F*ck Happiness: How the Science of Psychology Ignores Women

For readers of Rebecca Solnit’s Men Explain Things to Me and Barbara Ehrenreich’s Bright Side comes a provocative, persuasive look at how and why women’s desires are more complex than we are led to believe. Happiness has become big business. Books, psychologists, consultants and even governments promote scientific findings into the psychology of happiness and how it can apply to the individual and to the broader society. The problem is that almost all of this science is performed by and for straight white men. And some of the most vocal of these experts suggest that women can become happier by adopting traditional gender values and eschewing feminism. Sceptical of this hypothesis, Ariel Gore immersed herself in the optimism industrial complex, combing the research, reading the history, interviewing the thinkers, and exploring her own and her friends’ personal experiences and desires. F*ck Happiness is a nuanced, thoughtful and inspiring account of what happiness means and to whom, how it has played a role in defining modern gender roles and power structures, and how we can all pursue joy in our lives. ‘Thoughtful, funny and inspiring, this is a down-to-earth guide to the elusive human quest for happiness.’ —Booklist ‘[Gore is] an insightful observer’ —The New York Times