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Summary: Fascinating Womanhood
Review: My mother gave this book to me several years ago and after reading it the first time, there were some things that I was not ready to submit to my husband. So after a year or so I read it again, this time submitting ALL of my will and I could not believe the change in my husband. He is a completely different person. And I'm the one who changed! (or so I thought) I have bought about 10 copies of this book. I buy it for all of the young couples in our church. I really works, but you HAVE TO APPLY IT! Thank you Helen for an awesome book that still works wonders in marriages YEARS later!
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Summary: hanging the dixie cup dispenser upside down
Review: I like the part where she recommends the wife purposely act helpless and do things wrong so that the man can come in and rescue her. That always makes a man feel good.
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Summary: If you're a feminist, don't read this book
Review: After reading some of the other reviews, I agree that we are divided into two camps: the feminists, and those who aren't. I believe Helen is not a perfect person, but she does share some very good insights that have been so helpful. I think that those who shoot her down either do not understand what she is talking about or they did not apply it correctly in their own lives. You'd be disgusted with a supposedly wonderful recipe if it failed when you tried it, not realizing you left out an ingredient or did something wrong. May I suggest the error is not in the writer!My father gave the book to my mother before they were married, and they have been married 28 great years. She passed it on to me when I was 16, and as I read it I though Helen must be describing my Mom as her model. Mom is not a doormat by any means; she is a Godly woman who teaches at a Christian school and Sunday school, and my dad and I don't know what we would do without her. But my dad is definitely the leader in the home, and I believe they have discovered the proper balance that God designed between love, leadership, and submission. As I read this book for the first time, the Lord opened my eyes and began to transform me. People can't believe I used to be a tomboy. After I read that book, I began receiving interest from many young men. It works, because it's the way we are designed. God made woman as the helpmete for the man, not for his slave. When a couple gets married, they are one flesh. Who would want to trample over part of themselves? There must be a leader, though--how well would any company work if everyone had to be the president? Everyone is important to success, but they have different functions. I have talked to others who have also benefited so much in their relationships after reading this. If you are not insisting that you must lower yourself so you can be equal with men (not that they are lowly, but they want to have us on a pedestal), you will probably find this book most helpful and eye-opening.
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Summary: Ms. Andelin's views of adult relationships are pathetic.
Review: This is the worst book I have ever read. The author treats men as children needing control, and women as brainless idiots so desperate that they shed all dignity they have in order to be with a man. It does not deserve even 1 star.
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Summary: Book About Manipulation Not Love
Review: The theme of this mindless book is that men are run by ego gratification and women must supply it.Its view of men makes me think that the author has great hatred for the sex and sees men as a means to an end,to take care of her sorry helpless arse,someone to manipulate,someone to not love but fool into loving her. Any woman reading this book should take it with a grain of salt and hopefully she is only reading it for a good laugh and to critic poor writing and a author with limited capacity to truly love.
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Summary: The most sickening book I have ever read
Review: I read this book when it was first published, in the 60's. I was then a student at Brigham Young University, espousing the religion which Andelin claims as her inspiration. The fundamental theme underlying the entire book is contempt: contempt for men, contempt for women, contempt for marriage. To Andelin, men are so selfish and insecure that they have to be manipulated by preposterous and insincere displays of not just affection, but outright worship. Women are completely worthless except as support for men. And God is a Creator who supposedly designed these contemptible, vacuous creatures, and commands that they remain contemptible. One wonders why Andelin or anyone else would worship God at all, if He produced a race of such despicable beings and then demanded gratitude and worship for doing so. If you have any self-respect, if you have any respect for others, if you have any respect for marriage, then read this book only as a joke, or as an example of how sick and twisted a human's brain can become.
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Summary: Heaven Sent
Review: This book was given to me by my mother-in-law because she was trying to help me save my marriage. Reading this book was an eye-opener for me because I had done the opposite of everything recommended in the book. It was no wonder my husband was never around, didn't talk to me and didn't treat me kindly. I have started doing the things the book said to do and the change in my husband's attitude towards me has been miraculous. Things are going much better in our relationship than they were. The setbacks that occur I can attribute to not following the book. There are many negative commentaries about this book and the author's religion. This book is based on the Bible and its Christian precepts. It has the possibility of changing a person's perspective by making them aware of their own selfishness. It has been said that there would be a time when people would call good evil and evil good. What is so bad about a book that advocates loving and honoring your spouse which in turn creates happiness in your home and for your children? I just know that I have actually applied this book's teachings and they have worked. Read it with an open mind.
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Summary: What An Amazing Book
Review: Fascinating Womanhood has proven itself to be the Bible for frustrated and abused women. The author, Helen Andelin, is the patron saint for these women and the domestic goddess for batterers and abusers around the world. Her methods call for women to sacrifice their very souls upon the alters of male privilege and male insecurity, two characteristics which, when mixed together in sufficient quantities, combust to create domestic violence or smoulder into the more subtle, but ultimately soul murdering, unrighteous dominion. Thirty years ago my mother, when asked her opinion of the book, replied, "It's fine if you're married to a 12 year old brat." One in three women will be assaulted in her lifetime. This statistic and the book's continued popularity demonstrate that a large number of women are indeed married to spoiled 12 year old brats. Rather than help men be accountable for their abusive behaviors, Helen joins her "girlish voice" with millions of batterers and abusers who blame their abuse on their wives. ("If man does not love with heart and soul, it is entirely the woman's fault.") She encourages her disciples to become domestic goddesses like herself. It is regrettable that Helen gave up her adult life in exchange for perpetual childhood to appease her "manly, superior" husband. And it is a tragedy that the Batterers' Bible, Fascinating Womanhood, continues to destroy women by dumbing them down into domesticated animals. Fascinating Womanhood earns 5 stars because, as a domestic violence therapist, no single volume so powerfully demonstrates the absurd thinking which perpetuates violence against women and then turns around and blames women for the violence. The natural man is an enemy to God. But Helen Andelin is the natural man's friend and servant. Recently she suggested that a man punish his wife by withholding privileges such as money or the car. Helen is truly every batterers' fantasy "girl" and every abused woman's worst nightmare.
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Summary: Relieved
Review: It seems to me that this book has a great impact, whether positive or negative. I have to admit that it was hard to read. Ms. Andelin has no fear of stating her beliefs in a "in your face" manner. I had a hard time accepting some of the things she had to say about women and their role in the home. But what I finally realized was that she was only reiterating what the Scriptures say. Many think that this book is outdated. Do you also believe that the Bible is outdated? Do we put it aside because it is antiquated? I struggled long and hard over alot of the points Ms. Andelin made. But she is RIGHT! Why is it so hard for us to put our husbands first, or to think of someone before ourselves? Thankyou so much, Ms. Andelin, for having the courage to write a book that has changed so many lives of the past, present, and future. God will truly bless you!
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Summary: Boy, if you ever found a lightning rod to separate believers
Review: Just look at the stars on the foregoing reviews (or after-going; I'm not sure where this review will end up) and notice how this is an all-or-nothing book: people either love it, or they hate it. Probably more than anything I can think of at the moment, this book separates people who swallow politically correct, feminist movement-type notions from those who either allow themselves to follow their instincts and their upbringings, or think for themselves. I would also bet that people who support this book tend to be anti-abortion, while those who villify it probably tend to be on the pro-choice end of things. (But pro-choice for whom? Certainly not the fetus.) Spiritual and God-respecting, I was "led" to this book as others have testified. Though I don't have a significant other, it was almost magical the way it worked when I did apply it. I think the one big thing I got out of it is that a woman should put her husband first, which is both a Biblical and a psychologically sound principle. Dismaying as this might be to Dr. Laura - whom I also adore - disciples of this book are not "my kids' mom" types but "my husband's wife" types. The logical principle here is that if you put someone else first, frequently the bread thrown out on the water that the author talks about comes back to you. Bear in mind, ladies, there is another logical principle at work: There are a lot more of them than there are of us. We're in a seller's market; we have to kowtow a little bit. I'd like to end with several warnings. Caveat: You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. If a guy is a lout, all the Fascinating Womanhood in the world probably won't transform him. Andelin, in my recollection, doesn't make this clear - although she does state that women must demand respect. I'm sure she did not want women to prostrate themselves in front of abusive men; she's talking more about your average, workaday-world guy. And, Ladies who divorce them at startling rates to get the alimony so they can pursue handsome new boyfriends, not caring a bean about how the kids feel - you know who you are. I think this book helps men, women and children - when women learn a very important lesson in humility that keeps families together. Speaking of Dr. Laura, my other caveat is this: The book is written from a Christian perspective. If you are not a Christian, or are afraid of the implied ideas, read not; you will not be open to the experience. However, if you do lean that way, or you have a curiosity, give it a go. Even if Andelin's insights seem sugary and insipid, just answer this - if they lead to family harmony, who's getting hurt? This book has been selling for 30 years. It probably has close to the mileage of that trade book philosophical tome record-setter, "The Road Less Traveled." Here's one more thought to leave you with, which should help you make up your mind about whether you want to test these waters, or stay safe: Roseanne hated this book. You know where she got her "domestic goddess" schtick? Straight out of "Fascinating Womanhood." Okay, go ahead and hate it. And people who aren't afraid to be human can smile all the way to the altar.
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