Girls Will Be Girls: Dressing Up, Playing Parts and Daring to Act Differently

(Paperback)

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'Part autobiography, part heartfelt plea to change the way we look at gender, Girls will be Girls is an excellent primer on feminist theory. Every teenage girl should be given a copy' HOT PRESS

Being a woman is, largely, about performance - how we dress and modify our bodies, what we say, the roles we play, and how we conform to expectations. Gender stereotypes are still deeply embedded in our society, but Emer O'Toole is on a mission to re-write the old script and bend the rules of gender - and she shows how and why we should all be joining in.

Exploring what it means to 'act like a girl', Emer takes us on a hilarious and thought-provoking journey through her life (including singing 'Get Your Pits Out for the Lads' on national TV after growing out her body hair). Cross-dressing, booty-shaking, sexual disasters, family dinners and full-body waxing are all lovingly dissected in search of wisdom.

With game-changing ideas, academic intelligence and laugh-out-loud humour, this book will open your mind and revolutionise the way that you think about gender.

Reviews

A fascinating exploration of how we 'do' gender. From the early labeling of infants to the ironclad enforcement of grooming and interpersonal behavior, gender expression is neither a matter of biological mandate nor individual choice. Emer O'Toole nimbly weaves philosophy and personal experience into a vivid depiction of gender identity as performance art. -- LISE ELIOT, author of PINK BRAIN, BLUE BRAIN
The blogger and columnist, who is emerging as one of the leading lights of the new feminism, uses anecdotes from her own life - from 'cross-dressing to pube-growing and full-body waxing' - to illuminate some of the the dos and don'ts for women trying to set themself free from gender stereotypes. * THE GUARDIAN Unmissable books for 2015 *
A witty, engaging appeal for everybody to stop conforming so rigidly to gender stereotypes.... As this thoughtful, funny book reminds us, being a girl can mean a lot of things. And with luck one day women will all get to decide for themselves what that is. * IRISH TIMES *
An entertaining book that makes you question the conventions of gender. I expect it will attract comparisons with Caitlin Moran's How to be A Woman. Like Moran's work, I wish it could be handed out to every teenage girl as a self-esteem booster. -- Rosamund Urwin * EVENING STANDARD *
What I love most about Emer's writing is that she is not only able to explain complex ideas about feminist theory in a way that is engaging and relatable, but it is also really funny. If you love reading feminism which is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, this book is the obvious next step up from Caitlin Moran. Get your hands on a copy. * abstractmag.com *
The book is personal, in that it's her own story of playing a different role, and it's chatty and funny and likeable, much as the author herself seems to be. -- Eithne Tynan * IRISH MAIL ON SUNDAY *
Part autobiography, part heartfelt plea to change the way we look at gender, Girls will be Girls is an excellent primer on feminist theory. Every teenage girl should be given a copy. * HOT PRESS *
As a possible fourth wave of Western feminism beckons, new titles on the subject are appearing with increasing regularity. O'Toole holds her own in a crowded space, albeit one in need of a greater diversity of female voices. Her accessible approach to theory, interwoven with her chatty, self-reflective style and gender insights from an Irish perspective creates a welcome addition to the current crop of popular feminist writing. -- Mary McGill * IRISH INDEPENDENT *
In her excellent and eye-opening book Girls Will Be Girls, Emer O'Toole discusses the impact of the often stereotypical 'lenses' through which we see the world and the importance of examining those lenses in order to better understand our ingrained and normalised prejudice. In her book, How to Be A Woman, Caitlin Moran suggests that things would be easier if some pigeons would shit all over the glass ceiling, because we would then at least be able to see what we are dealing with. O'Toole's book performs a similar function... allowing us to see clearly the boundaries that are often invisible and unquestioned... A witty, pacy and exhilirating lesson in beginning to colour outside the lines. -- LAURA BATES * EVERYDAY SEXISM *
Girls will be Girls is a funny and compelling read, combining fascinating, relatable storytelling with meticulous research and real practical advice for challenging patriarchal gender roles in your own small, large, thin, fat, feminine, masculine, hairy, unhairy way (and anything and everything in between!) -- Lusana Taylor * THE F WORD *
O'Toole follows the personal example set by Caitlin Moran to such powerful effect, as she explores through anecdote and recollections from childhood and adolescence a powerful concept familiar to those who have studies feminist theory since the 1970s: the notion of one's gender as a performance, a construction that can be altered. * SUNDAY HERALD *
A hilarious, honest and probing journey through what it means to be female, from haircutting to sexual discovery. * GRAZIA *
Girls Will be Girls is bloody amazing, so go and read it right now. * WRITER'S LITTLE HELPER *
Girls will be Girls is a funny and compelling read, combining fascinating, relatable storytelling with meticulous research and real practical advice for challenging patriarchal gender roles in your own small, large, thin, fat, feminine, masculine, hairy, unhairy way (and anything and everything in between!) -- Lusana Taylor * THE F WORD *
O'Toole follows the personal example set by Caitlin Moran to such powerful effect, as she explores through anecdote and recollections from childhood and adolescence a powerful concept familiar to those who have studies feminist theory since the 1970s: the notion of one's gender as a performance, a construction that can be altered. * SUNDAY HERALD *

Author Bio

Emer O'Toole is a scholar and writer who contributes to various online publications, including the GUARDIAN and the feminist blog VAGENDA. She is from the West of Ireland, but now lives in Montreal, where she is Assistant Professor of Irish Performance Studies at Concordia University.

Follow Emer on Twitter @Emer_OToole