An admirable project that is clearly well researched and motivated by a truly interesting and relevant concern - what is a feminist kind of happiness? If there is one, or one of many kinds, how do we go about achieving it? This is a volume that suffers, I think, from an ambitious overreach. How could that be a bad thing? Well, there's just too much ground to cover for any one topic to be fully investigated and interrogated. And, as is echoed in other reviews, I don't think she's in a position to fully turn her attention to these questions as they pertain to women who are positioned in a similar place. I wouldn't recommend for a reader who is familiar with contemporary feminist thought, but it could be a small primer for someone just dipping their toes into the water.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This is a very unspecific review, but I started reading it and did not finish.

It may well be that there isn't much that's totally new in this book, but I really enjoyed it. The focus on women achieving happiness was an interesting frame but really it was the writing that gripped me. The author referenced many other feminist books and feminist research but pulled her argument together very well without being too stuffy, She interviewed a cross section of the population and I think more direct quotes and discussion with these women would have enhanced the narrative. I highlighted many passages in the book and often paused to think about what Ms Filipovic was saying, One typical discussion is around women changing their name on marriage. Filipovic quotes a Huffington Post/You Gov survey that more than a third of Americans said they believed men should not be allowed to take a woman's last name and in a survey in Men's Health magazine 96.5% of respondents said they would not even consider taking their wife's name. The author - correctly in my opinion - then surmises that name changing isn't about love or family, it is about power. There are many instances where the facts cause you to stop and think about your own position.

Recommended for anyone - male or female - who likes having their views challenged or who wants to try and understand why women cannot be "happy" in a world created by men.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

How the intersection between misogyny and America’s anti-pleasure culture makes everything worse. Nothing shocking if you’ve been reading in the feminist blogosphere, but a good overview of everything from work to motherhood to sex to food. Prioritizing one’s own happiness is, for women, a huge and radical act, and one that is likely to draw condemnation from all sides. (See, e.g., internalized misogyny in fandom that combines with ageism.) This isn’t limited to sex, but Filipovic argues that sex is a big part of it. “Lesbians orgasm 75 percent of the time, which is almost as often as men who have sex with women orgasm, suggesting the problem is less the female body than either male sexual aptitude or male sexual effort.” If sex was just good, not shameful and threatening, “the entire experience of womanhood—the definition of womanhood—would be unrecognizable.” But for women, being “good” has too long meant saying no—to sex, to food, to pleasure. Sacrifice and fear—avoiding parties, worrying about attacks in parking lots, wearing high heels, spending hours on makeup—are too central to “womanhood” in America.

And then there’s motherhood: borrowing from Adrienne Rich, Filipovic reminds us that “mothering” is an ongoing action, and “fathering” is an emission, and that’s a big problem. Work as a source of positive identity is a goal: daughters of mothers who work for money are higher-achieving than daughters of mothers who don’t work outside the home, and their sons do more work at home, including childcare. Contrariwise, men whose wives stay at home are more likely to discriminate against female coworkers—Mike Pence to the contrary. Yet high-achieving men are much more likely to assume that their wives won’t work, whereas high-achieving women think that they’ll both work (and are attracted to men with similar ambitions to their own, setting them up for a big clash). Most such men ended up satisfied, while many of their female peers found themselves driven out of the workforce if they married and had children. The problems of poor working women are different and shameful for us as a nation, but also gendered and raced. Poor women lack respect, time, and child care along with money and good work, and these things reinforce each other and are used to blame women for their own situations.

I am not going to be reviewing this book, but thank you for the approval.

I was looking forward to this release after reading Filipovic’s opinion piece for the New York Times, Why Men Want to Marry Melanias and Raise Ivankas. The premise of the book is fascinating: What would a world designed around women’s happiness look like? Unfortunately, the book is more of a catalog of the things that make women (and also a lot of men) unhappy. There were some moments that felt new and important (e.g., discussion of the new “wellness” dietary rules for women), but also a sense of missed opportunity. What would the world look like if men and women switched places? Would pregnancy be a pre-existing condition? Would men change their names when they married? How would the workplace change?

A well-written and enjoyable book, I am glad I requested this title and will be more than happy to pass the title along to my fellow library purchasers.

Thank You to Perseus Books Group, PublicAffairs Books, and Nation Books; for providing me with an advanced copy of Jill Filipovic's The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- Can American women truly find happiness? Jill Filipovic explores the issue of happiness and feminism, looking at the history of the United States, statistics, and personal stories. 

LIKE- I was raised by a strong, single mom, and from birth, I was always told that I can do/be anything I want. I never felt like being female limited my possibilities. That said, I'm not blind to the fact that things are not equal. I guess I chalked things up to we've come a long way, but there is still further to go and it takes time. Rome wasn't built in a day, et... I'm an optimist. However reading The H-Spot was eye-opening. Filipovic made me realize that maybe I should reconsider my optimism, by showing me ways that the system has been stacked against women. 

For example, Filipovic talks about the expectation that women will give up their last names when they marry. I've been married twice. The first time, I kept my maiden name and it bothered family members/friends: I got heat for my decision. The second time, I took my husband's name. I'm proud to have my husband's last name, but it's the societal expectation that is troublesome. She explains that the burden is on women alone, and when surveyed, it became clear that most men, would not even entertain the idea of taking their wives last name, and many would be upset if she didn't take his. To take this further, Filipovic links the last name to identity and power, something that a woman is pressured to give up. This idea of a lost identity is something that I had never given much thought, but in retrospect, I believe it is why I was reluctant to change my name in my first marriage. 

Filipovic put it in terms of a power play, men get to keep the power, while women are expected to sacrifice. The same thing happens when it comes to careers and children. Yes, there are stay-at-home dads, but more frequently, the woman is expected to give up her career or take the time away to be at home. The worst of the situation is when there is a lack of support from the community, including other women. The decisions that women make, often pit them against other women: working mothers vs stay at home moms, those who breastfeed and those who don't, mom's vs childless women, et...the support system is flawed, making security and happiness hard to come by.

I liked how Filipovic balanced the content of her book, not just relying on history or personal stories, but blending the two. This made her exploration feel more comprehensive. I was most interested in the latter chapters, those dealing with subjects like fertility and body image. I wish that she had included even more interviews and personal stories. As she mentions, it's impossible to write a book that is exhaustive on this subject, but Filipovic does a solid job at hitting the main points.

DISLIKE- I was unevenly interested in the chapters, especially the early chapters. I've taken several college level women's history courses, so the history was very familiar: I wasn't learning anything new, it was more of a refresher. However, to someone who hasn't had the exposure, the history should be enlightening and interesting. 

RECOMMEND- Yes. The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness is a must-read for women. Filipovic's honest exploration of modern feminism is a worthy read.

Its alright, but nothing new or innovative. I would not recommend

While this was informative, I felt this book referenced many (better) books that I have already read about feminists and the feminist pursuit. This book did a good job of changing the concept and turning it more to the focus on the idea of female happiness.

The inclusion of women of color, lower income females and the hot button issue of intersectionality was a highly welcome addition as many of the referenced books just touched on or completely left out.

This is a highly relevant, readable book that is a perfect read for this exact moment, if you are just starting to dig into feminist writing.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

I have been working on reading this book for a while with dogged determination. I really had a difficult time getting in to this book by Jill Filipovic. At the end of the day, it felt like I was reading a book I didn't choose for a class. I was disappointed because in reading the description, it sounded just like something I would love to read.

Filipovic focused on reframing the conversation around feminism. It was an interesting approach. Some of the writing was dry and repetitive, which is where I started to lose interest. Others may like it, but I also am not a fan of the author's personal life being so prominent in the writing.

Interspersed in the novel were some very interesting facts. Having a background in social justice, much of this was information I've already read in other works. I really tried to enjoy this novel, but I don't think I would recommend it. For some of these novels, I think of if I were to put a syllabus together for a course, would students get excited about it and be interested? I just didn't see that with this book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the book.

In "The H Spot," Jill Filipovic focuses on the (not very) complex problem of "What do women want?" Combining personal anecdotes with a review of the available research and interviews with a diverse group of women on their lives and what would make them better, Filipovic provides an engaging and compelling examination of the feminist movement, the state of contemporary American women's lives, and where we might go from here.

In a nutshell, Filipovic's thesis is that, despite all the gains of feminism, "Americans [still] carry, and our institutions reflect, a profound and abiding antipathy toward women's day-to-day enjoyment and our broader fulfillment," and that the most subversive, and most difficult, thing a woman can do is prioritize her own happiness. She approaches this from multiple angles, including friendship, love, sex, parenthood, marriage, work, and food. Again and again she finds that women who want to be happy run up against sometimes insurmountable obstacles, whether they be the overwhelming pressure to be a super-mom, while possibly also leaning in and shattering glass ceilings at work, amongst well-to-do mothers; the struggle to provide themselves and their children basic necessities amongst poor, frequently minority, women; or the seemingly intractable problem that reproduction puts greater demands upon women, thus straining even the most ostensibly egalitarian marriages. The conclusion she comes to is "That so many of us are so unhappy demonstrates not an individual failure to seek pleasure but a political failure to insist that the ability to pursue happiness...is a fundamental right and a bedrock feminist cause." Completing the book against the background of the 2016 presidential election, Filipovic worries that, despite all the gains that have been made, "The chances of feminist public policy becoming a reality anytime soon look awfully slim." Which is why, she argues, prioritizing feminine happiness is more important than ever before.

Much of Filipovic's history and discussion will be familiar to anyone knowledgable of feminism and the feminist movement, but changing the focus from equality or power to happiness allows the reader to see the issues and the arguments in a different light. Filipovic is a persuasive writer, and her survey of the situation is enriched by her stories of her own family's experiences with systemic bias against women, as well as her interviews with other women from all walks of life. One thing she does not address is a question I keep asking myself: how much of the current, apparently commendable, insistence within feminist circles on focusing on doubly-marginalized groups (e.g., women of color, lesbians) truly is a commendable call to action on behalf of those who may have not benefited as much from the earlier feminist movement, and how much it is more of the same thinly-veiled attacks on women's power, autonomy, and happiness, more of the same old idea that women should always prioritize others' needs over their own, something that Filipovic sees as a central problem. One thing that Filipovic's book does make clear is that, no matter how different the outward circumstances of women's lives, the underlying problems they face are often surprisingly similar, and are often linked to the (frequently unconscious) assumption that women's time, effort, pleasure, and lives matter less. While Filipovic is unable, for obvious reasons given the current political circumstances, to be too optimistic about the future, she does issue a compelling call to action, along with providing much for anyone interested in feminism to think about. All in all, a timely and thought-provoking work on one of the fundamental issues facing American society.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was surprisingly engaging. (And enraging at times, but any time a book talks about overt sexism I'm going to be enraged.) Filipovic really tries to cover all the different areas of a woman's life, and how happiness relates to those areas, and by and far she's successful. I think she's more successful when her own life experiences dovetail with the chapter topic, but she doesn't do a bad job in general.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

This non-fiction survey about happiness as it relates specifically to women. Topics include friends, sex and power over our bodies, motherhood, marriage, work, food and body image, and identity. Thorough treatment, but the organization felt off to me (strange order of things) and much of the information is in other happiness books. Good if this is our first volume on the topic. However, if this is a topic you have read about before, likely to be repetitive.