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To understand how we got here, we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace. Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Marcia Clark, and Roseanne Barr were undermined. Newsmakers like Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding, and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the 24-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched sexism. Meanwhile, marketers hijacked feminism and poisoned girlhood for a generation of young women. Today, there are echoes of 90s "bitchification" nearly everywhere we look. To understand why, we must revisit and interrogate the 1990s--a decade in which female empowerment was twisted into objectification, exploitation, and subjugation. Yarrow's thoughtful, juicy, and timely examination is a must-read for anyone trying to understand 21 st century sexism and end it for the next generation.
Report
"Allison Yarrow is a feminist and a muckraker in the tradition of Betty Friedan, Naomi Klein, and bell hooks. Her enthralling new book, 90s Bitch, takes a long overdue sledgehammer (and, when needed, a scalpel) to the misogynistic myths that cloud our view of that troubling decade. Like all great cultural historians, she examines every sordid cranny of our culture-its sexual mores, its pop culture and rampant consumerism-so as to lay bare the marching orders issued by the patriarchy: that women should shut up and put out, sell out, sell themselves short, and most of all obey. Yarrow's prose is brilliant, her insights are razor-sharp, and her moral aim is essential. If America is ever going to recover from the Trumpian tailspin wrought by masculine insecurity, we need feminists like Allison Yarrow keeping us all honest." Steve Almond, author of Bad Stories: What the Hell Just Happened to Our Country
