Unscrewed

September 15, 2017
A feminist perspective on sexual power and its uses and abuses in America.Women's sexuality expert Friedman (What You Really Really Want: The Smart Girl's Shame-Free Guide to Sex and Safety, 2011) believes women are in the midst of an era of "fauxpowerment" whereby "bright, candy-colored" notions of female sexual liberation, equality, and sexual power cloak the real reality of the "still mostly retrograde and misogynist status quo." In clear, concise language, she argues that the current state of American culture suffers from a sexual revolution that remains unfinished and is in dire need of an overhaul while economic, governmental, and technological forces falsely promote the advancements in the sexual empowerment and equalization of women. Supporting this claim are numerous profiles of change-makers who, through their individual and collective efforts, have fostered a culture of assistance and acceptance. They include a host of grass-roots pioneers who have dedicated their lives to defusing misogyny and sexual oppression and to reshaping public perception. Friedman chronicles her discussions with reproductive justice activist Loretta Ross, her volunteer work with a sexual research study at a Toronto university, and her questioning of Facebook's little-known policy on adult products and services. She also examines the arduous fight over abortion rights and profiles award-winning female-empowerment filmmakers. With a seasoned eye, Friedman scrutinizes the complex historical legacy of sexual dehumanization and the contemporary proliferation of the teenage hookup culture. All of these interviews and anecdotal material inform readers on the slowly changing attitudes toward American sexual culture for women, from a toxic environment built on humiliation, shame, and violence to one of equality and liberation. However, notes the author, there is a long road ahead. The text is lively, emboldening, and nonjudgmental, and Friedman provides tools and processes whereby readers can become involved in an equality movement aimed at "seizing your power from a system that doesn't want you to have it." A potent, convincing manifesto on how female sexual equality marches onward despite cultural roadblocks.

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October 15, 2017

As the editor of Yes Means Yes! and host of the podcast Unscrewed, as well as the founder of the nonprofit Women, Action & the Media, Friedman has played a critical role in challenging sex-positive feminism means and how difficult it is to disentangle healthy sexuality from cultural practices that result in objectification and victim blaming. In her new book, Friedman employs tactics similar to the ones Andi Zeisler uses in We Were Feminists Once to marry theory, politics, activism, and pop culture in a way that is simultaneously conversational and polemical. For readers who share Friedman's take on sexuality, her use of the phrase "We the fauxpowered" will invoke a sense of shared experience. The term links together many of the pivotal concepts of this volume: the interlocking relationship between sex, contemporary politics, popular culture, and feminism. VERDICT While Friedman makes a convincing argument of the need for more intersectional feminism, some readers may find her language at times too polarizing to pay attention to the solid points she makes about double standards, especially as the relate to sexuality in conjunction and power.--Emily Bowles, Univ. of Wisconsin Coll. and Extension, Madison

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