The Female Man's title is our biggest clue that this book is about Joanna, first and foremost: after all, she's the one who tells us about the time she turned into a "female man." Like the book itself, this moniker points us toward some pretty heavy questions, like: what defines femininity, and what defines masculinity? If a woman wants to get respect in a man's world, does she have to turn into a man herself? If she does turn into a man, is she taking feminism forward, or moving it two steps back? Can the word "man" really stand for all of humanity?