You Don't Have to Like Me: Essays on Growing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding Feminism

Book Review on “You Don’t Have To Like Me”
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Book Review on “You Don’t Have To Like Me”
Issues of identity, empathy, and marginalization in the current society are of greater concern. An aspect of feminism in the society further elevates the marginalized statuses of women who are discriminated against amidst the male-dominated communities. For example, Alida Nugent is bored by the mere meaning of the term "Feminism" as a four letter word. She realizes that feminism entails empowering notion of identity. She finds it a positive thing to criticize beauty standards even though certain aspects that women use such as dark lipsticks and investing in female friendships are rewarding. She is able to reveal her struggles on eating disorders as well as her survival with a biracial identity. Furthermore, she is able to unapologetically and laughs out loudly in her book; You Don’t Have to Like Me
Empathy in relation to You Don’t Have to like Me by Alida Nugent
Empathy in Alida Nugent’s masterpiece reveals the ability to share values and secure identity. It is usually difficult for a normal person to share an identity with others. In order to accomplish such, Nugent has to truly share with the audience about herself to indicate that she is not alone (Nugent,2015). She proves that she is an exceptional person by learning the art of empathy since she is able to see herself as part of the society. Therefore, it can be noted that such bold step is an emotional milestone where people are observed as conscious entities that experience their own realities in the shared spaces of the absolute truth. She says, "WANTING to be anything is the whole point of feminism. HAVING TO BE SOMETHING is what feminists fight against, or at least the ones I know." In this quote, she reveals her sincerity to the audience of her need to gain power from feminism (Nugent,2015).
In addition, Nugent is able to emphasize on empathy by starting with a sociopathic system where one's development is centered in the awareness of an individual needs. This is followed by a realization of getting involved around people and think, feel as well as having experiences as other people do. Therefore, Nugent is no ordinary person who does not empathize. Thus, the audience is able to acknowledge her role in the societal conveniences. For example, people in the society are only interested in their personal gain such as a cashier who takes a person’s cash, while a doctor offers his experience to heal a sick person (Nugent,2015). However, Nugent goes beyond to reveal the capacity of empathy as involving much more space to observe people as close as possible in their truthful nature with no biases in an individual's human psyche. Thus, she is able to share her personal feelings by stating that, “…And, most important, if you like shaving your entire region, and somebody tells you that it's wrong because it makes you look like a baby, that person is a lunatic. You are an adult woman who happens to have no pubic hair. You are not a Lolita. You are an adult woman”(Nugent,2015).
Nugent through her novel indicates that one can develop the art of empathy whenever one...