Are Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide
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Book Overview
Fresh from her success with the best-selling Bushworld, Maureen Dowd turns her sparkling prose and wise wit to a topic even more incendiary than presidential politics: sexual politics. Four decades after the sexual revolution, nothing has worked out the way it was supposed to. The sexes are circling each other as uneasily and comically as ever, from the bedroom to the boardroom to the Situation Room, and now the New York Timescolumnist who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for saucy and incisive commentary about the dangerous liaisons of Bill, Monica, Hillary and Ken Starr digs into the Y and X files, exploring the mysteries and muddles of sexual combat in America. In a new book filled with chapters that surprise and amuse, Dowd explains why getting ready for a date went from glossing and gargling to Paxiling and Googling; why men are in an evolutionary and romantic shame spiral; why women have reeled backward in many ways; why men may be biologically unsuited to hold higher office, given their diva fits and catfights, teary confessions and fashion obsessions; why women are fixated on their looks more than ever, freezing their faces and emotions in an orgy of plasticity that makes the Stepford Wives look authentic; why male politicians and male institutions get tripped up in so much monkey business; why many alpha women, from Martha to Hillary, can have a successful second act only after becoming humiliated victims; and why the new definition of Having It All is less about empowerment and equality than about flirting and getting rescued, downshifting from "You go, girl!" to "You go lie down, girl." In addition, Dowd, who has reported on historic moments on the sexual battlefield, from Geraldine Ferraro's vice-presidential run to the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings to Hillary Rodham Clinton's reign as copresident, explores not only how many of these shining feminist triumphs backfired on women but also how Hillary, a feminist icon busy plotting her campaign to be the first woman president, delivered the final blow to female solidarity herself. Women's liberation has been less a steady trajectory than a confusing zigzag. Feminism lasted for a nanosecond and generated a gender tangle that has bewitched, bothered and bewildered men and women for forty years. Now comes a woman to cut through the tangle and tickle Adam's rib. The battle of the sexes will never be the same.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:0399153322
ISBN13:9780399153327
Release Date:November 2005
Publisher:Putnam Publishing Group
Length:338 Pages
Weight:1.30 lbs.
Dimensions:1.2" x 6.7" x 9.1"
Age Range:18 years and up
Grade Range:Postsecondary and higher
Customer Reviews
5 ratings
Brilliant Sleeper
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 15 years ago
Ms. Dowd shares some very thought provoking insights with just enough humor to make them more palatable. I'm afraid the title may be a put-off for most men but recommend the book to both men and women. She takes aim at both genders' roles in the complex dances we attempt. Maureen has a sharply focused perspective on the high and mighty as well as common folk. Ponder and laugh.
Dowd offers clarity to befuddled 50+ feminist
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 18 years ago
Maureen Dowd describes exactly what Diane Rehm spoke about in specific chapters of "Toward Commitment," and I admire both of them for their courage to say it outloud. So why isn't Diane Rehm being publically dismembered like Dowd? Having read Dowd, I have some answers of my own. The intense disgust and derision evoked by this book boggles my mind. Since reading the book, I have gone to most of my under 45-year-old women friends and asked them what "feminism" means to them, and if they think it has/had value. All but one said feminists made big mistakes. The mistakes they listed included destroying the family (or the value of raising children), misleading women into thinking they could have it all {because men would help them), refusing to admit that casual sex devalues women in men's eyes, and making men afraid to flirt with women (which robs women of the chance to get to know men at the workplace) for fear of losing their jobs. Dowd suggested that's what I'd find, I just didn't want to believe it. When reviewers say her book lacks "introspection," how much more could they want? Dowd looks at every facet of her column-writing life through the lens of knowing that her view, literally what she sees, hails from the female side of the street. She analyses her interactions with colleagues, and dissects the statements that seem valid for men to make and write, while the same criticisms from a woman violate the American sensibilities of fair play. Dowd is criticized for bolstering her arguments with an endless litany of anecdotal stories taken from the public record. What evidence would her detractors prefer? For 20 years scenarios like the ones Dowd describes have played out in my workplaces and in my bedroom in the myriad ways that Dowd suggests. If you are a woman who recalls 1960's feminism as the answer to the question, "Why do I apologize for my ambition while he expects me to adore his?" then this book may clarify for you why our women bosses are called incisive, smart, and leaders in meetings and at restaurants, but judgmental, mean, and cold when it is safe to say what "we really think."
Scintillating Social Commentary
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Fascinating dissection of gender issues that are not being addressed enough. The customer reviews on here actually illustrate one of the points Dowd makes: men write in more (and more scathingly)! It is a disheartening trend where women are giving up in the search for equal opportunity (not sameness). She ties in a bunch of cultural references as evidence to illustrate her opinions. Dowd makes some interesting points but does fall a bit short on synthesis. To her credit she offered forth a disclaimer that her's would not be an in-depth analysis with any definitive conclusions. Fun but certainly not frivolous! It is most disturbing that the female icons that would enthrall the masses in this age would consist of the uber-homemaker image of Martha Stewart, the albino-blonde ditziness of Jessica Simpson and Anna Nicole Smith and any show entitled "Desperate Housewives." It makes one question if feminism even happened at all. I am just hoping that the current phase of hyper-girly-girlness will bring a pendulum swing to an interest in dynamic and accomplished womanliness.
Excellent Writting and a Pleasurable Read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
I strongly recommend buying and reading this book, not because I agree with what Dowd says, but because it is a fun read that makes you think. The one thing to keep in mind is that Dowd is not a scholar and is obviously not taking a scholarly approach in this book. Most of the criticisms assume that this book has some sort of thesis backed up by strong evidence. It doesn't, but anyone who is familiar with Dowd knows that her strength is in entertaining and sparking debate and she does this masterfully. I am constantly amazed by her verbal creativity and sharp wit. If you want to be able to carry on an interesting conversation about gender relations in the near future, this book is going to be a must-read. Just remember to not take it too seriously. "Are Men Necessary" is a fun look at relations between men and women, it ignites debate, and it provides some useful facts, but it is not a solid, research-backed argument in favor of or opposed to feminism. The title is a question and Dowd is more interested in raising questions here rather than making an argument. These are questions that need to be raised not only in the public sphere but in our private relationships as well. Bottom line: regardless of your beliefs about feminism, regardless of your politics, regardless of your gender, buy and read this book!
Funny and fearless
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 19 years ago
Not all women will agree with Maureen Dowd's take on the state of male-female relations. And, hey, with a title like this one, it's guaranteed that plenty of men will take issue with her thoughts. But those thoughts are rendered in such expert, exacting prose, and with so much humor, that everyone will enjoy reading them. Whether this book makes you shake or nod your head, whether it gives you courage or offense, it will entertain you, no question about it. It's also fearless, an example of a writer willing to divulge a great deal about herself in the service of her readers. And on some subjects, it's the best, final word. Has anyone had as much wicked fun writing about vanity and cosmetic surgery as Maureen Dowd does? That's a rhetorical question, and this is a splendid book.
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