This is a book written from an ANTI-FEMINIST perspective, no matter what people may tell you. Te author, Katie Roiphe, attacks everyone from college students marching in the Take Back the Night rallies to anti-rape activists. She seems to want to take them all on at once. The only thing I can say in her defense is that this book was written over a decade ago, in 1993, and perhaps Ms. Roiphe has matured since then, hopefully!

One thing I can grant the author: she is persistent and she doesn't back down.

Well, I{/i} didn't like the whole premise of the book. :) Roiphe claims to be a feminist (in the introduction, she writes: "It [feminism] was something assumed, something deep in my foundations." Yet she manages to disagree with EVERY SINGLE feminist (actually, as far as I remember, every WOMAN) she mentions in the book. There isn't one facet of feminist theory I can think of her backing up.
She tells a story of a friend who threw milk in the face of a teenager who grabbed her breast as if this is the answer to the sexual harassment problem. She encourages us to "[learn] to deal with individuals with strength and confidence...feminists drafting sexual harassment guidelines seem to have forgotten childhood's words of wisdom: sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." And Roiphe writes all of this as is strength and confidence are not at the heart of the anti-harassment movement, and especially at the heart of the feminist movement... I could go on and on but I won't.

I wanted to, and I did, talk to other feminists about this book. We all agreed it sucks. :)

But for real, it made me want to write a book covering the other side of the arguement. And maybe I will someday...

MAD!! It also made me feel dissapointed in this woman who calls herself a "feminist"--with friends like these, who needs enemies??

I've said enough about her, no?

I wouldn't waste my money on this...take it out of the library if you want to get made at this woman and her cronies.

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Created Apr 14, 2004 at 3:13am • Submit your own review...