Rating: 
Summary: Beyond John Wayne...
Review: While the Man's erudition is mighty, I have a few concerns about Robert's portrayal of women.If there is a flaw in his thinking, it is that he seems to suggest that strength and femininity are mutually exclusive qualities. Tell that to victorious War leaders Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir and Indira Gandhi. Tell that to Queen Boadicea, who fought to the death against the Roman invaders. Tell that to Queen Elizabeth I, who defied the oncoming Spanish Armada, as she told her assembled troops - "I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field...". Tell that to French Resistance leader Lucie Aubrac, who planned and led a successful assault on the Nazi convoy that was taking her husband to his place of execution - even though she was five months pregnant at the time. She gave birth to her daughter within days of landing at a covert operations base in England, after the Aubracs had hidden for three months, waiting to escape. Tell that to the female US fighter and bomber crews, who have been flying combat missions since the nineties. Perhaps Robert's most worrying suggestion is that mothers cannot give boys the "hardness" they need while growing up without sacrificing their femininity, and the idea that a mother's influence can be undermining to a young male's development in the absence of a strong father figure. Yet mythology (Perseus, Parsifal etc.) and real life are full of male figures who became the epitome of virile masculinity, despite being brought up by a single mother or a group of women. One notable modern example being ultra-macho Rocker John Kay of Steppenwolf, who made a daring escape from Communist-held East Germany with his single mother, Elsbeth, in 1948. In his autobiography "Magic Carpet Ride", Kay is quick to honour her and women in general, precisely because they CAN simultaneously provide nurturing and strength. Robert Bly is not alone in falling into these gender bias traps. Many male (and female) authors do. For this reason, I have always worked with a female editor. However, I would still recommend the book very highly, despite this one blind spot. After all, we don't have Battered Women's Shelters because of men like Robert Bly and Alan Alda.
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