This Satirical 'Reductress' Guide Will Help You Win at Feminism

The online women’s magazine Reductress, often called "The Feminist Onion," was founded in 2013 by Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo, and has been skewering the condescending tones and outdated perspectives of women’s media ever since. Satirical articles like "8 Sex Moves to Drive Him Permanently Insane" and "Amazing! This Woman Stopped Wearing Makeup And She Looks Sooooo Tired" take aim at absurd Cosmopolitan sex tips and the countless viral inspirational stories on your Facebook feed.

The Reductress book, How to Win at Feminism: The Definitive Guide to Having It All—and Then Some! by Beth Newell, Sarah Pappalardo, and Anna Drezen, applies this scathing satire to feminism—or at least to the way feminism is covered by women’s media, co-opted by popular culture, and commercialized to sell beauty products.From an official timeline of feminism where Beyoncé’s birth carries the same weight as women’s suffrage, to a chart on what’s feminist ("tote bags") and not feminist ("other kinds of bags"), the first chapters of How to Win at Feminism establish the absurd tone of the book.

How to Win is ambitious in the scope of its mockery. The chapter "Feminism: Get the Look!" is a biting critique of commercialized feminism in the form of an impossible "wo-manual" on feminist skincare, clothing, cosmetics, diet, and aging. "How to Love and Sex" takes on the dating apps you hate, how to spot a feminist guy ("Has he ever wanted a movie you wanted to watch without complaining?") and what it means when "your lesbian phase lasts five years to eternity."

The core readership for How to Win may be millennial women, but that doesn’t mean second wave feminism (or at least a millennial feminist’s idea of second wave feminism) is safe. Madeline Albright’s hell for women who don’t help other women is expanded to nine Dante circles, with the first reserved for "women who don’t participate in group texts," the third for "women who bring chips to a potluck," and the ninth for "women who say 'Awww!' at you."While Taylor Swift and Lena Dunham references take a jab at current popular culture, "Woman at Work" tackles the same tired clichés women have heard since they entered the workforce. The chapter contains a mock advertisement for the Mamala Breast Pump, which retails for $998 so you can "have it all! (in the back room)," and a feature supposedly written by Fox News correspondent Megyn Kelly on Republican feminism, which grants women freedoms like "wearing pants and not having to repent after sex." Among the seven women who actually have it all, six are fictional characters, with Kelly Ripa as the exception.

Ultimately, the target isn’t the feminist movement; it’s the way feminism has been co-opted and repackaged into something mild, ineffective, easily digestible, and of course, profitable. Readers who cringe at the Dove Real Beauty campaign, couldn’t care less about whether Hillary’s Twitter game is on point, and don’t understand how essential oils figure into feminism will enjoy the sharp satire and irreverence of How to Win at Feminism.