"Febos''s own voice is so irreverent and original. The aim of this book, though, is not simply to tell about her own life, but to listen to the pulses of many others''. In her author''s note, Febos writes that she has ''found company in the stories of other women, and the revelation of all our ordinariness has itself been curative.'' This solidarity puts Girlhood in a feminist canon that includes Febos''s idol, Adrienne Rich, and Maggie Nelson''s theory-minded masterpieces: smart, radical company, and not ordinary at all." -- The New York Times Book Review "Anyone who has ever been a girl or a woman will recognize the patterns Febos uncovers: the unwanted touch, the expectations of our bodies, the way we become complicit in the traps laid out for us along the way by the patriarchal structures that govern so many of our social, professional, and interpersonal spheres . By following Febos'' distinct paths between the past and present, we might realize there''s room to forge our own, and that we''ve just been handed a flashlight that helps illuminate the way." --NPR, "Books We Love" "The harrowing nature of transformation is Girlhood''s core subject, and in seven chapters Febos explores the interconnected aspects of patriarchy and the marks that they''ve left on her . The book''s centerpiece is a magisterial, seventy-six-page essay on what Febos terms ''empty consent''-not merely agreeing to unwanted sex, but the ways in which women are programmed to collaborate in their own diminishment .

Febos has some idea of how to break this cycle . She is also, perhaps, correcting the story of the girl-dreamer, whose elegy, it turns out, may have been premature-she lives to mother the woman." -- The New Yorker "I wish I could have read Girlhood when I was young . Over the course of eight essays with poignant illustrations by Forsyth Harmon, Febos interrogates the strength, savvy and vulnerabilities of girlhood . whether examining adolescent bullying and the etymological roots of the word ''slut'' or exploring the evolution of consent against the backdrop of cuddle parties, Febos illuminates how women are conditioned to be complicit in our own exploitation. Like much of her scholarship, it begins with somatic knowledge of the self." -- The Washington Post , "Best of the Year" "In eight haunting essays, Melissa Febos unearths the trauma of her adolescence as she picks apart the burdens that accompany being a young woman. In sharing the darkness that clouded her coming of age, Febos asks pointed questions about the expectations placed on women and how they impact a person''s sense of self.

" -- Time, "Must-Read Books of the Year" "Febos is an intoxicating writer, but I found myself most grateful for the vivid clarity of her thinking . disquisitive and catalytic--it doesn''t demand change so much as expose certain injustices so starkly that you might feel you cannot abide them another minute . I never once needed trigonometry and I couldn''t find Catullus in a crossword these days, but Febos'' education is a kind I surely could have used." -- The Atlantic "Febos combines personal, cultural, investigative, and scholarly passages to ferociously dissect the lessons that shaped her, and the result is a book that fills the educational void she''d noticed . A guide for women to redefine themselves." -- Boston Globe "Intellectual and erotic, engaging and empowering, Girlhood lays bare the process of unlearning the most deeply ingrained lesson of female adolescence-that we ourselves are not masters of our own domain-and offers us exquisite, ferocious language for embracing self-pleasure and self-love." -- O, the Oprah Magazine "I read Girlhood in a long, marvelous guzzle and plan to teach it. Its language and emotional candor deepen the conversation on sexuality and the horrible liberties taken when we''re way too young to consent.

But there''s not an ounce of victim in Melissa Febos and she''s a hero without ever trying to be. A classic!" --Mary Karr "To counter society''s patriarchal standards and stereotypes enmesh girls in a web of unreachable expectations of mind, body and soul, Melissa Febos offers ideas to disrupt the normative narratives surrounding girlhood and encourages us to recreate ourselves according to ourselves." -- Ms. "Drawing on personal history, cultural analysis, and investigative reporting, Melissa Febos interrogates the meaning of girlhood, the narratives we''ve been sold, and the realities of growing up a woman." -- Buzzfeed , "Most Anticipated Books of 2021" "Melissa Febos is a precise, visceral chronicler of what it means to be a woman in the world . [ Girlhood ] is fierce and lyrical, furious and tender; a vital read for anyone figuring out who they really are, and have always been." -- Refinery29 , "Best New Books" "Melissa Febos brings lyric and merciless scrutiny to how women are conditioned to accept misogyny as their due . By drawing upon cultural materials for her kaleidoscopic investigation, Febos does for girlhood what Maggie Nelson did for pregnancy in The Argonauts .

" -- The Rumpus, "Most Anticipated Books of 2021" "Her whole life, writer Melissa Febos has been forced to understand her body primarily through other people''s conceptions of it. If that sounds familiar to you, Girlhood --a mix of investigative reporting, memoir, and scholarship around what it truly means to be a young woman--might be right up your alley. (And if you''re a parent struggling to understand what your teenage daughter is going through, it''s safe to say this book might help.)" --Vogue.com "This is a book you''ll wish you had in your youth, but one you''ll be glad to have now." --OprahMag.com, "Most Anticipated Books of 2021" "Febos is a balletic memoirist whose capacious gaze can take in so many seemingly disparate things and unfurl them in a graceful, cohesive way . She dances deftly between her own autobiography and exposing the pervasive social history that marked--sometimes literally--her personal experiences and those of many, many women.

" -- OprahDaily "Febos'' book forces us to linger in the nuances of sexuality, gender, consent, and eroticism. Her essays dive deep into all those gray waters of being a girl and then a woman: how self-loathing and self-love can crash against each other, creating a certain kind of dissonance that can take a lifetime to escape, if we ever do. If there is a way out, it might be through books like this one that give us a shared language for all the murky things we as women feel--but too rarely speak." -- Popsugar "Fusing memoir, cultural commentary, and research, critically-acclaimed writer Febos explores the beauty and discomfort of girlhood (and womanhood) in her newest essay collection. With her signature lyricism and haunting honesty, the essays explore the ways girls inherit, create, interrogate, and rewrite the narratives of their lives." -- The Millions , "Most Anticipated Books of 2021" "For her third book, Melissa Febos has turned the lens on her own adolescence. Using a blend of theory and autobiography, she recounts her difficult early sexual experiences and time spent as a dominatrix and questions the patriarchal forces that shape the collective girlhood narrative." -- Vulture (NY Mag) "In each of Girlhood ''s essays--which are accompanied by gorgeous illustrations by artist/author Forsyth Harmon--Febos works to interrogate her own behaviors as she navigates relationships, love, sex, and addiction and, bolstered by research and interviews, comes out the other side with a clearer understanding of what it might take to make girlhood a less-destructive experience.

" -- Shondaland "Febos is widely considered one of the most respected and beloved contemporary essayists and memoirists, and a pillar of thought and encouragement for other writers. The essays in her latest collection read like sculpture: sentences chiseled and combined into profound, moving works. Whether she''s writing about a childhood soccer game or a cuddle party or a hike in France or sex or Greek myth or addiction, her essays dance between philosophical, humorous, and sensual." -- BOMB Magazine " Girlhood is an exquisite collection. In lapidary, lucid prose, Melissa Febos dissects the traumas, terrors, and pleasures of the fraught passage from girl to woman. Febos''s insight is devastating, the examinations of her world - from the female body, queerness, consent, slut-shaming, and intimacy - are rigorous and compassionate. This is a book for mothers, daughters, and our deepest selves, a true light in the dark." --Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter "In this book, Febos proves herself to be one of the great documenters of the terrible and exquisite depths of girlhood.

Here, that terrible and beautiful aeon is dissected, sung over, explored like ancient ruins. These essays are moss and iron-hard and beautiful-and struck through with Febos'' signature brilliance and power and grace. An essential, heartbreaking project." --Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House and Her Body and Other Parts "Melissa Febos is part poet, part theorist, and all writer. In this lyrical, searching, profound, and personal collection, Febos examines childhood, femaleness, and love in its many forms with a sensuous ferocity that is all her own." --Ariel Levy, author of The Rules Do Not Apply and Female Chauvinist Pigs "Melissa Febos just revived me in the most spectacular way. Girlhood.