Chauvo-Feminism

The latest addition to The Indigo Press’s Mood Indigo series of polemical essays sees Sam Mills, author of the acclaimed novel The Quiddity of Will Self, investigate the phenomena of what she terms ‘chauvo-feminism,’ where men pose as ‘woke’ feminists in order to advance their careers, while privately exhibiting chauvinistic attitudes. Through testimony from women as well as her own experiences with a chauvo-feminist, Mills explores questions of gaslighting and emotional abuse, the psychological underpinnings of the chauvo-feminist, and how we might move beyond ‘trial by Twitter’ to address the root causes of misogyny.

Praise for The Fragments of My Father: ‘Mills takes you into the human heart at its most broken and its most hopeful in this brilliant book that will make you laugh and cry. It is a passionate cry for the millions of carers across the world, unpaid, unthanked, fighting every day out of love’ —Kate Williams, author of Rival Queens

 

‘A powerful and tender book. It shows us, through a fearless account of personal experience and an erudite study of the lives and letters of Leonard Woolf and F Scott Fitzgerald, the dark intimacies and the unspeakable costs of care. It reminds us, most of all, that to care is to labour as well as to love’ —Jenn Ashworth, author of Fell

 

‘Sam Mills presents her story with unflinching honesty, as delicate as her father’s health, as brave as her mother’s example. A book about what it means to be a carer, what it takes from you and, finally, what it gives’ —Will Ashon, author of Chamber Music

Sam Mills studied English Language and Literature at Oxford University and worked as a journalist and publicist before becoming a full-time writer. Her debut novel for adults, The Quiddity of Will Self, was described by The Sunday Times as “an ingenious, energetic read” and by the Guardian as “extraordinary.” Her literary memoir of caring for her father, Fragments of My Father, was published by Fourth Estate in May 2020.