Rating: 
Summary: Butchered Statistics and definitely NOT "Feminist"
Review: I'm no expert on feminist literature, but even I can see through the cheap attacks on radical feminists made by a woman who is scared of change, scared of power, and scared of the prospects of true gender equality (along with her large male fan-base). So, if women have finally reached social and economic parity with men, what are all the radical feminist complaining about? By the way, let's also ask People of Color in the U.S. why they are still bitching about racism when the Civil Rights Movement had already secured equality for them! The answer is that prejudicial ideas ingrained in the Western consciousness for hundreds of years cannot be altered in just a few decades. Second Wave feminism didn't (couldn't) abolish prejudice against women, just like the Civil Rights movement could not abolish racist ideas against African Americans and other minorities! To all you Sommers fans: let's begin by passing the Equal Rights Amendment. Once we've finally got that passed, we can resume this debate.I am disappointed to see that so many men still support sexist, backward, old-fashioned ideas about women's rights. Take a look around and you'll see that many male reviewers hide behind academic bluff to support their causes. Well, I have a good argument against these male Sommer's supporters. Biological theories say that men are more selfish than women. They needed to hunt for animals, so their abilities to experience empathy is limited. Women, on the other hand, raised families and had to be equipped with a lot of empathy for their children to survive. Between the two genders, what is the probability that, on the whole, women are going to dominate, abuse and mistreat men? What is the likelihood that men will act selfishly and un-empathically towards women? Radical feminist have not taken things "too far"; they've only started to chip away at the edges of patriarchy! Many more reforms--beyond the current goals of radical feminism--must be implemented for women to become equal members of society. So, once again, let's start by passing the Equal Rights Amendment.
Rating: 
Summary: Pure excellence...
Review: I read this book in 1998 and have not read anything since that compares to it. Sommers is straight-up, thorough, and outlines the FACTS about the modern feminist movement and the destruction it has wrought. I'm a 26-year old female and have many friends who have fallen for the rhetoric of the radical feminist agenda which seeps into our lives subtly through all kinds of media. Sommers exposes the lies of the major players in the feminist movement, which has come to be nothing but a group of power-hungry women who couldn't care less about the welfare of other women (or men or children, for that matter). This author has become one of my favorites.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Academic Feminism
Review: Having worked in academia for 13 years, I have had far too many opportunities to witness the shrillness and vapidity of seething anti-male feminists. In fact, I was one of the intended victims of a scurrilous, ugly campaign by two power-crazed feminists at a large state university in New York. I thought I understood the motivations of this crowd fairly well, but Sommers' book provides more proof, if any were needed, that academic feminists are monstrous totalitarians whose goal is to take over the academy and turn it into an ideological bastion for fellow travelers. From this perch they would sweep aside all who disagree and utterly squelch dissent within their own ranks. Ms. Sommers does not just analyze the idiocy of the leaders of gender feminism; she also provides data detailing their corruption and lies, and uses their own words to discredit a movement which has already become far too powerful. This is must reading, especially if you are thinking of sending your child to a prestigious college such as Yale or Wellesley, where your hard-earned tuition money will be spent indoctrinating your youngster into group-think and intolerance.
Rating: 
Summary: Sommers work confirmed by Amazon critics
Review: Anyone who wants a good outline of the tactics Sommers shows gender feminists using on anyone who would dare to criticize them need only read the low-scored comments of this book here on Amazon. Instead of actually attacking her arguments, an activity which many gender feminists consider disgustingly masculine anyway, they resort to petty name-calling and insults (which apparently *isn't* a masculine trait) such as a woman's Uncle Tom. They use metaphorical attacks. They claim she's betrayed her gender and tell her to get a sex change. Others completely misunderstand the focus of Sommers's narrative, attacking arguments that she doesn't even attempt to make. First and foremost, this book is a study in totalitarian modes of thinking, indoctrination, and groupthink.
Rating:
Summary: Gender-feminists Are Running Scared!
Review: ...examines the "data" used for such claims as the domestic violence increase Super Bowl Sunday and other myths and dismantles them. She fully acknowledges the problems of violence and rape. However, she also states that by using incorrect data to promote a certain agenda, as the gender feminists are doing, they only serve to hurt women by always showing us as victims and not strong, productive members of society. Political equality and equal rights are what the equity feminists (the original feminists) were trying to accomplish. Christina shows, through her research, that this is what the gender feminists are attempting to sabatoge. Common sense and loving men does not mean we equity feminists are back-stabbing other women. ... This book is a breath of fresh air for those who are tired of hearing all of the hate and victimization. Every thoughtful woman and man should read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Wow, what a piece of junk.
Review: This book basically tries to confine women into the same gender roles that "gender feminists" have been trying to fight for years. It basically seems that she wants to fight women who are fighting for female power, rather than dealing with the serious threats to women.
Rating:
Summary: Well written, well researched
Review: As is the case with books that address tightly heald beliefs, the reactions can be extreme praise and extreme criticism. Certainly, there are those who will take exception to the author's politics, but her main conclusions, namely 1) The brand of feminism that seems to dominate the media does not represent the average woman, 2) This feminism, or gender feminism as the author terms it, has used sloppy studies to gain political advantage, 3) This political advantage has been used to pour large amounts of capital into programs directed soley at woman, and more often at woman on college campuses, and 4) This is being done at the expense of the needs of males, particularly young males. While I would have liked a more in-depth examination of the methodology of the various studies, that is what references are provided for. She does make a clearly written critique of the studies that the 'gender feminists' use to bolster their arguments, as well as many of their more radical claims, such as questioning the validity of the scientific method. All in all, a well written, well researched book. She is clear in her biases, but she has provided a powerful statement as to why she holds these biases.
Rating:
Summary: The Empresses Have No Clothes!!!
Review: This book reminds me a whole lot of Professor Alan Sokal's efforts to dethrone the Postmodern tomfoolery that has taken root in American universities. Indeed, what Sommers calls "Gender Feminism" borrows a hell of a lot from mushy-headed Postmodern principles. Basically, Gender Feminists imitate all the worst behaviours of the men they claim to hate and detest so much: they form elite cliques made up of a priveleged few who lead 'the movement', they assume a self-made position of ultimate authority, then spread fabricated half-truths and even bald lies to support their militant stances, and deride, libel, or otherwise rail against ANYONE who questions them in ANY way. What happened to pure equality, Sommers seems to be saying? The ultra-militant Gender Feminists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries don't want equality at all; they want REVENGE. And lord help the soul who gets in their way! Sommers book, had it been written by a man, would never have reached print. The bias installed into the American media establishment by Gender Feminists reaches that far. But since Sommers is a Feminist woman, her expose on Gender Feminism is doubly damaging because she's speaking as someone who knows all the issues and the people; on the inside! The blow that is least easily brushed off is the one that is self-inflicted. And as with Sokal's brilliant parody that ultimately skewered the pompous Social Text journal and its Postmodern couching, Sommers has similarly skewered much of Gender Feminist dogma, and especially Gender Feminist 'statistics'. I use quotes here because to call the numbers generated by Gender Feminism 'statistics' is a lie. They are utterly trumped up, fluffed up, ridiculous fairy tales. 150,000 women dead every year from anorexia and bulemia? The true number is perhaps a few hundred. Yet this inflated, outrageous figure is just the tip of a huge iceberg of Gender Feminist propoganda. Given full sway, Gender Feminists might not stop until the Y chromosome has been utterly oblitered from the human genome, and only a race of pure Females remain. Men are inherently and will forever be evil, is the basic premise of radical Gender Feminism. Sommers is a true Feminist of the first order, who decries this totalitarian objective and the philosophies that go with it. True Feminism is not about anger, or revenge, or wallowing in pain. True Feminism is ultimately about bridging gaps, healing wounds, attaining justice for all, and equality for all. Gender Feminists don't care about these ideals. They just want to be right, and will shout down any and all who disagree. Kudos to Sommers for having the guts to declare that these self-made Empresses of the Gender Femenist academia truly have no clothes! Bravo!
Rating:
Summary: worthless
Review: This book, written by someone who hopes to gain praise from cowardly white male enemies of Women and People of Color, is silly and contrived. Why so affraid of the incredibly brave, brilliant and subversive work of such Women as Mary Daly, Jane Marcus, Germaine Greer, bell hooks, and others who challenge eurocentric patriarchy? Why so afraid, Christina????
Rating:
Summary: Controversial but readable
Review: This book is an attack on academic feminism. What it says is that in the 1960's women were clearly oppressed in a number of ways. Betty Friedman and Germaine Greer argued a program that was based on equal rights for women and equal access to all opportunities offered by society. Prior to them women had been pushed out of education and restricted to the bottom level of the employment ladder. These disadvantages of course were only part of a complex problem. The position of women meant that they had little power in relationships and had no image in popular culture apart from being ornaments and love objects. By the 1980's, a large number of those battles had been won and women were starting to move into higher education and higher employment. Women of course had not achieved true equality and men predominated as they still do in higher positions of management in companies and in Government. Films continue to be written in which the main protagonists are male. Sommers argues however that in recent years Feminism has been hijacked by a group who have aims which are very different from the original mainstream feminists. Unlike the earlier feminists who battled for the good of all women, Sommers argues that the new group's ideology mainly has the effect of benefiting a small group of "true believers". The benefit is the creation of a number of academic courses and other bureaucratic jobs held by a small number of middle class women. She argues that the new wave of Feminism has created an ideology of a patriarchal state based on the flimsy evidence of some academically questionable surveys. It is thus no surprise that this book has created a bit of a stir. It also seems that Sommers has been active in Feminist politics and has done her round of the talk shows prior to the release of the book. She is probably regarded as being on the right of that movement. From the point of view of someone who is outside the debate the book is certainly interesting. Her attacks on the methodology of a number of important and much quoted surveys appears to be devastating. Probably a lot of people won't like the book as it challenges a number of assumptions which are an important part of peoples lives. Never the less the book is well written contains passion and it supports its arguments with a methodology which rises above that used in normal social discourse.
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