Book Reviewed: If You Lean In, Will Men Just Look Down Your Blouse? by Gina Barreca

Being a woman and other “inconveniences”

In this book entitled “If you Lean In, will men look down your blouse,” author Gina Barreca offers a no holds barred look at the day-to-day life of being a woman in a male-dominated world. Whether it is about work, education, being wife and/or mother and other monotonies of life, being a lady is a tough business. But exploring this world through the eyes of a rational woman refreshes your thoughts and offers new perspectives. In this collection of essays, University of Connecticut Professor Gina Barreca makes you laugh and sometime cry for this material world not being ideal for a woman.

There are many stories and solutions derived from a woman’s daily experiences. The state of joy in life and happiness in a married relationship is thermodynamically unattainable. Why should a woman act shallow because she is beautiful or her hair looks great? The author examines some of the following topics;
1. Why guys make slurping sounds at us on the street
2. Good girls say no – and woman should, too
3. What makes an apology real?
4. When a mother doesn’t like being a mom
5. Sex talk in the park
6. When a friend faces a divorce
7. To a young friend who is not happy at her job

In the essay, “Good girls say no – and woman should, too” the author observes “good girls get knocked up because bad girls know better and good women are exploited, taken for granted, overrun by the needs of others…..” Her advice is say, yes only when you mean it.

With her intimate conversation and a dry sense of humor, Barreca sounds more like Gene Weingarten, Linda Nochlin, Nora Ephron, Robin Bryant, Suzanne Bates, and Judith Viorst or stand-up comedian Kathy Griffin. These essays are nice lessons for readers from this UConn Professor who teaches feminist literary theory and English literature. The upside is there is no home work!