Smash the Patriarchy

Dont’ be turned off by the title. This is not a book about *how* to take down the patriarchy, but rather a book about the history of how others have tried to circumvent the patriarchy. This is not so much a *how to* book, but *how it was* and *how it could be*.

With over 100 snippets of famous and infamous women who have gone against the rules, any which way they could, this is a very enlightening book. There are fascinating stories of women like Germaine De Staël, who ran salons and had the audacity to tell Napoleon how he should run his campaigns, which got her sent into exile.

We also learn about Hatshepsut, a pharaoh who also happened to be a woman, but dressed as a man, all the way down to wearing a fake beard.

There was also Queen Charlotte of Sweden, who gave up the crown rather then have to marry, and went around dressed in masculine clothes.

With a style of story telling and drawing that reminds one of Kate Beaton, this amusing historical look at strong women is a joy to read. Translated from the Norwegian.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. It is coming out October 3rd, 2023. Highly recommended.

This was an informative and eye-opening look at how historical forces have shaped society’s treatment of women up until modern times. This book is helpful for all people, from those who know just a little about women’s rights to people who have a strong understanding of the history of feminism. I liked that the book focused on some well known terms and figures but also dove into some lesser known historical examples.

This was a very fun & informative graphic novel. It teaches about powerful women throughout history. My favorite story was the one about Hatshepsut a pharaoh in Egypt.

I highly recommend this book. It’s a fast & fun read.

A history of patriarchal ideas along with women that tried to smash the patriarchy, all in graphic novel form! I loved this so much! The illustrations are great as well as the ideas within. I definitely think girls should read this to understand society better and to learn that being a woman means being strong.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a honest review.

Aside from some formatting issues on my Kindle, I liked the author's presentation of feminist history. I especially liked the illustrator's decision to convey these women and their stories through comic format. It takes the reader through thousands of years of human development, introducing a range of names and faces to inspire further study, without slowing its breezy pace. The book is a nice balance between broadness and specificity, and will serve as a well-rooted introduction to feminist history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Helvetiq for provided an advance copy of this book.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in advance in exchange for a review!

As a history major I loved how it brought to life various figures in history in a way that is palatable for the general audience. It is very hard to make history universal and talk about key figures or moments in history without getting a negative reaction from others. Topics are also amazingly framed like the male gaze was honestly a hard hitting to the point moment. It is definitely a good graphic novel about various important topics that I think will teach teens a lot.

This quick graphic novel is an intro to feminist history, looking at who and what has tried to keep women down, and highlighting several women throughout history that broke the rules and smashed ceilings to make the progress we see today and hope to build on in the future. I liked the narrative set-up here, I had originally thought it would be several short chapters highlighting various feminists and their actions. Instead, the narrative takes a more overarching approach, moving along through time by topic as feminist history changed while inserting stories about relevant women throughout. This was good for the flow, but limited the amount and variety of women the authors could showcase, though they did a good attempt at both with what space they had. The art was bright and colorful, and the writing style was fun and engaging, definitely geared towards teen readers. While I wish it had been longer, this book was still a fun read.

Engaging artwork and a great blend of historical facts and interpretation. I feel like the book could have benefited from chapter headings or sections to smooth over the transitions between different topics or time periods. Teens will appreciate the frank discussion of the rights of female people, but may be confused by how the book peters out at the end.

A quick, breezy introduction to feminist history! I really enjoyed how the artist illustrated various panels and ultimate kudos to the authors for making everything flow together into an easy-to-follow narrative. While I think it could have gone more into trans- and LGBTQ aspects of feminist history, especially in the section about women who dresses as men, I still think it provides a good starting point for people who are just being introduced to feminism and feminist history like young women.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I’m a fan of the use of comics and graphic novels to relay history or critical ideas and this one does a decent job of that! In a somewhat informal and humorous approach, this comic book highlights in “wall of shame” style the many culprits who uplifted and patriarchy and and spotlights the many women who stood up to them and pushed back.

Some of these stories were absolutely wild and I had not heard of them. However my main critique was that this felt very “white feminism-y” which is honestly what I expected but I kept waiting to be proved wrong on that front. Yes, there were women of color highlighted and the images also had disability rep but honestly you can read this and wonder if there were ANY historical feminist figures who were Black or non-white. I’ll give it three stars because I did think it was well done within the scope of the author and artists but definitely lacking when it comes to diversity of feminist thought and representation.

An awesome little book that distills what the patriarchy is, how it came about, and who influenced it. Marta Breen also highlights many of the women who were fighting against injustice along the way. It is a very short overview, but a great addition to feminist literature.

This was one of the best informational graphic novels I've read in a while. I love the style used to portray the different people that almost had a School House Rock meets political cartoon energy.

I found that I learned a lot more about feminism and historical patriarchy. I know how the patriarchy effects me today, but I didn't really get a full grasp of how it was utilized throughout history, and what important thought leaders and scientists played into patriarchy.

This was a very important read and I highly recommend it.

All opinions of this book are my own. I received this book for free through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review to help authors and publishers.

#NetGalleyArc This was a fun, quick read. A great way to learn some history and to discuss the problems of our world.

Fun, quick, overview of patriarchal thought and history. Loved the inclusion of specific men and their opinions on women and how it contributed to societal norms. Felt good to see names like Darwin that are universally lauded contextualized in a new light. Diverse representation of historical figures and thoughts was appreciated. I think I could have read another 25+ pages (maybe the page of faces with numerical sidenotes could be expanded). Enjoyed the inclusion of the authors themselves as well. Felt like Bill Nye to science but Marta to Feminist History.

I wanted to love this more than I actually did. It gave white feminism, and while I get that you can't address all aspects of identities within womanhood + patriarchy, this was definitely geared to white women. Even the illustrations seemed mostly white until you got to the random pages of diverse women.
You could take time to google these women, but is the average person doing that? What's the point of including people like Marsha P. Johnson with no mention of the unique experiences of Black women and especially Black trans women?