90s Bitch

Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality

By: Allison Yarrow

Narrated by: Allison Yarrow

Finalist for the Los Angeles Press Club Book Award, muse to a Givenchy fashion collection, and recommended by the The New York Times, The Skimm, US Weekly, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Refinery 29, Book Riot, Bitch Media, and more.

""Yarrow’s biting autopsy of the decade scrutinizes the way society reduced — or “bitchified” — women at work, women at home, women in court, even women on ice skates . . . Direct quotes from politicians, journalists and comedians about the women provide the most jarring, oh-my-god-that-really-happened portions of Yarrow’s decade excavation."" — Pittsburg Post-Gazette

The nostalgic, smart, and shocking account of how the 90s set back feminism, undermined girls and women, and shaped the millennial generation from award-winning journalist, Allison Yarrow.

To understand how we got here, we have to rewind the VHS tape. 90s Bitch tells the real story of women and girls in the 1990s, exploring how they were maligned by the media, vilified by popular culture, and objectified in the marketplace.

Trailblazing women like Hillary Clinton, Anita Hill, Madeleine Albright, Janet Reno, and Marcia Clark, and were undermined. Newsmakers like Britney Spears, Monica Lewinsky, Tonya Harding and Lorena Bobbitt were shamed and misunderstood. The advent of the 24-hour news cycle reinforced society's deeply entrenched misogyny. Meanwhile, marketers hijacked feminism, sold “Girl Power,” and poisoned a generation.

Today echoes of 90s “bitchification” still exist everywhere we look. To understand why, we must revisit and interrogate the 1990s—a decade in which empowerment was twisted into objectification, exploitation, and subjugation.

Yarrow’s thoughtful, juicy, and timely examination is a must-read for anyone trying to understand 21st century sexism and end it for the next generation.

review by c joanna

Having also spent my educational years all during the 90’s a lot of this book hit home. I also learned a lot bc the media during the time told a one sided story to many known women of the day. As a woman in the 90’s you couldn’t win no matter what you did and as a young girl growing up then I recognized that. And it angers me that the same bs is around today. I recently read Trainwreck and feel like this book is on a similar page of that as women as hard as it is to hear these kinds of things, it’s good to be aware, to get a perspective on the world we live and operate in and that we have to keep fighting the patriarchy. I feel that any female whether born in/around or after the 90’s can benefit from reading this. To quote Lizzo “If you feel like a girl, then you’re real like a girl, do your thing, run the whole damn world!”

Well Researched and Super Interesting

I really enjoyed listening to this one. It dives deep into stories we all know from the present perspective. From a younger persons point of view it really characterized how women were perceived in the 90s. It talks about how women were viewed in the main stream media and how that affects both the women of the past the those women now. Dont read this book if you want to remain nostalgic for the 90s, that's for sure.

I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the topic of women in media.

The books is narrated by the author and she does a good job.

A surprising look back

The way women have been portrayed and vilified while men are unscathed is disgusting. As an adult women in the 90’s I was surprised at how my views on these women have changed. Great walk back to a sad history for women.

Enlightening

This book is really good and definitely makes me look at my 90's childhood differently. It talks about the rise and the fall of feminism in the 90's.

She talks about so many issues in the 90's where women were targeted and abused in the media and society as a whole for the same things that men do all the time.

The main issues discussed were Marsha Clark, Hillary Clinton, Monica Lewinsky, Anita Hill, and Women in music. This is a great book to help us understand how we got where we are today, in terms of how women are portrayed and expected to act.

And women AND men please read this book.

Exceptional

I didn’t know how badly I needed to hear this telling of the decade I came up in. Allison Yarrow’s telling of the 90’s is enlightening, eye opening, and often frustrating. Looking at the decade now with some distance and perspective, it’s amazing how the media formed our opinions and views of these women. I have a newfound understanding and respect for the roads these 90’s bitches paved. Thank you to them. Thank you, Allison Yarrow.