# Barbara Ehrenreich RIP **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150 "2022-09-07T17:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/1 "2022-09-07T17:20:25Z")
I was so sad to learn this. Barbara Ehrenreich has died. She’s probably best known for her book _Nickel and Dimed_, but personally, I much preferred her _Brightsided_. It was a devastating look at toxic positivity, or the pressure that society puts on people to be happy all the time. It includes her battle with breast cancer, and how the demand that the patient stay positive at all times is actually harmful. A very necessary read for me, as a depressed person concerned about my right to feel bad if I want to. Another author I loved who will never bring me something new. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/2 "2022-09-07T17:53:15Z")
I was sad to hear it. I’ve been reading her since _For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts Advice to Women._ ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/3 "2022-09-07T18:09:30Z")
Damn. Somebody else who we needed, gone. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/4 "2022-09-07T18:25:43Z")
The one I was moved by was _For Her Own Good_. She used to teach at my undergrad alma mater, SUNY @ Old Westbury. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2022, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/5 "2022-09-07T22:25:47Z")
Don’t think I’ve read any of her books (I refuse to read “Nickel and Dimed” because I’ve lived it) but I saw her interviewed many times, and she was always witty and sensible. Her essay “Welcome to Cancerland” is long and a bit dated, but also worth reading. TL : DR - she’s a breast cancer survivor, and found the “Breast Cancer Bear” to be just about the most demeaning thing she’d ever seen. > **[HarpersMagazine-2001-11-0075358.pdf](https://archive.harpers.org/2001/11/pdf/HarpersMagazine-2001-11-0075358.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJUM7PFZHQ4PMJ4LA&Expires=1568333045&Signature=HWjBLPajQSIfCgZFDl1dhshivZc%3D)** > > 3.95 MB ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barbara-ehrenreich-rip/971150/6 "2022-09-09T20:21:58Z")
A nice write-up by Dierdre English. > **[The long fight of Barbara Ehrenreich](https://www.motherjones.com/media/2022/09/the-long-fight-of-barbara-ehrenreich/)** > > Remembering the champion of the working class, scourge of the self-important, and my friend of 50 years.