Unscrewed: Women, Sex, Power, and How to Stop Letting the System Screw Us All

Jaclyn Friedman reads, in her punchy, smart style, her well-written cultural critique of sex, power and gender. She uses lots of current examples of sexual freedom fighters who are creating change in many communities across North America to show us how and what is being done and inspires the listener to figure out how they want to make a contribution, finishing the book with a list of suggestions for how we can create change. She acknowledges that change is incremental and that we must celebrate all of our wins along the way, and shares her own experiences of taking on Facebook and her college campus to make the environment safer for women, less sexist and stronger in how it deals with violence against women. Her definition of Fauxpowerment challenges the false empowerment tropes that litter our media and invites the listener to be critical of the way female empowerment is packaged and sold back to us. This is a must read for anyone who cares about the status quo around gender and race and wants to look at sex and power with a more critical lens so we can find ways to unscrew ourselves. Unscrewed is a total gift.

I just finished Jaclyn Friedman's newest book, Unscrewed, and it's absolutely phenomenal. Touching on everything from sex education to the racialized systems that disproportionately harm women of color inside an already fraught legal world to the blessings & curses of living in a digitally connected world, the book is a wealth of information on an impressively broad scope. More than that however, I found Friedman's profiles of the women dedicated to change and impact to be by far the most valuable part of the book. Friedman's focus on the work and vision of these women offers a welcome salve to the exhaustion that comes with feeling like we're fighting a war against an unstoppable behemoth of an enemy, and an inspiration for the innumerable options we have to leverage our individual strengths and passions to make a difference. She ends with a quote from Rabbi Tarfon, and it's worth repeating:"It is not yours to complete the work, neither is it yours to desist from it."

I know a book is great when I find myself recommending it to several people a day. This is one of those books. Friedman does a great job of analyzing how technology, culture and recent events reflect our society's view of and treatment of women. This book has given me a newfound perspective on how far we need to go before we treat people fairly. That said, all is not despair: Friedman offers hope as she details progress that has been made and when she profiles the brilliant and brave people who are fighting on the front lines for equality. Although I purchased the hardcover, I decided to use one of my Audible credits to listen to the audio version and I'm so glad that I did. It's much more poignant to hear Friedman passionately narrate her life's work. I wish that everyone would take the time to read this masterpiece by one of our greatest feminist thinkers.

I expected a great deal from this book, and it delivered. At this moment, when a lot of people are looking around at #MeToo, Weinstein, Louis CK, Congress and a great deal of other abusive conduct, this is the book that offers both how we got here, and how we fix it. Beware cheap, easy answers to these question! Friedman does not fall into that trap. Through chapters structured around interviews with people doing the important work day to day, she walks through the complex interplay of culture, media, education, programs and policy that make the sexual ecosystem what it is. Though there are no immediate gratification hacks to change everything that's wrong, there is plenty of daylight, and the book leaves the reader hopeful that, as Margaret Mead said, "a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world."

A powerful read with so many concrete ideas --- this is the rare book that riles you up with inspiration about a pressing problem, while giving you concrete do-able tasks and tips so that you, an ordinary person, can start moving things in a better direction.Also, for such a serious topic, Jaclyn makes it FUN, FASCINATING, and a quick romp of a delightful read. It's like you are having coffee or a beer with your smartest feminist friend and the thoughts are just F L O W I N G out and making sense and hooking you as you explore these issues!In this #metoo era, this is THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE to getting us through the current state of things into a safe, happy, empowering planet for women and men!

A very important book which takes on rape, non-consensual sex and the full panoply of other cultural dysfunction around sexuality. She is well informed and has a consistent, logical theme. Books which challenge the culture for its prejudices, vices, incongruities and injustices are the anchors for hope and beacons for humanity. The book is definitely written from a woman's point of view. The author is a woman. The topics she takes on are genderless. Her ideas are sound and supportable, implementation will require some help from the male point of view. I am a male.

"Unscrewed" is an outstanding study of where the sexual culture is, how to fix it, and the activists out there doing just that. Friedman lays out how we got to this age of "fauxpowerment", a state of pseudo-liberation that emphasizes individual "choice" while disregarding the structures that limit those choices. She goes on to shed light on the work of a number of scholars, scientists, artists, thinkers, and activists who are working to build a better sexual culture, one in which women - indeed, in which all people - can be truly sovereign over their own sexual lives. A must-read.

Interesting if interested in rights if women in USA, no analysis for other nations