of racist attacks - and this little anthology of stories may have helped resort a bit of faith in me that there are still people out there who care.

The story about contraceptives (why must it always be the woman's responsibility?) and the awful side effects that have come with it, the abject horror of realising Trump has been elected, the black dog of depression. None of these women are perfect, yet all of them are me. I might not be Black British, or Indian British, but I'm an ally. And every single story stirred up some kind of emotion - whether it be anger or sadness.

I've always been a bit of a 'backseat feminist' if that is such a thing. Happy to call myself a feminist if asked but never really getting vocal about it. After reading these, I might just get a little more vocal.

This novel was everything I expected it to be! It's a collection of essays by some very inspiring women who come from all different walks of life and cultures.

I thought the subject matter of most of these essays was very unique but at the same time were very correlated together which made my reading experience very, very enjoyable.

Additionally, I really loved the inclusion of Indian and Muslim women - being Indian myself - I thought it was great to see what women from my culture (and cultures similar to mine) go through in different parts of the world and how they overcome these challenges.

I wish I took longer to read this and took my time, but I was too excited to finish this novel and post my thoughts about it. Despite that, I will definitely be going back to this novel over and over to re-read some of my favourite essays!

Some of my favourites: Lament: Living With the Consequences of Contraception, Go Home, Choices, Hard Dumplings, and Afterbirth.

I highly, highly recommend reading this novel because it will honestly change your viewpoint on women and the lives of women! Whether you're a girl, a boy, a woman, a man, or anything in between - you will learn from this and you will love it.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads!! I was so excited to start reading this, but once I was 1/3 through the book, I had to DNF it.

Don't get me wrong. The concept of the book, and the writing style of some writers were really amazing, but most of the essays were more tell, less show. And that was a great issue for me.

At first, I was pissed when I saw how some reviewers were saying that they couldn't relate to the authors cause I thought they meant "I have never experienced that, so don't get it." But after reading 1/3 of the book, I understood what they meant. Some essays are all talk, no show.

This has become one of my all-time favorite books! I have been recommending it to people left and right as one of the strongest arguments for feminism we have today. As a brown woman and feminist myself, the common thread of being a minority and the feeling of being forced to be an ambassador for those communities resonated with me.

The concept of microaggressions is also a current hot topic, and all of these stories provided good examples to define the term. The question of how to explain seemingly harmless, innocuous behavior to privileged people is certainly complex and confusing and there are no clear answers, even in these narratives. They do, however, reinforce the idea that discriminated women should not be afraid to call people out on such behavior for fear of being thought too loud or opinionated.

This is a much needed collection of stories with the current political and social climate, and a brilliant example of how intersectional feminism is so important.

This is an interesting collection of feminist essays by a wide variety of authors on a wide range of topics. I found it to be an interesting collection of thoughts and ideas and experiences.

Nasty Women started as a Kickstarter campaign raising the cost of publication in a very short time. While it's undeniable that facing the nasty woman label is important, I wish that the editors had taken a bit more care in compiling this selection of essays covering a broad range of the female experience. Many essays jump around and lack focus. The essays are timely, but could have used more care.

New independent UK publisher 404 Ink brings us Nasty Women, a collection of twenty-one essays on what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. This book was funded in just three days via the crowd funding website Kickstarter, after Donald Trump referred to Hilary Clinton as a 'nasty woman' during the 2016 presidential elections. These essays reclaim the term and cover issues from contraception, to skin colour and sexual orientation.

The last year has been a been one gut wrenching shock after another when it comes to politics and human rights. I am continually dis-heartened and appalled that a man who has openly admitted to sexual assault has become the US president. Are generations of children meant to look up to this? Meant to be inspired by a racist, sexist man who's signing away human rights for anyone who doesn't fit his idea of the ideal American? This collection meets recent events head on.

The book opens with Independence Day by Katie Murial, which is one of my favourite essay in this collection. Her personal account of Trump's affect on her family is painfully honest and a terrifying insight into his impact on her world. Lament: Living with the Consequences of Contraception by Jen McGregor also makes for impactful reading, covering a topic that's barely covered in current media, even though it affects a huge percentage of our population. Her love/hate relationship with the contraceptive injection Depo-Provera (the drug I blame for being diagnosed as pre-cancerous in my early twenties) highlights just one of the choices women have to make and the consequences we often aren't informed of.

Yes, this is a collection of feminist essays but please don't think that means this is just for women. This collection is packed with important, beautifully written and vibrant accounts and opinions that make for great reading no matter who you are or where you come from. These women's stories are often devastating but their voices are inspiring and their passion for change is contagious. Congratulations ladies, you've left me proud to be a Nasty Woman.

When i requested to read this book i had an idea of what it would be like but as it turned out i was very wrong. In the best way though. This was a exactly the kind of book that is needed today. It's real, raw and powerful.

Feminism. Such an important topic. I cannot stress this enough. Nasty Women is everything I wanted it to be and more. Such a raw, real collection of essays focusing on a variety of topics important to the world including but not limited to racism, bigotry, homophobia, ableism, sexism, misogyny, and so so much more. There are essays by many different women of different religions and races. Diversity is present here, which I applaud because all minorities should be represented in a book aimed at being this honest on what it is to be a woman. And today is a time that this has never been more important with the political atmosphere of Trump's America. I highly recommend everyone read Nasty Women. Never a book more important.

I breezed through this book. It was gritty, it was biting and it was chock full of important and engaging accounts from women of all body types, colour and sexual orientations.

The most important question discussed in this collection is 'what does it mean to be a woman in the 21st Century?'

Believe me, the subject is not black and white and the essays collected here are superbly succinct in their discussions, ideas, and opinions.

I received an advanced reader's copy from the publishers and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I want to thank the publishers for providing me with an arc, I'm very grateful for this opportunity. This is one of the first non-fiction books I have ever read in my spare time. I'm not familiar with the genre and therefore I can't compare it to other feminist works.

Nasty Women is a collection of essays on what it is to be a woman in the 21st century. These essays were written after the Donald Trump was elected president of the United States. Some essays deal with how this influenced their lives (in a negative way) but there are many other topics as well.

I wanted to read Nasty Women because I want to read more feminist texts. For me, this collection of essays was the perfect introduction to the genre. The texts are very diverse, some talk about racial and sexual issues, others talk about weight problems, etc. I found Nasty Women illuminating. The accounts of these women hit me hard sometimes. It offers very different perspectives and every single one is pertinent.

I thought the collection started out strong with an essay about how Trump's election influences people around you, even your own family, to feel it's okay to be racist and sexist. And that's simply heart-breaking.

One thing I really want to point out, is that potential trigger warnings are given at the beginning of these essays. This means you can easily skip an essay if you prefer not to read about rape or abuse, for instance.

All in all, as one of my first non-fiction and feminist reads, I really liked it. After reading each essay, I felt the need to discuss it immediately which probably annoyed my family to death. Nasty Women offers personal stories written by women who don't "fit in" with society's norms in various ways. These different perspective can at times be difficult to read. I am a privileged white female living in Belgium and I have learned a lot by reading Nasty Women. These passionate accounts often made me angry and sad at the same time.

I gave this collection 5 out of 5 stars! I would highly recommend this book if you want to read some hard-hitting, feminist essays. This was a perfect introduction to feminist literature and I will definitely read more of these books in the future! Really, everyone should read Nasty Women, I was truly impressed by this collection.

A must-read! I really really enjoyed these essays. Every single essay focused on something important and what was really impressive was that all of the essays were all different. I thought that the essays were very inclusive and they covered a wide range of topics. What I liked most about these essays was how personal they were. I could really relate and empathise with all of the writers because I could feel they were writing from the heart. I thought most of the essays were extremely well-written and I would definitely read more by the numerous writers from this collection. I think this book is 100% a must-read.

My favourite essays were:
These Shadows, These Ghosts by Laura Lam (5 Stars).
Love in a Time of Melancholia by Becca Inglis (4.5/5 Stars).
Fat in Every Language by Jonatha Kottler (4.5 Stars).

* I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I lack understanding on how so many of them can think he is fit to be anything more than dirt on the ground, let alone the President of the United States of America."

"Like many kids growing up in a small town, I spent an introspective childhood dreaming that the excitement of real life would begin when I left."

"I knew I didn’t want children, and I reasoned that if I was old enough to become a parent then I was old enough to choose not to become one."

"Women who make themselves heard have insults flung at them by those threatened by a change in the status quo."

"The only thing you have to do to be a survivor is to be raped and then to survive."

"I’m trying to keep positive about humanity in general, even though it feels like every new week is battering away at that optimism."

"However, his whole campaign was based on hatred, on setting up an Other to blame for the problems of the working class, on stirring up violence and anger. Us versus Them. To vote for him, to have treated him as a legitimate candidate in the first place, to act as if his inflammatory comments are debatable, is to be complicit in his exclusive version of America."

"They want our things –our food, our labour, our money –but they don’t want us."

"I’m tired of knowing that when people mean ‘immigrants’ in the West, they don’t mean white migrants from North America or Australia."

"Vincent Van Gogh, wrote to his brother of his torment and helplessness:‘One feels as if one were lying bound hand and foot at the bottom of a deep dark well, utterly helpless’."

"Depression is a black hole out of which you are too tired to climb."

"The first time, when you have no prior experience of the feeling, depression sinks into your life without detection. The second time, depression is accompanied by a sense of dread as its cold fingers tendril around the corners of your brain. You know this feeling. It is a familiar ghost that you thought you had managed to exorcise. When you remember what the wraith put you through last time, how it impacted your family or friends, you chastise yourself for allowing yourself to slip. You know that you are vulnerable, and you are meant to know what triggers it. You should have kept a tighter grip on things, been more vigilant. Clearly, thoughts like this will not help you leave the well, and are more likely to push you further under the water."

"Growing up in my family was like living every day in ill-fitting clothes. I spent my time feeling uncomfortable and struggling to breathe."

"I didn’t realise until years later that what I felt, being treated differently to the boys around me, was inequality, pure and simple. Girls should work hard, be humble and shut their mouths. Girls should be girly but not too sexy. There are so many rules that come with being a girl that you forget sometimes that these rules are fictitious patriarchal bullshit. You’re so intent on being the good girl everyone wants you to be that you forget to be yourself."

"Real life isn’t like fiction; there are no neat and tidy endings."

"To live in a culture which will grow your tongue so that some names will roll from it, but others will not, reveals much about who and what said culture values. That children are taught to pronounce the name of a composer whose work they may not even know, but do not say the name of the girl who sits across from them every day in class, is a tool of cultural imperialism. It is a clear line, a line heavy with empire and white supremacy, which says: these are the people who are of worth, whose names you need to remember, who you need to respect, and these are the people who can remain nameless, who you don’t need to respect, who are alien to you."

"Even now as I write at my computer, a red line zigzags under Uzoamaka, whilst Tchaikovsky goes unchecked. A subtle reminder, programmed in, of who the system works for and who is out of place."

"...we’re seen as the radical feminists who want women to leave their husbands, become lesbians, dye their hair green. If wanting a woman to be able to own her own sexuality, to be able to live life with freedom and dignity and find and make her own choices are these things, then yes, we are nasty women –the nastiest around."

"As a black woman in the Dirty South, can someone please explain to me how America was great, when it was great, and when it stopped being great?"

"Take a moment and ask yourself who are the real Nasty Women? Those of us who struggle to empower all women or those of us who empower men that ensure we remain second class citizens?"

"I grew up thinking I was fat, and knowing it was a failure of character."

"Fat is who I am: to people who haven’t met me, (‘the bathroom is over there, next to that fat lady’) to people who know me, (‘you looked so good when you lost that weight’); even to myself."

"There was something inside me that was open and desperate, and I filled it up with some potato chips."

"Here’s a fact: fat people know they are fat. We live it every single moment of every day. Whether it has a physical cause like a prescription drug that saves your life, but makes you gain weight; or an emotional or psychological one; or is even simply a deliberate choice, we know we are fat. And if we ever forget it for a moment, there is a whole world to remind us. And you can say it aside, or in your own language ‘dikke vrouw’ (big fat lady), or just think it while looking at us in disgust, but we always know that you know it, too."

"I cannot define my own value by the amount of space I take up at a given moment. I cannot speak to myself in that language anymore."

"A permanent change is a strange thing. It’s difficult to wrap my head around the fact that, for the rest of my life, they will be gone."

"I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me a long time to realise that being good is not equal to being subservient."

"I was judged and hated for simply existing –for taking up space which apparently I did not deserve."

"‘Not everything is about race.’ ‘Not everything is sexist.’ Perhaps not. But enough of it is for it to be an on-going problem that we simply cannot sweep under the carpet anymore."

This was an uneven work for me. Some stories were well written, while others seemed quite juvenile in their structure. I felt the opening story was quite weak and thus a surprising choice to start the book with.

This is what feminism is about: all women! I particularly enjoyed Joelle Owusu's 'The Dark Girl's Enlightenment' but it was good to read about other stories and experiences different from mine. Nasty Women also highlights the power of storytelling; the women in the book claim their space by unapologetically sharing their own stories. Very empowering read, indeed.

Wow.
What a powerful anthology.
It’s about time that women can read a selection of essays written by Nasty Women: women who speak openly about the abuse/criticism they’ve received, just for being them.
A lot of feminist writing is generic, focusing on gender inequality. But here we have essays written by women of various races, religions, gender identities, and “different” interests. And for once these women, in one volume, are celebrating these differences and owning the fact that they are Nasty. As one of the authors said, who actually is Nasty? A woman who thinks freely and acts as herself, or a woman who does what others thinks she should and isn’t happy? Or a woman who votes for a misogynist and somehow still calls herself a feminist?
Speaking of Trump… I thought the first essay, “Independence Day”, was the perfect beginning. The anxiety and anger surrounding the American presidency is all too common these days; reading a personal account of the recent increase of racial abuse was an enlightening way to introduce the concept of the Nasty Woman.
The essays started out strong and in my opinion weakened a bit in the middle. Some were a little too factual to keep me interested, and a few were too academic, with a lot of quotes from other sources that broke up the flow of the narrative. However, I really enjoyed the last essay, “The Dark Girl’s Enlightenment”. I realize that I liked the more emotional, emphatic, essays. I personally couldn’t relate to most of the essays, which is even more reason to read Nasty Women: all women need to understand and be empathetic to other women’s situations in order to call ourselves feminists, and this anthology provides ample material.

I really loved it! Extremely well written and not the cookie cutter voice of feminism. Very real and refreshing. Would definitely recommend reading it!

Being a woman is still very tough today, in the 21st century. To read this collection of essays, though, gave me encouragment and empowerment.

In these essays women talk about their stories, fears and hopes. Their stories resonated with me deeply. A must read for everybody.

I really, really wanted to like this book. I love anthologies and feminism. However, the brief essays were, in my opinion, too short. I would have preferred fewer more fleshed out essays.

With intolerance and inequality increasingly normalised by the day, it's more important than ever for women to share their experiences. We must hold the truth to account in the midst of sensationalism and international political turmoil. Nasty Women is a collection of essays, interviews and accounts on what it is to be a woman in the 21st century.

People, politics, pressure, punk - From working class experience to racial divides in Trump’s America, being a child of immigrants, to sexual assault, Brexit, pregnancy, contraception, identity, family, finding a voice online, role models and more, Laura Jane Grace of Against Me!, Zeba Talkhani, Chitra Ramaswamy are just a few of the incredible women who share their experience here.

Keep telling your stories, and tell them loud. (via Goodreads)
I received an eARC from Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, 404 Ink, in exchange for an honest review.

I reviewed the Radical Hope Anthology written by US authors of all walks of life in response to November 8's results. The Nasty Women collection is the un-related UK response to the same events, and it was good.

Content notes for suicide and sexual assault were included in the title header for the applicable stories, which I thought was a great way to do it. I know there's been some discussion about the best way to do this, but I liked the way this was laid out. You couldn't read the title of the piece without seeing that there was a content warning.

“Names” by Nadine Aisha Jassat spoke incredibly clearly to me. I have had four people in my life pronounce my name correctly outside of my immediate family. Even some of my aunts and uncles cannot pronounce my name, or spell it correctly. I’ve turned it into a conversation point and a bit of a joke, but I definitely judge whether people are worth hanging out with by how long it takes them to learn my name.

I loved the footnotes that went into this collection. If one of these concepts was confusing, or you wanted to learn more about it, you could easily find out where to get more of it. I’m not sure how accessible the sources are, because a lot of them are UK academic sources, but they are clearly labelled.

However, some of these articles got incredibly academic, which kind of dragged the collection down for me, personally. I found myself skimming some of the heavier essays, which wasn't great, considering I'm pretty much the intended audience for this collection.

That being said, I loved a lot of the essays in this collection, and would definitely recommend it to people who loved Radical Hope. Nasty Women was a three star read for me, though some of the individual essays were five if they were on their own. You can pick up a copy on Amazon!

three stars

“I know there will be many bumps in the road ahead. I know that I may not have gone through the worst that will be thrown at me, and I know I have many choices ahead of me. Choosing to tell my story was just one of them.” - Rowan C. Clarke in “Choices”