It is widely known that criticism is everywhere in today?s culture, and it is almost certain that those under scrutiny are mostly the women of our society. Everywhere we look, we find countless magazines, TV commercials and various other forms of media constantly telling us how to behave and what is expected of us. The recently released book by Wendy Molyneux titled ?Everything is Wrong With You: The Modern Woman?s Guide To Finding Self-Confidence Through Self-Loathing? is yet another example of modern media telling us how imperfect we are, but this book puts a unique spin on this cultural obsession.
This page-turner makes a point of highlighting every one of women?s supposed flaws. It is a unique ?self-help? guide that was written for the sole purpose of telling women just how stupid they can be. It sounds harsh ? and, quite frankly, it is.
The book also gives the reader tips and pointers to all aspects of life such as finding the right guy, looking beautiful, improving your intelligence and your sex life, among other matters. In each chapter, readers will also find specially written letters from people in Hollywood that we have all come to either admire or loathe, including Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Martha Stewart and Jennifer Aniston. Each of these figures write brief letters explaining their own personal experiences and how they have overcome them to become a more perfect version of themselves ? or so they think.
As any girl knows, the best way to determine aspects of your life is to ? what else? ?take a quiz, of course. There are multiple quizzes spaced throughout this book, usually in the beginning of each chapter so that the reader knows exactly where to focus their attention in the subsequent texts. These quizzes, however, are not your average ?what type are you?? questionnaires. In place of the typical ?A? through ?D,? answers are nonsensical options that are anything but standard quiz fare.
It is an overstatement to say that this particular book is an award-winning piece of literature, but it is also not a complete waste of trees. Molyneux does a great job of uniquely highlighting all the aspects of life in which women judge themselves too harshly. That said, this is definitely a piece of literature that needs to be taken lightly, otherwise it is simply depressing. It is hilarious in the way it pokes fun at all the insane and ? let?s admit it ? stupid things that women put themselves through to make themselves model citizens and, more precisely, perfect wives.
For women, the biggest issue in general is finding a man. Yes, ladies, you all know what I am talking about. It is increasingly difficult to find a guy that likes us just for us, but what happens once we?ve discovered that perfect guy? According to Molyneux, after finding Mr. Right, our new ?job? in life is to quit our dream jobs ? which we only had to find the guy in the first place ? live at home and become the model housewife. This new task is to take all of our time, for ? as we all know ? there is some ?girl next door? hiding in the bushes just waiting to pounce. By keeping a pristine house and model life we have harbored the perfect conditions to produce the kryptonite of the single female domain.
The best part about Molyneux?s ?Everything is Wrong With You? is that it shows women just how dumb they can be for constantly striving to create the perfect image. It shows that being truly content with who you are and what you have is what counts, not how many ribs you can see or how many IQ points you can drop.
It is high time women embrace their femininity and show this world what they are made of. Molyneux?s book, however, is written in such a way that it makes it rather difficult to digest as the harsh language and boldness go against all social norms. Still, some sections are flat out hilarious, while others leave you somewhat lost and confused in a very WTF?! sort of way.
3 stars out of 5
