Structure

Moran divides her memoir into sixteen chapters, a prologue, and a postscript. Each chapter ranges from fourteen to twenty-four pages, and they are arranged thematically around topics that women are constantly thinking about – or are forced to think about by media, culture, and society – from the age when a girl first becomes a woman with her first menstrual cycle until she is faced with the thought of plastic surgery in order to stay youthful and appealing. Moran discusses underwear and fashion, body image (body hair, weight, etc.), relationship with men, career ambition and sexism, relationships with men, weddings, and motherhood.

Each chapter begins with a vignette of Moran’s personal experience that launches her into an extended rant about the more abstract topic the anecdote represents. It is not a straightforward memoir which builds a traditional narrative arc of storytelling; there is no particular beginning, middle, and...