Double Giveaway & Book Recs

Plus: Sexism & Sensibility nominated for best new book!

Hi All,

I’m hard at work on two other newsletters—one about rape culture in the White House and one on the topic I get asked about most: how to handle it when your teenager wears revealing clothing. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know about two exciting updates and recommend some books you might just want to gift. Generally, I think a newsletter should only have one “Call-to-Action” (if any) but I’m hoping you’ll find these compelling enough to do all three.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

Penguin Random House is partnering with Puberry to give away 15 copies of Sexism & Sensibility alongside 15 one-year memberships to Puberry. If you win, you get both! Puberry is a fun, interactive gamified puberty curriculum verified by medical professionals that is revolutionizing the way kids learn about their health. Designed for ages 8-18, they cover a variety of topics, including mental health, menstrual health, personal safety and more — Like Duolingo for health! If you’ve read S&S, then you know managing puberty and body changes well is crucial.

4 reasons your kiddos need the Puberry app

• The US has the highest STD, STI, and teen pregnancy rates of any developed country

• More than 44% of menstruators don't know what is happening during their first period

• The majority of parents don't know how to approach the topic of puberty nor feel comfortable and confident in their ability to teach their kids about health extensively

• The US health curriculum is inconsistent and sometimes even non-existent depending on the state, school district, and school

4 reasons you need Sexism & Sensibility

Lisa Damour, PhD—multi bestselling author and teen guru—sent me a personal email after she read S&S with the subject, “YOUR BOOK IS FANTASTIC!!!!” and called it “required reading for anyone who is raising, educating, or caring for girls.” Pretty great, right? But check out these lines pulled from everyday readers on Amazon:

• “I was completely captivated and couldn't put it down.”

• “I am telling everyone I know about this book! I am so thankful I finished it right as the election was decided. I would be feeling hopeless and depressed but this book has given me something to hold onto – a way forward for my children (boy and girl).”

• “I have never felt more seen. What a healing and liberating read!”

• “This is a brilliant and timely book which I enjoyed immensely, and at times was even moved to tears reading it. As a father of a teenage girl I was impressed by Dr. finkelstein‘s ability to point out pitfalls and obstacles facing girls as they develop into womanhood. Some of these are right under our noses, but were out of my awareness until I read this book.”

VOTE FOR SEXISM & SENSIBILITY (plus another chance to win)!

As a wonderful and total surprise, I was nominated in two categories for the Chicago Reader’s Best of 2024!!

Please take a second to vote! I promise it’s quick—like 30 seconds quick.

If you vote for me in both categories before Dec 31st, let me know in the comments below or reply to this email and you will be entered to win a personalized, signed copy of my book, Sexism & Sensibility as a special thanks for doing that one extra thing none of us has time to do.

I don’t love asking for things like votes, but a win would mean amplifying vital information about what undermines girls’ self-esteem and safety—and how we can transform this misogynistic world for our daughters.

To vote, simply click on each of the categories linked here:

• Best New Nonfiction Book by a Chicagoan

• Best Nonfiction Writer

Thank You!

MAKE YOUR HOLIDAY GIFTS NONFICTION BOOKS BY WOMEN

On Notes—the Substack equivalent of Twitter—the journalist

Elissa Strauss

posted:

4/5 of the New York Times 2024 best nonfiction books are by men, and the fifth is by Lucy Sante, a trans woman who became famous as a man. (Hers is a beautiful book, I should add).

I never paid close attention to the sidelining of nonfiction books by women until I published one. But boy-oh-boy (literally) do we as a culture prefer men as authorities on reality.

I don’t have a profound take beyond: I follow so many brilliant women on here, and many of them have, or will!, write brilliant, sharp, gorgeous nonfiction books. I see you and appreciate you!

Oh, wait, one more extremely profound take: buy nonfiction books by women for friends and family as holiday gifts!”

Where’s Woman? (Photo by Elissa Strauss)

Aaaand that is why I wrote Sexism & Sensibility about how to raise empowered, resilient girls in a world that still believes men’s authority and interests counts more. So yeah, let’s make our holiday gifts nonfiction books by women!! It’s such an easy way to support women and get their brilliant ideas out there.

Some Recommendations:

• I’ll start with my book, Sexism & Sensibility: Raising Empowered, Resilient Girls in The Modern World, (of course!) which would make a wonderful holiday gift for parents of girls—whether they’re expecting one, navigating puberty, or parenting teenagers. A surprising demographic, mind you, has been the twenty-somethings without kids who are reading it as a tool of empowerment for themselves. For a personalized and signed copy, order from my local bookstore, Women & Children First and they’ll ship it to you!

• Check out Elissa Strauss’s book, When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others. It is an exploration of the difficult yet powerful role caring for others plays in our individual and communal lives. I hear it’s fantastic and it’s on my TBR list!

For the mature teens or young adults in your life:

• Adultish: The Body Image Book for Life by Charlotte Markey, PhD (also the author of the popular book, The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless.) This beautiful book about taking on adulthood with body confidence provides evidence-based information on everything from social media and sex to mental health and nutrition. See me talk about it for my series, “Taking Down The Patriarchy One Book at a Time” here on Instagram.

• It's Your Body: The Young Woman's Guide to Empowered Sexual Health by Dena Moes. This is a detailed guide to what today’s young women need to know about their bodies—everything from birth control to pleasure to STIs to emergency contraception and more—from a compassionate, experienced practitioner. See me talk about it on Instagram or TikTok.

Oh and did you know? You can also give a gift a subscription to this newsletter, The Feminist Parent!

The next couple weeks are a lot. Remember to put on your own oxygen masks first or the holidays will be no fun. XoJo