
Don't Call Me Princess
Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life
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Narrated by:
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Peggy Orenstein
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By:
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Peggy Orenstein
About this listen
The New York Times best-selling author of Girls & Sex and Cinderella Ate My Daughter delivers her first ever collection of essays - funny, poignant, deeply personal and sharply observed pieces, drawn from three decades of writing, which trace girls' and women's progress (or lack thereof) in what Orenstein once called a "half-changed world."
Named one of the "40 women who changed the media business in the last 40 years" by Columbia Journalism Review, Peggy Orenstein is one of the most prominent, unflinching feminist voices of our time. Her writing has broken ground and broken silences on topics as wide-ranging as miscarriage, motherhood, breast cancer, princess culture and the importance of girls' sexual pleasure. Her unique blend of investigative reporting, personal revelation and unexpected humor has made her books best-selling classics.
In Don't Call Me Princess, Orenstein's most resonant and important essays are available for the first time in collected form, updated with both an original introduction and personal reflections on each piece. Her takes on reproductive justice, the infertility industry, tensions between working and stay-at-home moms, pink ribbon fear-mongering and the complications of girl culture are not merely timeless - they have, like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, become more urgent in our contemporary political climate.
Don't Call Me Princess offers a crucial evaluation of where we stand today as women - in our work lives, sex lives, as mothers, as partners - illuminating both how far we've come and how far we still have to go.
©2018 Peggy Orenstein (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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Girls & Sex
- Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A generation gap has emerged between parents and their girls. Even in this age of helicopter parenting, the mothers and fathers of tomorrow's women have little idea what their daughters are up to sexually or how they feel about it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with over 70 young women and a wide range of psychologists, academics, and experts, renowned journalist Peggy Orenstein goes where most others fear to tread, pulling back the curtain on the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important possibilities of girls' sex lives in the modern world.
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Must read for anyone who has a daughter
- By Erin on 04-01-16
By: Peggy Orenstein
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Cinderella Ate My Daughter
- Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source - the source - of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages.
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No solution just worry
- By Marie on 06-28-12
By: Peggy Orenstein
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Boys & Sex
- Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Boys & Sex dissects so-called locker room talk; how the word "hilarious" robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boys’ understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By surfacing young men’s experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in today’s world.
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Without Exception, Politically Correct
- By Jim S. on 06-13-20
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Caste
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
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Brilliant, articulate, highly listenable.
- By GM on 08-05-20
By: Isabel Wilkerson
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My Body
- By: Emily Ratajkowski
- Narrated by: Emily Ratajkowski
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age 21, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture’s commodification of women is the subject of this book.
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so vain..
- By Emily Valdez on 01-10-22
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Bad Feminist
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- By: Roxane Gay
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- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman ( Sweet Valley High) of color ( The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years ( Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown).
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"I am a mess of contradictions" - RG
- By Cynthia on 12-27-15
By: Roxane Gay
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Girls & Sex
- Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A generation gap has emerged between parents and their girls. Even in this age of helicopter parenting, the mothers and fathers of tomorrow's women have little idea what their daughters are up to sexually or how they feel about it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with over 70 young women and a wide range of psychologists, academics, and experts, renowned journalist Peggy Orenstein goes where most others fear to tread, pulling back the curtain on the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important possibilities of girls' sex lives in the modern world.
-
-
Must read for anyone who has a daughter
- By Erin on 04-01-16
By: Peggy Orenstein
-
Cinderella Ate My Daughter
- Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pink and pretty or predatory and hardened, sexualized girlhood influences our daughters from infancy onward, telling them that how a girl looks matters more than who she is. Somewhere between the exhilarating rise of Girl Power in the 1990s and today, the pursuit of physical perfection has been recast as a source - the source - of female empowerment. And commercialization has spread the message faster and farther, reaching girls at ever-younger ages.
-
-
No solution just worry
- By Marie on 06-28-12
By: Peggy Orenstein
-
Boys & Sex
- Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity
- By: Peggy Orenstein
- Narrated by: Peggy Orenstein
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Drawing on comprehensive interviews with young men, psychologists, academics, and experts in the field, Boys & Sex dissects so-called locker room talk; how the word "hilarious" robs boys of empathy; pornography as the new sex education; boys’ understanding of hookup culture and consent; and their experience as both victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. By surfacing young men’s experience in all its complexity, Orenstein is able to unravel the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important realities of young male sexuality in today’s world.
-
-
Without Exception, Politically Correct
- By Jim S. on 06-13-20
By: Peggy Orenstein
-
Caste
- The Origins of Our Discontents
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beautifully written, original, and revealing, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents is an eye-opening story of people and history, and a reexamination of what lies under the surface of ordinary lives and of American life today.
-
-
Brilliant, articulate, highly listenable.
- By GM on 08-05-20
By: Isabel Wilkerson
-
My Body
- By: Emily Ratajkowski
- Narrated by: Emily Ratajkowski
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily Ratajkowski is an acclaimed model and actress, an engaged political progressive, a formidable entrepreneur, a global social media phenomenon, and now, a writer. Rocketing to world fame at age 21, Ratajkowski sparked both praise and furor with the provocative display of her body as an unapologetic statement of feminist empowerment. The subsequent evolution in her thinking about our culture’s commodification of women is the subject of this book.
-
-
so vain..
- By Emily Valdez on 01-10-22
-
Bad Feminist
- Essays
- By: Roxane Gay
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman ( Sweet Valley High) of color ( The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years ( Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown).
-
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"I am a mess of contradictions" - RG
- By Cynthia on 12-27-15
By: Roxane Gay
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Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters
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- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Drawing on her 30 years' experience practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine, teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker explains why an active father figure is maybe the single most important factor in a young woman's development. In this invaluable guide, Meeker shows how a father can be both counsel and protector for his daughter as she grows into a spiritually and mentally strong young woman.
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Kind of sweet, kind of preachy
- By Patrick on 07-02-17
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Becoming Nicole
- The Transformation of an American Family
- By: Amy Ellis Nutt
- Narrated by: Amy Ellis Nutt
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
When Wayne and Kelly Maines adopted identical twin boys, they thought their lives were complete. But it wasn't long before they noticed a marked difference between Jonas and his brother, Wyatt. Jonas preferred sports and trucks and many of the things little boys were "supposed" to like; but Wyatt liked princess dolls and dress-up and playing Little Mermaid. By the time the twins were toddlers, confusion over Wyatt's insistence that he was female began to tear the family apart.
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More narratives like this, please.
- By book worm on 10-22-15
By: Amy Ellis Nutt
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Far from the Tree
- Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
- By: Andrew Solomon
- Narrated by: Andrew Solomon
- Length: 40 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A brilliant and utterly original thinker, Andrew Solomon's journey began from his experience of being the gay child of straight parents. He wondered how other families accommodate children who have a variety of differences: families of people who are deaf, who are dwarfs, who have Down syndrome, who have autism, who have schizophrenia, who have multiple severe disabilities, who are prodigies, who commit crimes, who are transgender.
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A Gripping Masterpiece
- By C. Beaton on 12-14-12
By: Andrew Solomon
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Bringing Up Girls
- Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women
- By: James C. Dobson
- Narrated by: James C. Dobson
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Based on extensive research, and handled with Dr. Dobson's trademark down-to-earth approach, Bringing Up Girls will equip parents like you to face the challenges of raising your daughters to become healthy, happy, and successful women who overcome challenges specific to girls and women today and who ultimately excel in life.
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Solid concepts, poor presentation
- By honuhunter on 12-06-18
By: James C. Dobson
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I Am Not Your Baby Mother
- THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
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- Narrated by: Candice Brathwaite
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
It's about time we made motherhood more diverse.... When Candice fell pregnant and stepped into the motherhood playing field, she found her experience bore little resemblance to the glossy magazine photos of women in horizontal stripe tops and the pinned discussions on Mumsnet about what pushchair to buy. Leafing through the piles of prenatal paraphernalia, she found herself wondering: "Where are all the black mothers?".
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More than what meets the eye.
- By Ash_Alpha_Mom on 12-12-23
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Transitions of the Heart
- Stories of Love, Struggle and Acceptance by Mothers of Transgender and Gender Variant Children
- By: Rachel Pepper - editor
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 5 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Transitions of the Heart is the first collection to ever invite mothers of transgender and gender variant children of all ages to tell their own stories about their child’s gender transition. Often transitioning socially and emotionally alongside their child but rarely given a voice in the experience, mothers hold the key to familial and societal understanding of gender difference.
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Heartfelt, Well-Written, and Moving
- By Susie on 01-04-13
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The Secrets of My Life
- A History
- By: Caitlyn Jenner
- Narrated by: Caitlyn Jenner - exclusive introduction, Erin Bennett
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this remarkable memoir, former Olympian and Kardashian family member Caitlyn Jenner reveals shocking and heartbreaking stories from her journey to become a transgender woman and fight for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Let down
- By prettyinparadise on 06-10-17
By: Caitlyn Jenner
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The Argonauts
- By: Maggie Nelson
- Narrated by: Maggie Nelson
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Maggie Nelson's The Argonauts is a genre-bending memoir, a work of "autotheory" offering fresh, fierce, and timely thinking about desire, identity, and the limitations and possibilities of love and language. At its center is a romance: the story of the author's relationship with the artist Harry Dodge. This story, which includes Nelson's account of falling in love with Dodge, who is fluidly gendered, as well as her journey to and through a pregnancy, is an intimate portrayal of the complexities and joys of (queer) family making.
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A relaxing meditation on identity, gender and art
- By redhidari on 10-01-15
By: Maggie Nelson
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All Joy and No Fun
- The Paradox of Modern Parenthood
- By: Jennifer Senior
- Narrated by: Jennifer Senior
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Thousands of books have examined the effects of parents on their children. But almost none have thought to ask: What are the effects of children on their parents? In All Joy and No Fun, award-winning journalist Jennifer Senior tries to tackle this question, isolating and analyzing the many ways in which children reshape their parents' lives, whether it's their marriages, their jobs, their habits, their hobbies, their friendships, or their internal senses of self. She argues that changes in the last half century have radically altered the roles of today's mothers and fathers, making their mandates at once more complex and far less clear.
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The Joy of Parenting
- By Cynthia on 02-14-14
By: Jennifer Senior
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Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed
- Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids
- By: Meghan Daum
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed "fertility crisis" and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all - a successful, demanding career and the required 2.3 children - before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, conversation has turned to whether it's necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life.
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Am I the only sane childfree woman in here?
- By J. Malouin on 09-29-15
By: Meghan Daum
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Invisible
- How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine
- By: Michele Lent Hirsch
- Narrated by: Frankie Corzo
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Miriam's doctor didn't believe she had breast cancer. She did. Sophie navigates being the only Black scientist in her lab while studying the very disease, HIV, that she hides from her coworkers. For Victoria, coming out as a transgender woman was less difficult than coming out as bipolar. Michele Lent Hirsch knew she couldn't be the only woman who's faced serious health issues at a young age, as well as the resulting effects on her career, her relationships, and her sense of self. What she found was a surprisingly large population with important stories to tell.
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Final Section Worth The Listen
- By whitney on 04-13-18
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
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Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
Critic reviews
"Peggy Orenstein, contributing writer to the New York Times, reads her own columns about feminism, women's issues, and life.... Orenstein's narration is smooth and often matter-of-fact. At the same time, she reveals her passion and sometimes anger, particularly at doctors and the medical world.... An essential listen for women, and men, of all ages." (AudioFile)
What listeners say about Don't Call Me Princess
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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- Marita R.
- 03-28-19
Compulsory read
Great insight into what feminism means and how many things that are happening and being said that go unnoticed and need to be addressed today!
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