It's likely that I won't be using this in class soon as it is a little involved for my current age group, but I will 100% be buying a physical copy for my collection and likely using it in the future. It is amazing and interesting, very shrewd and looks at things with an unflinching eye. It is definitely an honest and relevant look at the need for intersectional feminism to be at the forefront of discussions of gender.

"Mean Girl Feminism," which is a concept that encourages girls and women to adopt a sassy, sarcastic, and ironic demeanor as a form of feminist performance. The author, Kim Hong Nguyen, argues that this form of feminism often co-opts its style and substance from racialized oppression and protest, while directing meanness toward people in marginalized groups.

Nguyen delves into four types of white mean girl feminism that are prominent in North American popular culture:

The Bitch
The Mean Girl
The Power Couple
The Global Mother
According to Nguyen, white feminists often mimic the anger and resistance people of color and other marginalized groups feel. This allows them to claim a special place within established power structures and present themselves as intellectually superior. However, Nguyen argues that the racialized meanness found across pop culture can open possibilities for building more intersectional feminist politics. I want to read more on the topic and continue educating myself.
Thank you to Net Galley and the University of Illinois Press for the review copy.

Thank you for letting me read this ARC!

I, as a white person myself, was very intrigued to read more about "mean girl feminism" and understand my unconscious biases that are contributing to how I show up in women led spaces. However, as someone who isn't in academia, I felt a bit discouraged due to the heavy academic writing and nature of the book. It felt inaccessible at most times, using larger words that sometimes took away from the context itself.

I found that the Prologue of the book as well was quite lengthy. I was reading repetitive phrases over and over before I even got to the meat of the book.

I love that there are books being published about this! However, I struggled to connect with the writing.

In this academic text, Nguyen looks at the phenomena of Mean Girl Feminism as a white feminist performative practice. The premise is that to be a Bitch or a Girlboss utilises racialised power structures, and thus white feminism can never be inclusive (or truly feminist). It's a solid argument, backed up by some rigorous critical analysis and pop culture case studies. Mean girl feminism has always sat uncomfortably with me, and this book articulates exactly why, breaking down different aspects of the phenomena including the mean girl, power couples and the global mother.

However, I did find it to be limited by its North American focus, and I would've loved to have seen a greater awareness and critique of this lens. Nguyen makes astute links between white feminism and post-colonial capitalism, but does not address how these pressures might shape white feminism differently outside of a North American context.

very insightful approach to this current trend of mostly white feminists, as a latina who lives in latin america it made for an interesting read, specifically how it touched on how this toxic positive feminism affects poc women

thank you to net galley for the e-Arc in exchange of my honest review

I loved how this book broke down what it means to be “mean” in todays climate as a white woman and how this affects black and brown people (especially women) in the process. I especially loved the ways it intersected with politics and motherhood.

The fourth chapter’s section on Laura Bush was incredible and I found myself highlighting long sections at a time discussing the intersection of The First Lady as a figurehead that allows discourse to be shifted towards horrifying routes without the accountability of an actual public and political figure. Below are two of my favorite points from this section.

“[…] the First Lady can make arguments without providing the verifiable data that founds her fear, but yet her fear can in turn “become a generative principle of formation for rule.”[65]. Any factual error made by the First Lady is more or less pardonable because she is unelected, outside of party lines, and not privy to discussions on policy-making.”


“Bush mobilized global motherhood not only through her own performativity but also through her rhetoric of liberal war’s possibility in producing Afghan women as good mothers of and for their own communities.”

Thanks to NetGalley and University of Illinois Press for this ARC.

Some professors reference classic books to illustrate human behavior. Instead of using qualitative or quantitative methods to draw her conclusions, Kim Hong Nguyen uses television shows and former presidents’ wives to illustrate hers.

Nguyen’s feminist media study identifies four types of mean girl feminism in North America. She says “If …feminism is a struggle rather than ‘a lifestyle [or] a ready-made identity or role’- then naming power’s strategies and the people and subject positions that may be performing those strategies is part of the feminist struggle.”

Nguyen deconstructs mean girl feminism in order to move beyond the politics and cliques it creates. She hopes that feminism eventually will be decolonized and lead to a feminism that will benefit the subaltern and eventually lead to mean girl feminism’s dissolution because it will no longer be relevant.

After the first and second wave of feminism, there is post-feminism. This study is an attempt to unite all eras of feminism into a world where women can treat each other as equals without the intrusion of class and color or even religion.

This is a great book discussing modern feedback with examples everyone knows or feels a direct link to. Although parts were a bit long winded, I could see this being used in a college course

An informative read for every white woman who is a feminist!!!!! It covers multiple topics or themes with real world examples. Very well-written!

As a white woman who identifies as a feminist, this felt like a really important book for me to sit down with. It left a lasting impact on my thoughts regarding mainstream feminism and I will definitely be sharing with others in this demographic!

I had noticed that there has been a shift lately in how people interact and present online so it was really interesting to see the different dynamic in this and how feminism has changed with the Mean Girl mentality.

Such a great book for the modern women on feminism and how girls treat and socialize with o e another in society. I found it to be such an engrossing read snd I look forward to sharing more thoughts snd discussion points soon.