Stuff Mom Never Told You: The Feminist Past, Present, and Future

Reese and McVey, cohosts of the popular podcast, Stuff Your Mom Never Told You, have now written a book. On their show, their camaraderie, energy, and goodwill are apparent as they look at a number of key people, issues, and events in recent feminist history. The free-wheeling conversational tone of a podcast, however, doesn’t always transfer well to print. The authors are disarmingly honest about the challenges they faced in writing this book, which offers short historical facts. The arbitrarily selected topics don’t seem to cohere, however, and it’s unclear who the target audience is. Parts of the book’s structure, such as the table of contents, are also confusing. A highlight of this book is its plentiful and useful imaginative features, such as a time line of major events in women’s history and pithy quotes from visionaries, such as Shirley Chisholm, that are scattered throughout this title. The book’s feminist crossword puzzle is quite intriguing and amusing as well, but some readers may not like the cutout paper doll and clothes that were meant to illustrate the pantsuit revolution.