No More Nice Girls: Gender, Power, and Why It’s Time to Stop Playing by the Rules

Canadian journalist McKeon follows F-Bomb: Dispatches from the War on Feminism with a trenchant assessment of modern feminism’s successes and failures. Asserting that true equality will only come from women and minorities working to create it outside of patriarchal systems, McKeon critiques the “power gap” that prevents female politicians and corporate executives from acquiring real authority or escaping gendered harassment, the “infantilizing drivel” of a #GirlBoss confidence industry that tells young women they can overcome structural iniquity by trying harder, and women’s workspaces that cater to the white and affluent. Promoting “a new vision of power that values qualities such as collaboration and consensus building,” and an end to the idea that women should be beneficiaries rather than agents of change, McKeon praises N.Y.C.’s Feminist Camp and 18-year-old Zambian activist Natasha Mwansa’s unapologetic demand for more youth and female involvement in policy decisions. McKeon is most enlightening on subjects matching her specific background, including Canadian gender politics and the power dynamics of the internet, but her plea for women to build “oppositional power” will resonate with feminists of all backgrounds. This witty and uncompromising call to action pushes the right buttons. (Mar.)