MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK IN NEW YORK TIMES, HARPER'S BAZAAR, STYLIST, MARIE CLAIRE AND WASHINGTON POST

'Fascinating and powerfully argued' Daily Telegraph

'A captivating must-read for anyone who wants to understand how and why misogyny is as powerful a force as ever' KATE MANNE, author of Down Girl

Cosmetic surgeries are at an all-time high, Ozempic is bringing back 'heroin chic' and TikTok trad-wives are on the rise - after four waves of feminism, what went wrong?

Despite decades of progress, the gains of the feminist movement feel more fragile than ever. But as Atlantic critic and Pulitzer Prize finalist Sophie Gilbert points out, this is not a unique moment. Feminism felt just as fragmented in the early 2000s, when the momentum of third-wave feminists and riot grrrls was squashed by lad culture and the commodification of Girl Power.

Casting her eye across pop culture of the past thirty years - from Madonna, the Spice Girls and the Kardashians, to MySpace, #GirlBoss and Real Housewives - Sophie Gilbert reveals a toxic pattern of progress and misogynistic backlash. Girl on Girl shows how every form of media, heavily influenced by the rise of porn, has shaped and warped women's relationships with themselves and other women.

We cannot move forward without fully reckoning with the ways pop culture has defined us - this book shows us how.

'Add this book to the list of titles that urgently provide context and answers to the hell storm that is [vaguely waves around] everything going on right now' HARPER'S BAZAAR

'A book that will make you think, and want to discuss' GLAMOUR

'Blistering' NEW YORK TIMES

"Landmark feminist non-fiction" - Stylist

"A sharp, insightful analysis of how media and pop culture have shaped how women view themselves and each other" - Marie Claire

"Gilbert unmasks the collective regression that continues to influence our views on misogyny, feminism and womanhood today" - Harper's Bazaar

"Gilbert is one of my favorite writers and thinkers, particularly on the subjects of gender and womanhood-and her debut book, which dissects three decades of pop culture through a feminist lens, is sure to be one of the standouts of the year" - The Millions

"A carefully buttressed and sharply written analysis that takes into account a dizzying number of cultural products and characters . . . Truly, Gilbert deserves a medal - not only for her observations and conclusions, but for navigating the sludge she had to wade through to get there. Essential cultural criticism" - Kirkus

"In exploring the years that saw millennial feminism curdle into a wan tool of capitalism (lean in, girlboss!), the book is somehow very entertaining and even energizing, transforming a dismal history into something like a rallying cry" - Boston Globe

"Triumphant . . . a tour de force of cultural criticism" - Publishers Weekly