In this smart, intimate, and conversational book, Cynthia Eller delves into the twin thickets of gender theory and everyday experience to ask how we decide who is a woman-and why we find the answer important. Is a woman defined by her anatomy? Does she perceive the world differently than men? Is it her behavior that somehow marks her as inescapably female? Or is it a matter of how others evaluate her? Eller's answers demonstrate that the question is far more complicated, and its effects more pernicious, than it might at first appear.
I loved this book! It's funny, intelligent, and thought-provoking at the same time. And it's also important. How are our children going to think of who they are--along rigidly defined gender-stereotypes, or will something more human be possible? As the mother of an artistic son, who also loves baseball, I don't want him to drop art in favor of baseball because he gets more social kudos for doing sports. Eller raises important issues in this book that we should all think hard about. And she does it while also being entertaining. That's a good book!
This book is GREAT
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This was really fun to read and made me think. I can't wait for my women's book group to get together in the fall - this will be perfect!
Fresh, Funny, Informative...
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
The writing is breezy and funny, often hilarious, yet constantly well-informed and authoritative. As for myself -- a guy -- this goes a long way towards explaining these strange creatures called "women" that live in my house. What's more, it sheds light on us men as well, by spelling out how things aren't so black-and-white after all.
drive carefully
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
this book will infuriate, astound, tickle, amuse and stun almost anybody who hasn't encountered cynthia eller before. i read it in manuscript -- that is, i devoured it. once i started -- even tho i understood the argument that eller was going to make -- i could not stop reading. way intelligent and important.
funny and dead-on
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 21 years ago
This is a funny, engaging, and accessible analysis of all the little things that drive you crazy about gender in contemporary culture, media, science, and relationships. An antidote to jargony, theory-driven post-feminist scholarship, Eller's book is passionately written, full of "aha!" insights, and grounded in plenty of research and a feminist common sense.
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