The Guilty Feminist reveals the moments when she’s had to say “I’m a feminist but...”

Books


The Guilty Feminist reveals the moments when she’s had to say “I’m a feminist but...”

By Emma Ledger

7 years ago

It’s fine to love Pretty Woman and to want to look good naked while also fighting for gender equality, says Deborah Frances-White in her new book, The Guilty Feminist 

We’re all trying to be good feminists, but sometimes we get an attack of the guilts when we do something that might not exactly help The Cause, like letting a misogynist comment slide. Back in 2015, comic Deborah Frances-White was trying to reconcile these feelings when she started her comedy podcast The Guilty Feminist. It addresses the big issues while celebrating our glorious imperfections and hypocrisies. 

The podcast’s huge popularity has now inspired an eponymous book, and Frances-White says we should all dump the guilt and learn to laugh it off. “Feminism should not be another thing for women to feel guilty about,” she says. “By joking about things, we make ourselves stronger.” 

Here, she shares the most hilarious times she’s made fun of herself…

I’m a feminist but…

  • “I untagged myself from a picture at a women’s conference where we were all standing in front of a sign that said ‘Empowered Not Coward’ because my ankles looked fat.”
  • “I secretly love the very problematic romcom Pretty Woman, and in truth am open to the idea of Richard Gere paying to enter me on a grand piano.”
  • “When boarding a light aircraft, I was asked to declare my weight in front of everyone so they could determine how much fuel we needed and I lied by 20 pounds, endangering the lives of everyone on the plane.”
  • “Once, I went on a women’s rights march, popped into a department store to use the loo, got distracted trying out face creams and when I came out, the march was gone.”

The Guilty Feminist is out 6 September. Deborah Frances-White will be talking at Stylist Live, 9-11 November. 

Images: Eyevine.com / Instagram 

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