Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Book Review: WOMEN

If you  have a budding feminist on your Christmas list, or maybe you have a bad ass woman or some girls who need inspiration, this absolutely needs to be their gift this year. No hesitation.

WOMEN: The National Geographic Image Collection

#MeToo. #GirlBoss. Time's Up. From Silicon Valley to politics and beyond, women are reshaping our world. Now, in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, this bold and inspiring book from National Geographic mines 130 years of photography to showcase their past, their present, and their future. With 300+ stunning images from more than 50 countries, each page of this glorious book offers compelling testimony about what it means to be female, from historic suffragettes to the haunting, green-eyed "Afghan girl."
Organized around chapter themes like grit, love, and joy, the book features brand-new commentary from a wide swath of luminaries including Laura Bush, Gloria Allred, Roxane Gay, Melinda Gates, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, and the founders of the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movements. Each is accompanied by a bold new portrait, shot by acclaimed NG photographer Erika Larsen. The ultimate coffee table book, this iconic collection provides definitive proof that the future is female.

I'm coming right out to tell you I am giving this one 5 stars without hesitation because this was AMAZING. I would consider myself a feminist in the sense that I likely won't ever be burning bras or marching. I am a feminist in the sentiment of Ruth Bader Ginsburg who never identified with women marching but instead used her brain and her grit to make movement. Not that there is anything wrong with marching. I think we need a visible faction and we need brains, we both play a major part of moving forward. One of my favorite women to read and listen to is Roxane Gay who is featured in this book but is quoted on page 317:

"I think that feminism should be a default feature of humanity. Women deserve equality and equity with men. - Roxane Gay"
Within this book there, of course, sections called "Portraits of Power" with famous feminists that we all know such as Oprah Winfrey, Nancy Pelosi, Jane Goodall, Laura Bush, and Melinda Gates (and more). The rest of the book are sections of Joy, Beauty, Love, Wisdom, Strength, and Hope that has every day, regular, you and me women. It's women from every culture around the world doing what they do to live their lives. It looks at the education of women around the world, women and reproductive rights and beliefs, careers and hobbies. I really enjoyed the Beauty section because the definition of beautiful is different no matter where you are in the world and it's astounding to me that we as a society in America doesn't recognize the value in that.

Without question the photography throughout this book is exquisite and looking at the women and their traditional wear is beautiful. Frankly, we look like a really lame society in comparison to everywhere else. Throughout this book it shows you that women are, and always have been, made of stern stuff and if you can get through this entire book without a new appreciation for yourself and all of the women in your life, I don't know what would get you there. This book features women now and women from years and years ago. Some of the images are beautiful and some are startling and some will make you look at your life and realize we don't have it so bad as you see women doing their thing in the starkest of landscapes. It's just an amazing collection of images and stories, it's inspirational from the first to the last page, every step of the way.

An incredibly HUGE thank you to National Geographic for sending me this book and TLC Book Tours for letting me host on this tour. All opinions are my own and this post contains affiliate links. Happy reading! 

2 comments:

Beth (Coffee Until Cocktails) said...

This book sounds absolutely amazing. I love that it's broken down into various themes. I'l have to look for this one, I know some people who would enjoy it as Christmas presents!

Shooting Stars Mag said...

This sounds amazing, and I love that the photography is done so well. I love hearing about amazing, strong women.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net