While this book contains interesting views on feminism and illustrates how white feminism - or mean girl feminism, is actually a continuation and reinforcement of patriarchy, I found myself struggling to finish this book.

The book gave the impression that this used to be a scientific paper and that it is still in the early stages of being adapted for a general public. I think that’s unfortunate, for the topic is really interesting and I can see the importance and potential of Mean Girl Feminism to add to the discourse of intersectionality. The ARC I received is, in my eyes, not yet friendly for readers who are new to this topic, not too familiar with reading scientific publications or the academic lingo.

Thanks a lot to NetGalley and University of Illinois Press for approving this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

“Mean Girl Feminism: How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss” by Kim Hong Nguyen is an insightful exploration of certain tropes present in mainstream feminism that ultimately, whether in a conscious way or not, serve to maintain white privilege.

These types of white mean girl feminism come from North American pop culture, and either borrow from or are a counter to BIPOC experiences and social justice movements. But as the author analyses, they’re merely performative in a bid to achieve individual progress in tune with capitalism, rather than collective, intersectional change.

Each chapter sets out to shed light into these tropes and their function of gaslighting, gatekeeping and/or girlbossing through feminism:

👉 Bitch Feminism: Blackfaced girlboss in feminist performative/performativity politics

👉 Mean Girl Feminism: Gatekeeping as illegible rage

👉 Power Couple Feminism: Gaslighting and re-empowering heteronormative aggression

👉 Global Mother Feminism: Gatekeeping biopower and sovereignty

Although relatively short, this book packs a punch and was often challenging to read. That is, despite its ironically girlboss-pink cover and use of pop culture examples, this is not a light and accessible text; rather, it was very much academic. If you’re the type of person to balk at multi-word concepts like “imperialist white supremacist capitalist cis-heteropatriarchy”, or if you don’t care for an analysis centered exclusively around North America, then you might want to give this one a pass…

But I would encourage you to give it a try nonetheless.

I have so much to say that I’m overwhelmed to even try, but, even with some criticism (I think the book could have been made more approachable), I found so much value and prompts for self-reflection that my digital copy is full of underlined passages. I think this is an unmissable volume for anyone who considers themselves a feminist committed with genuine social justice and open to continuous learning. At points, the text intentionally comes off as anti-feminist, even, which was challenging/aggravating. But this is a provocation to engage with your own beliefs and ask: what is your feminism seeking? Is it truly in pursuit of equality for all? Are you prepared to reckon with the fact that equality does not mean we should all be millionaires? Is your intersectionality performative? Is your meanness moving you to the anger needed for meaningful action? Or is it actually just reinforcing white supremacy?

Honestly, I really want a physical copy so that I can constantly refer back to it! I’m so glad I had the chance to read an early copy, and I hope lots of people give it a shot.

In spite of the pink cover and pop culture reference in the title, I found this book extremely inaccessible. It read far more like a scientific paper than a book with a lot of very technical jargon that made it dense and difficult to get through. I consider myself very well read, and this book made me feel incredibly stupid, and furthermore, it didn't really offer any sort of inroad or give me any sort of jumping off point to try to wade further into the text, which feels kind of necessary for such a highly technical written piece like this. In spite of how short it was, it took me forever to get through because I kept falling asleep while reading it - I just could not engage with the text. From an ARC standpoint, I also hated the format - I couldn't adjust the font size and the only way I could read it at night was if I inverted my entire phone colors through the accessibility tab, otherwise the background stayed white no matter what time of day I was reading, and combined with the super small font, I just couldn't read it at night.

Mean Girl Feminism by Kim Hong Nguyen is an interesting entry to feminist theory and critique. It focuses mainly on the performativity of white feminism, specifically the performance of meanness, and the perils that accompany analysis of issues solely through the lens of gender. I think one of the most interesting points made was about the metaphorical blackface of adopting supposed characteristics of racialized peoples by the Bitch or Mean Girl archetypes. Additionally, I think that the analysis of Laura Bush, Global Mother feminism, and conservative feminism as support for the War on Terror — and the presentation of the War on Terror as support for feminism — was well done.

The language of this book is very dense and academic; this is not a negative for me, but something that people unaccustomed ought to be aware of. The ideas presented are valuable, but I think that the execution lacked at points. To me, several chapters felt that they needed more examples and analysis thereof to support the use of “I have shown” and “I have demonstrated” language. That being said, I think that the examples that were used were strong choices that supported the arguments well.

I was challenged by this book to closely observe and discern some mannerisms that made me understand the changes in feminism and I love how the author not only pinpoints certain phrases, tactics or sayings but more of how she unpacks them to show the meanness in them and who it benefits under the guise of 'girl power,' and 'feminism.'
Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.

I found this a little difficult to read. The topics covered were interested and well thought out and I found myself agreeing with a lot of point. I just thought there was an extensive use of “social justice warrior” terms that could have been explained in a more cohesive way; it just made it a bit of a difficult read unfortunately.

I’ve read a lot of non-fiction like this so it was nothing revolutionary for me, but I did like the media the author chose to focus on. It always lands better when you’re coming with context. And Mean Girls, Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girl - many of us are very familiar with these. Overall it was an interesting angle to focus specifically on the mean girl. There was food for thought here and I think it’ll sit well with the right reader.

An incredible addition to the intersectional feminist canon, Nguyen presents a critique of the current modes and methods of white feminism through the principles of the mean girl. This text, though dense, is well worth the read.

DNF @ 30%

i don’t feel like this is a very accessible read if you’re looking for an easy or intro to feminism read. It reads very academic and research paper based. I do understand and agree with the core of the arguments made here, however I do feel the ways in which some are made are a bit of a stretch realistically. to me the entire argument behind the mean girl feminist rhetoric seems to hinge on the second wave of feminisms movement and how white cis-het able bodied women haven’t learned anything from the mistakes that movement made nearly 60 years ago. it’s true a lot of white women haven’t learned anything and continue to cause harm around them, but some of the ways this author implies harm especially racial harm seem to be taken way out of context and make for hard arguments to follow.

I appreciate the opportunity to read and review Mean Girl Feminism by Kim Hong Nguyen, ahead of publication, made possible by #NetGalley and University of Illinois Press.

I want to make clear that I like this book. It’s an important critique of white feminism and Nguyen’s analysis is provocative and smart. I really like their use of pop culture examples to support their argument, especially the breadth of cases, ranging from SNL sketches to movies to political campaigns and speeches. I especially appreciate that the examples are both numerous and accessible, not limited distribution independent films or obscure anime titles or some such. As bell hooks always told us, pop culture is pedagogy.

HOWEVER, I hope there is time for some editing before this book is released. The writing is repetitive, with excessive jargon and superfluous citations. The introduction is twice, if not three times, as long as it needs to be, due largely to repetition and poor editing. The first two main chapters are stronger than the second two; perhaps some of the space saved by cutting the introduction in half could be used to add additional pop culture examples to chapters 3 and 4.

I’d also like to see Nguyen’s developing theory, briefly reviewed in the conclusion, about racialized meanness having a “different, intersectional relationship to power structures and emerges with a different futurity, one that is oriented toward justice” elaborated. She provides two quick examples in the conclusion but this should be a full chapter.

Overall, I found the level of scholarly citation to be excessive. There are definitely too many multiple citations, that is, statements such as, “Following Theorist X, Scholar Y says, ‘Z’.” As an academic writer myself, I sympathize with Nguyen. Of course citations are necessary and I have been known to over-cite, too. I’m also aware that in a great deal of academic Cultural Studies writing, providing citations is less about attribution and more about demonstrating how well read you are. In a monograph such as Mean Girl Feminism, with its potential for wide readership outside of academia and even for undergraduate classroom use, the extreme quantity of citations can undermine the strength of the author’s arguments and overall effectiveness of the text.

Despite my criticisms, I like this book and I learned from it. Kim Hong Nguyen has given me a lot to think about, and I will recommend Mean Girl Feminism. If I were still teaching, I’d probably use it in the classroom! I look forward to reading her next work.

#MeanGirlFeminism #NetGalley

White feminists performing to maintain privilege Mean girl feminism encourages girls and women to be sassy, sarcastic, and ironic as feminist performance

This is an important read for white feminists everywhere. I would have liked if it were a little more accessible as it is a very academic look at the subject, but at the end of the day, the information is important and should be out there.

If you are white please please read this, it is so beneficial. I got very sick of, especially white women (I am biracial and mexican), speaking over my opinions or feeling entitled to discount me when it came to feminism. ESPECIALLY online.

I think it's really important that informative and educational books like these are written and published.


I found it difficult to connect to the subject matter as I'm not North American.


Book has major spoilers for Gossip Girl TV series if you haven't finished it yet.


Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC

this book is so relevant to me. I'm practically sobbing right now. This is why:

In exploring how meanness is seen as antipatriarchal, this book considers the ways in which white mean girls are empowered by strict gender analysis to express their rage as a form of feminism. Mean girl feminism makes white meanness palatable by constructing patriarchal ills as aggression inducing and by recirculating that intraracial tension as an innocent pleasure. My hope is that by showing how mean girl feminism optimizes the performativity of white womanhood, this book demonstrates the contemporary problems and intersectional shortcomings of white feminism.

Kim Hong Nguyen, Mean Girl Feminism How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss, University of Illinois Press, Jan 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this uncorrected proof for review.

I was drawn to this book because I have always been aware of the shortcomings of feminism in action because of its strong relationship to white, middle-class women, historically and even now. As Kim Hong Nguyen has pointed out, women who are part of our feminist history have been racist and classist: we recognise that. However, these shortcomings are not everything about those women. Hong Nguyen is also critical of modern feminist theorists and theory, seeking to redress the lack of interest in intersectional issues (most importantly race) that she believes has been endemic in feminist behaviour and theory. Wedded as I am to the need to thoughtfully analyse the faults of the past and present with a view to finding answers to where we have failed I have read her ideas with interest.

The arguments that feminism has not done enough, and has often been destructive rather than supportive, particularly as it applies to race are made in a detailed Introduction, five chapters and Conclusion - Feminist Civility and the Right to Be Mean; Bitch Feminism and Blackfaced Girlboss in Feminist Performative/Performativity Politics; Mean Girl Feminism : Gatekeeping as Illegible Rage; Power Couple Feminism: Gaslighting and Re-Empowering Hetronormative Aggression; Global Mother Feminism: Gatekeeping Biopower and Sovereignty; and Abolishing Mean Girl Feminism. As can be seen from these titles Hong Nguyen’s approach is academic, employs language that may not be universally understood and covers negative aspects of political practice, that are familiar, such as gaslighting and gatekeeping.

A feature that is absorbing is the material associated with familiar aspects of social interaction: popular culture and political endeavour. Questions are raised about the way in which seemingly feminist depiction of women may be false. There is room for more detailed argument here. Hong Nguyen is examining popular culture that has been seen as giving women agency and denying that it has done so in a positive manner, suggesting that it undermines many women and gives emphasis to negative rather than positive features of women’s action.
Similarly, the power couple chapter would benefit from more examples, particularly those outside the political sphere. Where a political couple is used, how much more interesting and demanding would have been a section on Melania and Donald Trump than the well-worn discussion of the Clinton marriage. Add in the question of why has the media continually queried Hillary Rodham Clinton and her commitment to her marriage, and not placed the same scrutiny of the Trump marriage on its agenda? There is surely a question related to feminism there – Hillary Rodham Clinton is seen as a feminist; Melania Trump is not. What is it about being seen as a feminist that makes a woman ‘fair game’?

Where the political example of Laura Bush is used in the chapter on Global Mother Feminism, together with popular culture examples, the ground is less shaky. Laura Bush is featured alongside the implications of Mother Feminism for the War on Terror, giving the argument a wider context than that about the Power Couple. The discussion of the war and its implication for Afghan women is valuable, as are the ramifications of Sarah Palin’s ‘meanness’ in what Hong Nguyen sees as her presentation of global motherhood.

I see no answers in this book, and often where Hong Nguyen says that she has shown something to be the case I suggest that she has made only an argument, sometimes valuable, sometimes not. Her suggestion that feminism is yet to be defined along with whom it represents and what it advocates is particularly dispiriting. In contrast, I suggest that initially and maintaining its predominance, feminism has advocated for women, represents women and is defined as aiming to do so. Unrecognised by Hong Nguyen is that this simple, clear definition was rightly expanded, as recognition was given to discrimination based on class and race. Yes, there have been shortcomings in the way feminism has approached some women's rightful demands, and the questions raised by some of the arguments Hong Nguyen presents in Mean Girl Feminism How White Feminists Gaslight, Gatekeep, and Girlboss may be valid. However, whether there are lessons to be learnt from this book I wonder. I remain looking for a thoughtful analysis of where we have gone wrong and what we can do about it.

***4.5 Stars****

I really quite enjoyed reading this latest addition to the feminist theory literature. In this much needed critique of white feminism (that also adds its own theory to the annals of feminist theory), Nguyen shows how insidiously white feminists co-opt feminism to uphold white sovereignty. With her theory of Mean Girl Feminism, Nguyen asks us to ask ourselves 'do we do this? are we upholding white sovereignty by being a Mean Girl?;. This is a question that may surprise us, since a large part of Mean Girl Feminism is unquestioned as part of 'being female' and seen as a natural way to act by women in society. We don't see the insidious ways it upholds white sovereignty and asks women to co-opt into the cis-heteropatriachy.

A brilliant, much needed argument that will make readers think deeply about how their own 'feminine' behaviour that has previously been shown as feminist is actually anti-feminist and against building equality. Is meanness really helping us become equal? How does the power couple harm all people's equality? Is the Global Mother reframing politics in a harmful way? and more questions will be asked as you read this.

***Netgalley provided access to this book in return for a honest review****

It's likely that I won't be using this in class soon as it is a little involved for my current age group, but I will 100% be buying a physical copy for my collection and likely using it in the future. It is amazing and interesting, very shrewd and looks at things with an unflinching eye. It is definitely an honest and relevant look at the need for intersectional feminism to be at the forefront of discussions of gender.

"Mean Girl Feminism," which is a concept that encourages girls and women to adopt a sassy, sarcastic, and ironic demeanor as a form of feminist performance. The author, Kim Hong Nguyen, argues that this form of feminism often co-opts its style and substance from racialized oppression and protest, while directing meanness toward people in marginalized groups.

Nguyen delves into four types of white mean girl feminism that are prominent in North American popular culture:

The Bitch
The Mean Girl
The Power Couple
The Global Mother
According to Nguyen, white feminists often mimic the anger and resistance people of color and other marginalized groups feel. This allows them to claim a special place within established power structures and present themselves as intellectually superior. However, Nguyen argues that the racialized meanness found across pop culture can open possibilities for building more intersectional feminist politics. I want to read more on the topic and continue educating myself.
Thank you to Net Galley and the University of Illinois Press for the review copy.

Thank you for letting me read this ARC!

I, as a white person myself, was very intrigued to read more about "mean girl feminism" and understand my unconscious biases that are contributing to how I show up in women led spaces. However, as someone who isn't in academia, I felt a bit discouraged due to the heavy academic writing and nature of the book. It felt inaccessible at most times, using larger words that sometimes took away from the context itself.

I found that the Prologue of the book as well was quite lengthy. I was reading repetitive phrases over and over before I even got to the meat of the book.

I love that there are books being published about this! However, I struggled to connect with the writing.

In this academic text, Nguyen looks at the phenomena of Mean Girl Feminism as a white feminist performative practice. The premise is that to be a Bitch or a Girlboss utilises racialised power structures, and thus white feminism can never be inclusive (or truly feminist). It's a solid argument, backed up by some rigorous critical analysis and pop culture case studies. Mean girl feminism has always sat uncomfortably with me, and this book articulates exactly why, breaking down different aspects of the phenomena including the mean girl, power couples and the global mother.

However, I did find it to be limited by its North American focus, and I would've loved to have seen a greater awareness and critique of this lens. Nguyen makes astute links between white feminism and post-colonial capitalism, but does not address how these pressures might shape white feminism differently outside of a North American context.