"Prolific feminist writer Laurie Penny is mad as hell in her new collection, Bitch Doctrine . . . Expect essays on how the Trump administration is f—-ing with us, how marginalized people are in danger in our current political climate, or how the inequality of women is never-ending. But what's to relish most is Penny's distinct voice and snarky takes that have made her previous works—including six books and countless viral articles—so popular." - W Magazine, "10 Hottest New Books"
"Sometimes enraging, sometimes enchanting, often both at once . . . A raw, bright, urgent voice . . . Like Caitlin Moran, another compulsive and essentially self-taught writer, she went to places others didn't and brought back things they had missed." - The Guardian
"The feminist writer Laurie Penny gives us short essays on everything from the trials of being trolled to why exactly she calls herself polyamorous and genderqueer . . . Precise and rational . . . Provocative." - Vogue
"In this essay collection, Penny uses wit and sharp reporting to challenge the rise of the populist far-right." - Elle
"A writer and polemicist, a bad-ass, contrary, angry, bisexual troublemaker who is never happier than when she's upsetting someone, or preferably everyone . . . We need her." - The Times
"Bitch Doctrine is a powerful and fiercely funny series of articles laying out a radical vision of a kinder world. It's a book that argues not only for justice and equality but for humor, for WiFi, for Battlestar Galactica and sugary tea and the pleasure of nuzzling your face in a dog's neck. According to Penny, revolution and joyful diversion are not mutually exclusive. We can have our cake and our Cake Boss, too." - The Village Voice
"Forget Sex and the City, Penny doesn't give a damn about the politics of waxing or how small your pants are. She's more interested in analysing the battles we face around gender under late capitalism . . . We are dealing with a new world order." - The Observer
"Each essay glimmers with 'aha!' moments of realization and sparks with 'right on!' sparks of solidarity. From the rise of Donald Trump and the retrograde policies of a new administration to the turmoil created by Brexit, Penny provides a rational but righteous voice in the midst of swirling anger, confusion, idolatry, and sanctimony. Zestfully indignant, resolute, and implacable, Penny’s bold and brave commitment assures women of all generations that they have a tenacious ally, persistent observer, and feisty advocate in the always raging, never-resolved culture wars." - Starred review, Booklist
"Intelligent and defiant, Penny probes the current anti-feminist backlash while exploring zones of social discomfort, all in the name of 'imagining a society beyond patriarchy.' Polemical writing at its thoughtful best." - Kirkus Reviews
"If you are paying attention to today's social movements you're going to like this book a lot . . . Laurie Penny is a smart, nuanced thinker." - Book Riot
"Penny is one of the first feminist writers to grow up within, and so instinctively understand, both the possibilities and the dangers of this relatively new cyber world." - New Statesman
"How Penny responds to both praise and criticism offers an invaluable model for being vocal about politics on the Internet, especially as a woman." - The Pacific Standard
"If you've followed Penny's work, you'll know that the thing that sets her apart from other enraged columnists is her empathy. She understands exactly what her opponents are thinking, and why, precisely, they are full of shit. This is a delight of a book. Penny's essays are righteousones." - Cory Doctorow, author of LITTLE BROTHER
"Funny, angry, clear and true. Laurie Penny takes no prisoners—she'd rather free 'em." - Joss Whedon
"Laurie Penny is the tits. Witty and brazen, a force for both decency and revolution, she's a swashbuckling rhetorician, a daring reporter and an all-around fabulous broad. Bitch Doctrine provides an invaluable case for truth-telling in an age of chaos and lies." - Emily Nussbaum, Pulitzer Prize-winning New Yorker TV critic
"Laurie Penny has focused the unflinching gaze of the writer onto the reality of crisis." - Paul Mason, author of POSTCAPITALISM
2017-06-05
A noted British feminist writer tackles gender, sexism, identity, and power issues in a world being laid waste by "kamikaze capitalism."Pointing to the 2016 American presidential election and the rise of far-right movements across Europe, New Statesman contributing editor Penny (Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies, and Revolution, 2014) begins with the convincing premise that "toxic masculinity is killing the world." White, working-class men who feel "cheated of their birthright" are taking aim at, among others, "Muslims, migrants and uppity women" and seeking refuge in extreme nationalism and chauvinism. But as the author argues, these men are "dangerously wrong about who pulled the con." Starting from Donald Trump's election, which she calls "the sick recrimination of a society shriveled by anger and anxiety," Penny calls for a resistance in which men and women refuse normalization and take care of themselves and others. The malignant capitalist patriarchy Trump represents hurts women in particular because it entrenches ideas about monogamous heterosexual romance and suggests that women, unlike men, must do it all. Moreover, it pits women, even those who identify as feminist, against each other. By holding women to impossible standards, capitalist patriarchy becomes the taskmaster that shames women and keeps them in their place. At the same time, the "New Chauvinists…want to protect women from violence, as long as they are the right sort of woman." Penny suggests how the much-misunderstood and -reviled trans movement is important to feminism because it helps challenge the extreme binary nature of toxic masculinity by deconstructing "every social stereotype about men and women and their roles in society." Thought at times self-righteous, the author wears the trademark fearlessness that has earned her the name of "bitch" with an admirable lack of apology. Intelligent and defiant, Penny probes the current anti-feminist backlash while exploring zones of social discomfort, all in the name of "imagining a society beyond patriarchy." Polemical writing at its thoughtful best.
