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How to Be a Woman

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How to Be a Woman

By: Caitlin Moran
Narrated by: Caitlin Moran
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About this listen

1913 - Suffragette throws herself under the King's horse. 1969 - Feminists storm Miss World. Now - Caitlin Moran rewrites The Female Eunuch from a bar stool and demands to know why pants are getting smaller. There's never been a better time to be a woman: We have the vote and the Pill, and we haven't been burnt as witches since 1727. However, a few nagging questions do remain....

Why are we supposed to get Brazilians? Should you get Botox? Do men secretly hate us? What should you call your vagina? Why does your bra hurt? And why does everyone ask you when you're going to have a baby? Part memoir, part rant, Caitlin Moran answers these questions and more in "How To Be A Woman" - following her from her terrible 13th birthday ("I am 13 stone, have no friends, and boys throw gravel at me when they see me") through adolescence, the workplace, strip clubs, love, fat, abortion, TopShop, motherhood and beyond.

Caitlin Moran had literally no friends in 1990, and so had plenty of time to write her first novel, The Chronicles of Narmo, at the age of fifteen. At sixteen she joined music weekly Melody Maker and at eighteen briefly presented the pop show Naked City on Channel 4. Following this precocious start she then put in eighteen solid years as a columnist on the Times - both as a TV critic and also in the most-read part of the paper, the satirical celebrity column "Celebrity Watch".

The eldest of eight children, home-educated in a council house in Wolverhampton, Caitlin read lots of books about feminism - mainly in an attempt to be able to prove to her brother, Eddie, that she was scientifically better than him. Caitlin isn't really her name. She was christened "Catherine". But she saw 'Caitlin' in a Jilly Cooper novel when she was 13 and thought it looked exciting. That's why she pronounces it incorrectly: "Catlin". It causes trouble for everyone.

©2011 Caitlin Moran (P)2012 Random House Audiobooks Body Positivity European Gender Studies Literary History & Criticism Literature & Fiction Social Sciences World Literature Funny Witty Feel-Good Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

"Spectacular! Very, very funny, moving, and revealing" (Jonathan Ross)
"Moran's writing sparkles with wit and warmth. Like the confidences of your smartest friend." (Simon Pegg)
“I devoured How to Be A Woman in one sitting.... This is the book that frustrated boyfriends have wanted someone...to write for decades” (Dan Stevens, The Times)
All stars
Most relevant
one of the funniest books I've had a pleasure to read in a long time!

A must read

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I did find this book, on the whole quite funny. There were certainly times when I literally laughed out loud, having it read by the author only enhanced the books amusement, her performance was fantastic, and it was definitely thought provoking. However, I did find that at times, the opinions expressed by Moran were posed to be 'the right opinion', and by default, any other was wrong. At times it felt forceful, a woman 'has to do this', or 'as a woman, you should have that'. I just simply didn't agree with everything she said, which is fine, but that doesn't mean either of us is wrong, which this book at times, made me feel.

Funny but forceful

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Would you consider the audio edition of How to Be a Woman to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version but the audio edition, with Caitlin's own Wolverhampton accent, is definitely great

What did you like best about this story?

Caitlin doesn't claim to be all-knowing all-wise and she doesn't sound righteous even when using slightly stronger language. Instead, the book feels almost like being out for a few beers with a friend and listening to her thoughts. She is sometimes self-critical without being self-deprecating, and all the time she is very honest.
The things that she talks about are real problems, from the smallest to the biggest problems that women face in society. As a man, I couldn't help noticing that many of the problems affect men as well, to a lesser degree. Most of these problems really go down to people being mean, impolite and downright hateful or spiteful. They affect women more but they do affect men as well. It's a good book to make one realize just how many silly ideas and obsessions drive our society and the way we fit in. Caitlin is not a man hater. As she explains, her philosophy is along the lines of "we're all people on this Earth and we need to be nice and respectful to each other in equal degrees.". This is great as it removes the irrational hatred most of these debates carry with them, and gets down to the real problems. It's a book that really gets you thinking and I think men should be reading this book just as much as women.

A must-read for both men and women

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listen don't read. Author adds so much to the telling. this was so funny that I went and got the other two books available only to be disappointed that they weren't read by the author

laugh out loud the whole way through

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This had me laughing out loud so much on the tube. I got some very quizzical looks from fellow commuters. It almost made me cry in places too. Strident, opinionated, witty and strong. An awesome book. Do listen.

The best audio book so far!

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