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Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart).
1. What do you think of the premise of How To Be a Woman—that the blacksliding of feminist principles has a negative impact on women and society as a whole? Does Moran's argument resonate with you? Or is the author exaggerating simply to make a point?
2. Talk about the specific ways in which Moran sees the current trend toward anti-feminism.
3. Why has Moran written this book? What does she envision for her daughters? If you have daughters...what do you envision for them?
4. Moran cites a poll showing that only 29% of American women consider themselves feminists. Why do contemporary women disavow feminism? Do you consider yourself a feminist? If you have daughters, do they?
5. What do today's younger women think feminism was—and is—about? Are they mistaken, or correct, in their dismissal of the movement's precepts?
6. How would you describe the book's tone—angry, snarky, funny, pious, joyful?
7. Moran asks: "Do you have a vagina? Do you want to be in charge of it?" If you say "Yes" to both, "Congratulations! You're a feminist.'" What do you think of her question...and her conclusion? Doesn't her conclusion end up supporting one of the very arguments she rejects—that strip clubs actually empower to women because they're taking charge of their sexuality?
8. What does Moran suggest about the pioneers of feminism back in the 1960s, particularly Germaine Greer?
9. Moran also takes some decidedly "unfeminist" views, particularly on abortion. Talk about her abortion stance—do you agree or disagree? Did you find the account of her abortion overly graphic?
10. Moran tells us that "when a woman says 'I have nothing to wear!' what she really means is, "There's nothing here for who I'm supposed to be today.'" She says a woman's wardrobe is more a matter of duty than personal taste. Do you agree? Or not.
11. What do you feel about women's fashion—stilletos? Why do women wear them—for themselves or for men?
12. Overall, what do you think of Moran's book? Has it altered your ideas of feminism?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)