This book was a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world, but it provided a hopeful vision for the work of unapologetic feminist strategies across the globe. I learned quite a bit but it wasn't heavy or inaccessible to read which I appreciated.

Short book that still provided a wealth of insights. There was a good variety of societies drawn from which made it quite thought provoking. I think this is one most people should have a read, not too drawn out and an important topic.

Short, quick read. I feel the author does a good job providing different stories / examples from different cultures affected by the patriarchy.
The topic of sexual violence is a tough one, but also very important. Highly recommend this non fiction!

A brilliant work that got me thinking about a lot of things. Perhaps, my most poignant takeaway is how patriarchy treats anyone that presents a modicum of femaleness the exact same way (re: homophobia). I really liked this book because we need to learn more from African feminist theorists.

This is an insightful and incisive dissection of how fear is weaponised against women. Ms. Gqola is an important thinker who articulates her research and ideas in a compelling manner.

I thought this was an insightful and well-researched book about the violent and patriarchal structures permeating our societies. I also liked the wide scope of research in terms of examples being used from all over the world. It was very interesting, in fact, to highlight the different (and similar) ways in which the 'female fear factory' works in different cultures and countries. I think this was a great intersectional point of view that adds to the conversation.

However, I found some parts of this book not so easy to read or understand. I'm not sure if this book was written as an academic book or for the larger public, but I didn't think it was as accessible as it could have been. I also think that some very precise examples (of tv shows and such) were a bit confusing to follow when you have no reference point. I thought Gqola did a better job talking/summarising real-life events than fictional ones.

Generally, I'm glad I read it, but would only recommend to those with a more considerable feminist knowledge or interest as it can be a bit impenetrable at times.

This was a really interesting read! Some parts were hard to swallow but definitely needed to be talked about. I really appreciated the author’s voice.

I think this text is particularly important to read now with a number of cultural concerns happening to remove agency/autonomy away from women. In some regards trying to make connections across culture it wasn't always apples to apples. Still very interesting and insightful though.

It is a book that explores the experiences of women in public spaces – and how patriarchal attitudes and structures in these public spaces affect women making them feel unsafe. I would recommend this book especially for colleges and universities particularly in the Global south because it discusses women in developing contexts and their experiences of public spaces including the factors that contribute to fear in navigating those public spaces.

The main emotion that drives and help patriarchy survive is the fear that the girls learn since early childhood in different cultures around the globe. The author tries to provide different examples from different cultures with cases studies from the recent years. Patriarchy is also described here as a concept and the feminism aspect puts into the light this concept to help us understand women’s realities. It is clearly a very interesting read and very insightful.

An important read, but extensive formatting and editing issues in this ARC, making it difficult to properly parse the information presented. DNF at 32%.

Thank you to the publishers for providing me with an eArc in exchange for my honest review.

For someone who hasn't read the author's previous work, I found this book slightly hard to grasp and get into. While it does talk about important topics of the patriarchy's hold over women, the continuous references to their other work made it less impactful.

This is definitely more written in a textbook/academic style than something that can be accessible for everyone. So I would recommend it to people who are used to reading and understanding academic texts or study topics surrounding this area of gender studies.

It was interesting, and I was hopeful that I would love it but with the constant reference to another book that I haven't read, it was difficult to follow and learn from.

Once again thank you so much to the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

There was a lot of interesting things in this book. As a woman I am very familiar with a lot of examples in here relating to fear and I think a lot of the ideas were expressed well. Overall it was a good read however, I didn't feel like all the chapters were at the same level and although I was mostly fine with it, the writing style is not very intuitive to read.
I don't think I have ever read a book where the author mentions her other book so many times that it actually made me feel bad and as if I didn't actually got as much as I should have from this, since apparently so much relating to the subject was discussed deeper before. I believe the book could benefit from some structural changes but the content was good.

"Rape is not possible without patriarchy. It is for patriarchy. Therefore anti-rape work has to contribute to undoing patriarchy or it is pointless. But patriarchy has a full violence toolkit where fear and shame have pride of place."

Gqola is without a doubt highly knowledgeable- reading her work makes me wish to sit and listen to her speak for hours. Anyone with an intermediate understanding of feminist theory and concepts will be able to follow along. However, this work is not what I would consider accessible. The vernacular used and style of writing is scientific- much of the book reads like a scientific journal.

One thing I loved was the way that Gqola used frequent paradoxes to bring nuance to the conversation. This is not light reading by any means but Gqola is brilliant and I would recommend Female Fear Factory to anyone who has read a few pieces of feminist works/has a decent understanding of feminist terminology.

I liked this book, I felt chapter 7 was instantly enlightening and sobering. Pumla really explored through different anecdotes and case studies how women are sorely oppressed in so many aspects of life and how radical change is needed quickly, especially for women in South Africa, Women across the world will sadly relate to so many of these experiences Pumla describes. I did feel it read a little like a textbook, which made the book hard to read in places for me.

I thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world, and a hopeful vision for the work of unapologetic feminist imaginative strategies across the globe. an eye opening read!

I really wish I could get into this book but at the end it felt like I was doing required reading for a school project as opposed to reading something that I was interested in,

This book put across some interesting ideas but I didn't find it particularly readable. The author refers to her previous writings often, which I haven't read, and there were also some cultural references to a soap opera which went over my head.

4.5/5

Gqola is the kind of writer and scholar that makes you feel honored to be reading her work. It is difficult, putting into words that which is intangible but oppressive, invisible but so heavily felt. Gqola manages to do not only that but also map everything out; she paints an undeniable picture of the patriarchy and lays out all its components and mechanisms.

I had no expectations but wow. I don't even have the words to describe how this reading experience. But I can say what reading Female Fear Factory has made me feel, fucking empowered!