The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls

This book recommendation is not for everyone. This is for the women who, as Erin Keane tweeted last year, has the feeling that “”Every woman I know has been storing anger for years in her body and it’s starting to feel like bees are going to pour out of all of our mouths at the same time.”” I’m not yet done with the book Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Elthaway, but I feel like some of you also need this book. If your skin is quietly buzzing with righteous anger, Mona is speaking your language, not in quiet, polite language, but with rage and judicious swearing, and the power that comes from shedding the voices telling you to be quiet, to be nice, to smooth things over. Mona is an Egyptian-born writer and is very clear that her brand of feminism requires standing against white supremacy too. Her angry fire leaps off the paper and takes no prisoners. This book is not for everyone but it is for some of you.

Whether you choose to ascribe to every premise in this thought and action provoking book, if you care about women and their freedom to be and live and express ourselves fully at all times then read this. For anyone who knows me well, you know that I have committed every one of the sins described here. Those that know me less well may be surprised.

At first I thought that, as a peacemaker, I could not support Eltahawy’s prescription for violence. Then I recalled three episodes from my own past. When I was 13, I stopped the man that had been sexually abusing me since I was 6 yrs. old by threatening him with violence back. When I was 20 my husband was threatening to beat me into submission. I threw a knife that barely missed him. I never heard another word from him about beating me.

I’m so glad that the knife missed him, because in the 1960s patriarchal justice system I am sure I would have gotten a severe sentence. Sadly, though, not all that much has changed.

I am in my 70s now and this book has provoked me to resume the activism I started in my teens but abandoned when I married. Telling, don’t you think, that at that time marriage would have stopped me? (Ah the joys, NOT, NOT, NOT, of patriarchy!)

I realized I’d fallen into the trap of only reading feminist books written by feminists who were white, and since realizing that oversight, I’ve really tried to expand my views and read books of feminism written by women of color. This is my second feminist book written by a woman who is Muslim (Sohaila Abdulali was the first), although it is the first I’ve read from an Egyptian author, and I think the way she talks about her culture and religion bring a unique and much-needed view to feminism.

Mona Eltahawy was sexually assaulted at Mecca during hajj. She asked herself, if she couldn’t be safe here, where could she be? The problem, she realized, was not with her– it was with men. Yes, I know, not all men. But enough men. Enough to be emblematic of a deep inequality rooted not just in the Middle East or even in the U.S., but globally. Inequality is an epidemic.

In THE SEVEN NECESSARY SINS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS, you can feel the author’s anger vibrating from the pages. The focus of the book is of course feminism, but feminism specifically from the perspective of a Muslim woman of color. She talks a lot about racist sexism, and privilege within privilege, which is something I think a lot of white women don’t really think about. She also talks about abusers, institutional sexism, and what it means to be a powerful woman. Some will likely be put off by her anger, but I think injustice should make people angry; if we feel nothing and allow ourselves to become numb or complacent, we won’t do anything about it.

I liked the stories of Eltahawy’s activism, and how she flipped the bird– literally and figuratively in some cases– to people in Egypt making careers out of oppressing women. I liked the many examples of institutional sexism in multiple countries, including the United States, and how she cautioned against making sexism the poster problem for a specific set of countries, which so many are afflicted with it. I liked how much she seems to like and respect herself, and how she made an active effort to include the LGBT+ (including trans women) in the dialogue, when so many authors don’t.

I’m giving THE SEVEN NECESSARY SINS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS a three-star review because I think it’s an important read and it was good, but it wasn’t fun and it was also very dry. This is more of a women’s studies/gender studies textbook than something someone would read for pleasure (although I did enjoy learning about her life and her viewpoints). If you are looking to broaden your viewpoints as well and get new perspectives on feminism, you should read this book.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

3 to 3.5 out of 5 stars

Sometimes this book can feel a little repetitive, but I think it ends up being effective for that. Like listening to a speech with a chorus almost. And some of the lines are so incredibly powerful that I could feel my brain rearranging.

Fantastic book from author and activist, Mona Eltahawy. This amazing woman is nothing short of a genius and her work has saved my life.

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