Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert is a thought-provoking exploration of how feminism became entangled in a complex web of hyper-objectification, sexualisation, and infantilisation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In this compelling analysis, Gilbert delves into a time when third-wave feminism's momentum appeared to falter, only to give way to a regressive cultural shift. The book offers a powerful examination of how the feminist movement was sidetracked by a pervasive, damaging influence from mainstream media and internet culture.

Gilbert, a staff writer at The Atlantic and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in criticism, offers a sharply analytical perspective on the era, using music, film, television, fashion, and tabloid journalism to chart the trajectory of the period’s impact on women and their self-image. Drawing attention to the hyper-sexualisation seen in Victoria’s Secret ads, explicit music videos, and the rise of internet culture that ruthlessly scrutinised women in the public eye, Gilbert uncovers how these cultural elements have shaped our collective consciousness.

What makes Girl on Girl so powerful is its connection of these trends to a broader societal shift marked by a toxic blend of materialism, excess, and the increasing dominance of misogynistic narratives. Gilbert argues that the collision of these cultural forces with the pervasive growth of internet pornography in this era left an indelible mark on how women were viewed and treated. The book paints a devastating picture of how an entire generation of women and girls were affected by these forces, leading to unrealistic beauty standards and dangerous self-perceptions.

While Gilbert’s critique is far from exhaustive—acknowledging the complexities and multifaceted nature of the issues it tackles—it is a well-researched and compelling look at the specific cultural period that has profoundly influenced how women experience and navigate the world today. Girl on Girl is an essential read for those seeking to understand the cultural roots of modern misogyny and the long-lasting effects of an era that encouraged the commodification of women’s bodies and reinforced regressive gender dynamics.

Gilbert’s meticulous analysis and the urgency of the subject matter make this book an important read for anyone interested in understanding the undercurrents of the feminist movement’s struggle in the face of pervasive societal pressures. It challenges readers to reflect on how the issues highlighted continue to shape women's experiences and how we might move forward from these cultural constraints.

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As a women who grew up in the 90s/00s, this was of immediate interest to me. Sophie makes some really great and compelling arguments, and adds new perspectives I had not considered before. Some did feel fairly obvious (i.e. the misogny in Hip Hop), and others too lightly explored (i.e. Lena Dunham/Girls) however some were really well researched arguments (such as Eli Roth/Hostel promo).

An interesting look at the way the culture of the 1990s and early 2000s has impacted on women and girls and their views of themselves. It’s hard to argue with anything that Sophie Gilbert says here and it’s quite shocking to put it all together and see exactly what a negative impact so much of it has had. It is, of course, a huge subject so this cannot be comprehensive and there are multiple other factors and consequences to consider in a look at the world and culture we live in now, but this is very well researched and argued and an important subject to look at.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

I'm not usually the biggest non-fiction reader, but understanding the politics of pop culture, especially in such a current fraught political landscape is important. Particularly as I was born in the 2000s, a lot of the films and artists and music that Sophie Gilbert discusses are ones I'm aware of, which adds to the experience - you can overlay your own perception onto these things, especially things that have consistently been deemed "not intellectual" enough for analysis, and understand how your receiving of them has influenced your own projection.

This is a very readable book, the topics are obviously delicate but the tone with which they are discussed is easy to get through, divided into manageable chunks. The only drawback for me was the ending felt a bit abrupt - we have gone through so many years of how things were "incorrectly" perceived or portrayed without a look to the future. Of course, I don't expect Gilbert to have an answer to how to solve systemic misogyny and sexism that has built the societal landscape, however, a view to how to receive art, music and literature in the future to challenge our in-built receptions based on sexism would have been an interesting take.

I just love seeping my mind into a giant vat of pop culture. Pair it with the exploration of womanhood, and I am hooked. It's a difficult novel to take in. The sexualisation of women underlined every section of the novel. It's a pretty damning indictment to grasp; that the early noughties and the relationship between exploitation and the media had such a grasp upon "mundane" pop-culture moments. It was quite hard-hitting.

The chapters are divided between subjects. We go from music, supermodels, movies, girlbosses, and other matters, many crossing. I was actually shocked at how many pop culture moments I was aware of and had lived through. It made it an interesting read, to be sort of "in" on it all. Sophie Gilbert's narrative delivers these moments with example after example. She rarely adds her own voice, and so these examples sometimes do become a little tiresome--the tangents of explanations which for me, didn't need explaining so thoroughly. After all, the target audience for the book no doubt also recognises these cultural pieces too. These retelling of moments sometimes displaced the actual importance of them, neglecting a thorough discussion for only descriptions of examples.

It focuses mostly on the nineties, noughties, and early 2010s. With some lookback at the 80s, and some present-day representation of where we are at now. The music and model sections mostly sat within the 90s exploration, and the 2000s dealt with television and the emergence of reality stars. We hear about many women, and also about some exploitative men. There were, rather surprisingly, no mention at all of Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, which surprises me in retrospect, as these girls represented many pop culture moments that Gilbert explored. But we do get many obvious names, like the ones you'd expect. Like Paris Hilton, Britney, and the Spice Girls.

The quiet dominance of porn underlaid many of these culture moments. The Chapter “Final Girl” was actually such a harrowing read. It dealt with the emergence and normalisation of extreme porn, and to actually read this section was quite upsetting. This chapter in particular sort of causes the rest of the book to be overshadowed by just how striking it was. It was a hard read, but an important one.

I always tend to get along with nonfiction novels. Girl on Girl was no different for me, and I found it so interesting.

I generally take longer to read non-fic than fiction, but with this I just flew through the pages.

I grew up in the 90s and 00s and a lot of this book is familiar and nostalgic for me. The writer is spot on with almost everything she says and it makes you question everything. We know women are treated unfairly, unequally, but to see it pin pointed and shown exactly how and where is just so refreshing.

One to pick up and make you think, one to make you angry and to question 'feminism' and the treatment of women.

Fabulous read, one I'm going to buy a hard copy of and read again! :)

Reading this was so weird. Having grown up during the 90s and early 2000s it was mind boggling to look back at that time and see it in a new light and really make sense of so much trauma. I kept thinking to myself "How are we not more angry? We should all just be screaming in the streets." I think this is incredibly powerful and eye opening and I want every woman I know to read it and give themselves a break. Being a woman is hard enough as it is without all the bullshit we've allowed to be fed to us about who we are and what we're good for. It's not an uplifting read by any stretch but I think it's a deeply necessary read.

Girl on Girl discusses popular culture from the early 2000s to now. Girl power became a commodity and third wave feminism became nonexistent. This book discusses Madonna, the Kardashians, the Spice Girls, Jessica Simpson and many other pop culture icons. The media was and is shaped by porn and this book illustrates that. This book shows how pop culture pitted women against each other and impacted women for the worst.

This was written well and I 100% agree with everything in this book. I really agreed with the points on the Kardashians particularly the way they shaped body image and stole from black culture. I also liked how this author considered the role of pornography and the way pop culture is so overly sexualised. I do think this was a little bit too descriptive and whilst the whole book had a critical tone some parts were just over explanation of pop culture moments which I found to be boring. I would recommend this, it was written well and I think it’s hard to disagree with this well thought out points. I also appreciated how theorists and feminists were quoted at the start of each chapter.