Author: Jennifer Mathieu
My Rating: 5*
Publisher: Hodder
Publication Date: 21/09/17
Genre(s): YA, Feminism, Contemporary
Pages: 340
Format Read: Paperback
Goodreads: Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with her high school teachers who think the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules.
Viv's mum was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother's past and creates Moxie, a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She's just blowing off steam, but other girls respond and spread the Moxie message. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realises that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution.
My book review:
First of all I really loved this book.
Vivian is a fantastic character and should be a role model for future young women to come and she shows that even if you are the quietest girl in the school you still have your voice.
The behaviour of Mitchell Wilson and the football team was shocking and when the principal didn't do anything and instead blamed the girls or told them to get over it, it made me so mad.
It's really sad to see how relevant the majority of the book's topics still are but this was such an empowering read and and it made me feel proud of a bunch of characters who don't exist. And yet they do because this is still such a big problem in today's society and it makes me angry that some people still think and act this way without repercussions.
The book also highlights that there are guys who stand up for the girls too who are not like the asshole football team which was refreshing and although there was a tiny bit of conflict between Vivian and Seth because he still doesn't fully understand the problem and never will, it was a realistic argument.
The last 50 pages of the book really hit a climax and it was quite an emotional read, especially how the girls unite to stand for change. This is an empowering book with a powerful message that needs to be read, especially by young girls.
The film comparison:
Firstly I want to say that the film is really good and is a must watch for everyone, however there are quite a few KEY differences that are missed out from the book which I think should have been included to make more of an impact to show the true extent of the sexism and patriarchy that the girls were facing on a daily basis.
The first major difference is that the head teacher of the school in the book is a man and in the film they changed it to a woman and I really don't know how to feel about this huge change. In the book the head teacher is the father of the captain of the football team, Mitchell Wilson, who is probably one of the worst boys at school for the sexist comments and actions. But of course he gets away with everything and thinks he is untouchable because of who his father is, who has the "get over it" attitude towards any girl who comes forward. And so the film changing the head teacher into a woman, in my opinion, makes this whole situation worse because she doesn't do anything to protect the girls.
In the book there is also this disgusting game that the guys like to play called 'bump and grab' which is basically an excuse for the guys to touch the girls without consent and this highlights the severity of the problem but isn't mentioned at all in the film.
To me, the film focused too much on it being only Mitchell that is the problem rather than showing other boys doing the same thing which made it look like it was just one boy when in reality it was a lot more and that Moxie was singling out Mitchell.
In the book the boys also wore t shirts with sexist slogans on quite often such as "Great legs - When do they open?' and there was a running joke where they would ask girls to 'make them a sandwich' and none of this was included in the film not even as a side remark but I think it should have been to truly show the extent of the sexism in the school.
However in both the book and the film, the walkout scene at the end has to be the best bit. I got goosebumps reading it and it was such a powerful moment that shows what can happen when girls unite and take action.
Both the book and the film are must reads and watches for everyone and they will really make you think.
MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK!
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