When Nora Ephron passed away, I was devastated. I didn’t know her, but I really, really wanted to. I guess I felt like I did know her in a way that we were in the same club … female writers. I felt a great loss when Nora Ephron passed away, and I felt like there was a hole in our club. Then I found Caitlin Moran. I instantly took a liking to Moran and her take on feminism.
Moran, who proudly says she’s a “strident feminist,” has come up with a very simple way to help women who are on the fence about being a feminist: “Here,” Moran says, “is the quick way of working out if you’re a feminist. Put your hand in your underpants. a) Do you have a vagina? and b) Do you want to be in charge of it?” If you said “yes” to both questions, Moran says, “Then congratulations! You’re a feminist.”
That’s how Moran writes her collection of essays newly published here in the states called, How To Be a Woman. It’s already a best seller in her native England, and it’s poised to take the top spot here in America as well. Generally, America is somewhat late to the self-deprecating-dry humor train but we’re getting there, thank God.
I’m a big fan of Moran for her honest, brave and funny take on herself. As Moran says, “I do not look very feminine. Diana, Princess of Wales is feminine … I am … femi-none.”
I also relate to Moran, as one of my first pieces for Zelda Lily I talked about having to “de-fur.” Moran has an essay called, “I Become Furry!” where she recounts the momentous occasion of growing pubic hair; she then uses that memory to reflect on what she calls “pube disapproval.” She says, “I can’t believe we’ve got to a point where it’s basically costing us money to have a vagina. They’re making us pay for maintenance and upkeep of our lulus, like they’re a communal garden. It’s a stealth tax. … This is money we should be spending on THE ELECTRICITY BILL and CHEESE and BERETS …”
Stop reading this article (but come back to finish the rest of the page) and go get “How To Be a Woman” by Caitlin Moran. I promise you will not be disappointed.