- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Touchstone; Reprinted edition edition (Feb 26 1993)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0671797492
- ISBN-13: 978-0671797492
- Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.1 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 386 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #403,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
"Men are normal, women are deficient" is the tacit message our culture instills, asserts California social psychologist Taviris. In a valuable, enlightening roadmap to sanity for women and men, she argues that there is far more substantial evidence for similarity between the sexes than for differences. She refutes ecofeminists and other theorizers who claim that women are more empathic and peace-loving than men. She disputes feminist historians who argue on shaky grounds for worldwide prehistoric matriarchies centered on Mother Goddess worship; she debunks feminist psychoanalysts who, she says, reinforce Freud's notion that men and women are inevitably worlds apart psychologically. Rejecting the notion that women are less sexual, Tavris deflates the stereotype of the "coy female" propagated in sociobiology and pop psychology texts. Her lively study explores how society "pathologizes" women though psychiatric diagnoses, sexist divorce rulings and images of females as "moody," "self-defeating" or "unstable." She also presents evidence that women's expectations about premenstrual syndrome, a stigmatizing label for a natural set of bodily changes, may actually influence their symptoms. First serial to Redbook, Mademoiselle, Woman's Day and Self; BOMC and QPB alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
Tavris, a social psychologist best known for Anger ( LJ 1/1/83) presents a considered and comprehensive analysis of how women are measured against men in society. She examines why women are not inferior, superior, or the same as men. Comparisons have led to labeling men as "normal" and women who do not perform physically, sexually, mentally, or emotionally like them as "abnormal." Tavris argues that the costs of these measurements have been, and continue to be, substantial for women. She also presents careful and convincing critiques of Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice (Harvard Univ. Pr., 1982) and other works on the psychology of women such as codependency, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . Tavris articulates and synthesizes convoluted philosophical arguments easily. The result is an accessible, thorough, and enjoyable feminist overview of women in society. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/91.
- Melody Burton, York Univ. Libs., Toronto
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Melody Burton, York Univ. Libs., Toronto
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Do you sometimes feel inadequate and worthless? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Do you sometimes feel inadequate and worthless? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Balanced and Rational!,
By
This review is from: Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex (Paperback)
I found this book to be well reasoned, well written and thought provoking. I am not saying that I agree with everything (I completely disagree with her assertion that same-sex schools are ok for women but not for men) but in most cases I found her insight to be refreshing.An example of such insight: it is often claimed that women students have poor self esteem due to the fact that males score higher on "self-esteem" inventories. She points out that this could well be due to the fact that women mature quicker and therefore have a more realistic picture of themselves; that is, this is a case in which it is wholly inappropriate to compare women to the *men's* standard. In short, she has helped me understand that "equal treatment" is not always the same as "fair treatment". I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in seeing a feminist point of view that is NOT inherently anti-male.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A case for real equality,
By
This review is from: Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex (Paperback)
I read this book for a class on gender issues in the workplace. Tavris has done a thoughtful and thought-provoking job of bringing out the reality of a world measured in single sex terms, whether it be male or female. What needs to be done, and it isn't easy, is to remember to look at as many sides of an issue, as many definitions of a concept, as possible. We have a tendancy to look at things via absolutes: "I am depressed because my cat died." When in fact there are a multitude of reasons and motivations behind the things we do. And finally, to remember that the best way to create equality is not to first create inequality on one side in order to "balance out" past inequality on the other. I was brought up with the simplistic but nonetheless true maxim that "two wrongs do not make a right." Tavris states the same thing in a much more eloquent and profound way.
5.0 out of 5 stars
political science major in minority rights and womens rights,
By erica monson (Utah) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex (Paperback)
This is my passion. I read everything I can possibly get my hands on with this kind of stuff. Tavris's writing style is brilliant. The way she gets her point accross with sarcasim, statistics, and personal examples makes this book reach out to so many different groups of people. I love her non-male-bashing ways, her demonstrations of bias and scandles in both the medical industry and with scientist and biologist. Even if you don't agree with all her points, which not even I do, she makes a point in her book saying that these are her thoughts even though they might not be right or agreed upon by others, either.
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