Shame on You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification

ISBN: 0593714997

Author: Petro, Melissa

Condition: New

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 cant we figure out how to break the shame cycle once and for all?In Shame on You, Petro takes on the issue of womens shame directly with an unflinching look at the social systems that encourage women to believe we are deeply inadequate. From shames beginnings ( Maybe shes born with it? Nope, its 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 doesnt have to be that way. Blending investigative reporting, science, literature, and hundreds of womens 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 thats what others are afraid of.