Tuesday, August 29, 2023

A couple of books about men and women

Are Men Necessary?:  When Sexes Collide ~ by Maureen Dowd, 2005, sociology, 356 pages

Are men afraid of smart, successful women?  Why did feminism fizzle?  Why are so many of today’s women freezing their faces and emotions in an orgy of plasticity?  Is "having it all" just a cruel hoax?

In this witty and wide-ranging book, Maureen Dowd looks at the state of the sexual union, raising bold questions and examining everything from economics and presidential politics to pop culture and the “why?” of the Y chromosome.  In our constantly changing culture where locker room talk has become the talk of the town, this book will intrigue readers trying to sort out the chaos that occurs when sexes collide.

Writing a Woman's Life
~ by Carolyn G. Heilbrun, 1988, women's studies, 144 pages

Heilbrun builds an eloquent argument demonstrating that writers all too often conform to society's expectations of what women should be like at the expense of the truth of the female experience.  Drawing on the careers of celebrated authors such as Virginia Woolf, George Sand, and Dorothy Sayers, Heilbrun illustrates the struggle these writers undertook in both work and life to break away from traditional male scripts for women's roles.

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