Katie Roiphe is a sort-of controversial figure in the feminist landscape. Many of us adore her, but some feminists criticise her for not being ‘feminist enough’. Among Roiphe’s ‘sins’, according to the latter thinking, are her penchant for masculine men, her refusal to marry art with ideology and that she doesn’t automatically take women’s side in every gender-related dispute, but searches for nuances. She sins in these ways, and in many others, also in this excellent collection of essays. But her slaughtering of sacred cows is always thoughtful, witty and erudite, never sadistic. Unlike certain ideologues disguised as writers writing about ‘issues’, Roiphe is never preachy. And she is willing to consider the views of her opponents and reconsider her own views. It is this tendency to hesitate before pronouncing an opinion, as well as the practicality and playfulness of her feminism that I especially adore. Everybody should read Roiphe!

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