Feminist Book Club in Dublin

For the past month we have been reading
Wrong Women: Selling Sex in Monto, Dublin's Forgotten Red Light District
Caroline West

• Nonfiction, History, Irish Literature, Feminism

A feminist history of Europe's largest red-light district and an examination of the lives of the women who worked there.
Tucked away in Dublin's north inner city, Monto - purported to be Europe's biggest red-light district from 1860 to 1925 with up to 1600 sex workers at any one time - made headlines for wild tales of debauchery. However, what happened to the women and girls within its brothels in life and death is less clear.
This account balances the historical origins of Monto's rise and fall with an investigation into the inhumane and heartbreaking reality of the treatment of the women that worked there, while delving into the impact of class, sexual violence and British colonialism on the women's survival. West explores the stigma and violence the women and girls of Monto endured, and investigates the shocking claims surrounding their treatment by medial professionals.
Weaving together oral histories, historical records, fashion trends and family memories, this book brings the women of Monto to life within its pages as it explores how they lived, worked, loved, dressed, mourned and built a tight-knit community.

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Time to meet up and see what you all thought of it. We'll also be discussing the selection of the new book.

New members are still welcome to join us, even if you haven't read the book.

***

Don't forget to join our Goodreads group (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/181574-feminists-of-dublin---book-club.html).
and check out our other Meetup for more general discussion. (https://www.meetup.com/Feminists-in-Dublin/)

For the past month we have been reading
The New Age of Sexism: How AI and Emerging Technologies Are Reinventing Misogyny
Laura Bates

• Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Technology

Misogyny is being hardwired into our future. Can we stop it?
We like to believe we’re moving closer to equality, riding the wave of technological progress into a brighter, fairer future. But beneath the glossy surface of innovation lies a chilling truth: new technologies are not just failing to solve age-old inequalities—they’re deepening them.
In The New Age of Sexism, acclaimed author and activist Laura Bates exposes how misogyny is being coded into the very fabric of our future. From the biases embedded in artificial intelligence to the alarming rise of sex robots and the toxic dynamics of the metaverse, Bates takes readers on a shocking journey into a world where technology is weaponized against women.
This isn’t a dystopian warning about what might happen. It’s a harrowing account of what’s happening now and the dangers we face if we don’t act. With clarity and urgency, Bates reveals how these advancements are dragging society backward, reinforcing harmful stereotypes, and jeopardizing decades of progress in the fight for gender equality.
Eye-opening and empowering, The New Age of Sexism is a rallying cry for awareness and action in a world where the battle for equality has entered a dangerous new frontier.

.......

Time to meet up and see what you all thought of it. We'll also be discussing the selection of the new book.

New members are still welcome to join us, even if you haven't read the book.

***

Don't forget to join our Goodreads group (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/181574-feminists-of-dublin---book-club.html).
and check out our other Meetup for more general discussion. (https://www.meetup.com/Feminists-in-Dublin/)