Girl, Stop Apologizing: Excuse 1

A Chapter by Chapter Review of Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis

The subtitle of Girl, Stop Apologizing is “A Shame-Free Plan For Embracing and Achieving Your Goals,” so I approached the book as encouragement for entrepreneurs. It is for women who want to start businesses and make money. The first excuse Hollis tackles is the one used by women who haven’t become entrepreneurs because “that’s not what other women do.”

The main focus of this chapter is criticism on a Facebook post from a few years ago (July 24, 2015). In the comments section, Hollis reveals that she has a nanny to help her with the kids. Her followers have some thoughts on that. I address this in The Ugly section.

The Good:

“In the absence of experience or knowledge, determination makes the difference between where you are and where you want to be!” (7)

“An excessive imagination plus a lifelong desire to prove my worth through achievement means I’m always aiming for the sun. You know that expression “Go big or go home”? I never go home. (8)

“But the catalyst that propelled me into the dreams I’m so privileged to be livings today is that I accepted the challenge to actively get past those feelings and, in doing so, massively changed my life.” (15)

The Bad:

Another point Hollis makes in this chapter is that the world has a particular perception of women. She states the following:

“I grew up in a home with a traditional structure. Dad worked, Mom took care of the house…even when she also worked. Somehow I still found my way into being a proud feminist which means, in its totality, that I believe men and women should be treated equally. I went into marriage believing my husband and I would equally share the load, but it was so easy to slip back into the structure I’d grown up with that told me what a woman should be like and how she should act and what her value was.” (13)

Just because Hollis’ mom did inside-the-home work and outside-the-home work doesn’t mean she was any less equal than Hollis’…