“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle is not just a book, it’s a print earthquake that shakes the very foundations of many women’s lives. Half memoir, half manifesto, it’s a raw and wild call to let go of the social norms, accept yourself and live by intuition not duty. Doyle’s story is brutal, weaving her own path of transformation with universal truths that speak to anyone who has ever felt caged.
The Illusion of the Tamed Life
Doyle attacks the idea of what it means to be a good woman right away. She breaks down the subtle (and not so subtle) ways society teaches women to minimize themselves, put a high value on outside approval and ignore their inner knowing. Using the caged cheetah as a metaphor for the untamed, intuitive self that is slowly suffocated by cultural conditioning, she paints a picture.
Readers are forced to face the compromises they’ve made, the dreams they’ve put off and the true selves they may have given up in the pursuit of an approved life. Doyle’s own story of a seemingly perfect life falling apart, which led her to fall in love with a woman and break up her traditional family structure, is a sad example of this inner rebellion against the shoulds and oughts. It shows that true freedom sometimes requires being willing to let others down in order to love yourself.
Unlocking the Inner Knowing
Doyle’s exploration of “The Knowing” – that instinctive, gut feeling that points us in the direction of our true path – is the heart of “Untamed”. She says women are taught to distrust their inner voice, seek outside advice and value reason over intuition. This chapter is a how to get your life back. Doyle offers ways to connect with this inner wisdom, she talks about the power of silence, self reflection and being open to feeling all of your emotions including the ones that make you uncomfortable.
She challenges the idea that happiness is the only acceptable state by saying true wholeness includes sadness, rage and uncertainty as part of the human experience. It’s a key step to freedom to learn to sit with discomfort, to trust the pain and to see these emotions as messengers not threats.
The Power of Reimagination
After you’ve found the cages and unlocked the inner knowing, “Untamed” turns to the fun, scary process of rethinking your life. Doyle tells you to get out of your own way and stop thinking about what your life “should” be like and instead imagine a new, bolder dream. Instead of shirking accountability or breaking commitments, this is about bringing your outer life into alignment with your inner truth.
She shows that love and wholeness are determined by real connection and individual integrity not by traditional frameworks and explores the messy beauty of building a “blended family” that defies the norms. Being able to live a life that is truly you, even if that’s weird, is the highest form of self love and bravery.
A Call to Courage and Collective Change
In the end “Untamed” is an invitation for women to take back their power, not just for themselves but for the good of the world. Doyle says a world with untamed women – women who are fully present, highly intuitive and unapologetically themselves – will be a fairer, kinder and more fun place for everyone. She reminds us our personal freedom is linked to collective freedom and we give others permission to be themselves when we have the courage to be.
This book is a big fat yes we can do hard things and the bravest thing we can do is have faith in ourselves to let out the wild, untamed spirit that lives inside each of us. It makes you feel seen, challenged and utterly motivated to live a life that is authentically, wildly, deeply yours.
Untamed is now available to stream on Netflix.
