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Title details for Shame on You by Melissa Petro - Available

Shame on You

How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification

by Melissa Petro
Melissa Petro
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
In the spirit of Rebecca Traister's Good and Mad and Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist comes a courageous, in-depth investigation into the modern epidemic of shame in our society—what it is, why women are uniquely susceptible, and how we can shift the shame off our plates and live our best lives in an over-exposed, image-obsessed world.
For millions of women, shame is a vicious predator. It tells us we are less than, that we are unworthy. We try everything to escape shame—ignoring it, intellectualizing it, and even, ironically, shaming ourselves for feeling it. The reality is that women experience shame more frequently and more intensely than men—a direct result, as acclaimed journalist Melissa Petro explains, of a patriarchal culture that “urges women to feel bad about themselves, and then punishes them when they do.” Why can’t we figure out how to break the shame cycle once and for all?
In Shame on You, Petro takes on the issue of women’s shame directly with an unflinching look at the social systems that encourage women to believe we are deeply inadequate. From shame’s beginnings ( Maybe she’s born with it? Nope, it’s misogyny.) to its effect on our lives as adults (How the humiliation of “bad women” affects us all.), shame poisons our friendships, romantic relationships, and work lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Blending investigative reporting, science, literature, and hundreds of women’s personal stories—including her own shameful account of winding up as an unwitting New York Post cover girl—Petro offers us a new way forward. No matter what you do, she explains, there is no escaping being judged. And yet, the women we can become—sometimes as a consequence of shame, rather than in spite of it—are powerful indeed. And maybe that’s what others are afraid of.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    September 10, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593912232
      • File size: 288155 KB
      • Duration: 10:00:19

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      June 3, 2024
      Journalist Petro debuts with an uneven exploration of shame that draws on her personal experience and interviews with women about their “self-conscious feelings and fears of inadequacy.” In 2010, Petro, who was then working as a teacher, came under fire from the New York City Department of Education for writing articles about having been a sex worker (she resigned in 2011). Using the “unrelenting humiliation” that followed as a springboard, she discusses how patriarchal society wields shame against girls and women. Among the topics covered are such conflicting messages as “be flirty, but not too flirty,” the stigmatization of sex work, and how the news media disempowers women with “deliberately irresponsible, undeniably wrong” coverage. As an example of the latter, she cites Amanda Knox, who was framed as a “character” in news stories about her 2007 murder trial and in movies “recreating how she might’ve committed the crime.” The second half of the book aims to teach women how to identify and overcome their shame. Unfortunately, Petro’s suggestions feel flimsy in the face of the structural issues she identifies, as when she encourages readers to “raise our own and each other’s critical awareness about the fact that” most household labor falls to women. While the interspersed bits of autobiography are vivid, the overall effect is unfocused. The result is an intriguing but undercooked analysis of a complex emotion. (Sept.)This review has been updated for clarity.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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