Warren FarrellCritiques

Only read the Warren Farrell parts like most people suggested to me.
Disturbingly good, strongly recommended. I won't give anything away, read it for yourself.

critique of feminist view of male position

Would not do cover to dover but very intersting information about which careers are profitable and why

I found a great deal of the book interesting and informative and agree with the outline of the problem that is being confronted. I’m a little less convinced on the proposed solutions. Found the section on ADHD to again be interesting but find the proposed solutions to be a little lopsided on the alternative health side.

Fascinating read. Gives such depth into what is at the root cause of the way we act in love and relationships.

I wrote a review and published it here: http://wp.me/p382tY-m5
Check it out!

Having messed up the world by supporting the women's rights movement, what does Farrell propose doing to improve men's condition in it? Launching a men's rights movement! When all you have is a culture-destroying package of irresponsible ideas, everything looks like a nail.

Just try to imagine what would happen to the collective-self-defense capabilities of a society that adopted his recommendations on warfare, or to the birth rate of a society that adopted his recommendations on sexuality...

There were quite a few scenarios in the book for which I went 'wow.. never thought of it like that'. Dr Farrell's ability to back up his statements by providing actual numbers makes is even more convincing.

Most of the times, books on similar topics stay limited to the US (as most of the authors I've read so far are from the US), but while reading this book, a good number of arguments posed by the author are valid even outside the US.

Highly recommended.

"Women have the right to children but men have to fight for children."

This book was very well written, easy to read and spoke a lot of sense. The statistics and examples quoted were simply apalling and the solutions presented were , to my mind, perfectly sensible. The author presented views that my husband and I have been expressing for some time.

The book was confusing and generally unhelpful

I read this book after "The Myth of Male Power" and I wish some publisher would pick it up and reprint it. Of all Farrell's books on men's issues, this remains the most sympathetic to both sexes without ever fudging the issue that is in the title.
The chapter on advertising and spending patterns unravels how interested men are in women, and also how women are more interested in "Homes & Gardens" than men. This is still one of the most compelling bits of social science I have ever read (speaking as an academic working in this field).

My heart would like to give this book 5 stars for its sympathy to both sexes, but more recent work casts some doubt on Farrell's assumption that men prioritise women's looks in their partner selection, while women have multiple criteria. Aronson ("The Social Animal") finds it has primary importance for both sexes, while John Molloy ("Why Men Marry Some Women But Not Others") shows the variety of criteria men use to select wives is as broad as women's in selecting men. This challenges Farrell's view.

The other issue which needs comment is that this book is almost exclusively primary research. This is useful in some ways - it enables Farrell to take a fresh look at what the raw data suggests. On this level, the book is a hit. On another level, this approach is limiting because it does not give much room to other writers' views on gender issues. These are, however, minor quibbles.

My head, therefore, has to give this only 4 stars. Nevertheless, I hope a publisher reprints and promotes this book. For me, it is as important for men as The Feminine Mystique was for women. Anyone who reads both these books would appreciate how men's/women's lives interlock and mirror each others.

I am delighted this book has been re-published. In 1993 I walked past Waterstones, in Oxford Street (London) and saw a presentation display and thought "How could anyone write a book with such a ridiculous title?" Then I had the (mis)fortune to investigate a sexual harassment claim. What I learned about men and women, and particularly because of the way all the women labelled the man 'sexist' when clearly he was not, made me buy the book.

In my view, it remains the best book to introduce men to their own issues. What separates it from books like "The Manipulated Man" by Esther Villar or "No More Sex War" by Neil Lydon, is the impeccable research. Farrell offers nothing that he cannot back up with many credible sources of research.

After reading this, I bought his "Why Men Are The Way They Are" -- perhaps the best woman-friendly introduction on the same subject, sadly now out of print. Recently I also read his "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say" and this led me to Christina Hoff Sommers (Who Stole Feminism?) who challenges the feminist establishment's 'economy with the truth' to protect its interest.

If you need any incentive to re-examine your views about men, consider just one snippet. Since Warren Farrell wrote "The Myth of Male Power" he has found 50 academic two-gender studies on domestic violence. He cannot find even one that concludes men are more violent than women. Most find that women are more (1.5 to 2 times) more violent than men in personal relationships. Don't believe me, or him - you can check this for yourself as he lists all 50 studies in an appendix to his latest book with a quick summary of the conclusions of each.

My support for this book does not mean that I am anti-women. I recognise, as Farrell does, that feminism was a necessary pre-cursor to men examining their own role in society. I am, like he is, grateful to the many feminist-minded women who started discussing gender roles. But now there is a need - more than ever - to look again at what men and women do to each other in the name of 'love' so that we can begin fulfilling our good intentions to treat each other equally.

Go and buy this book - give it your friends, give it to your wife, your mother, your father, your son, your husband, your daughter. Perhaps then we can (within a generation) achieve what liberal feminists set out to do 40 years ago - create a world in which men and women can love each other in the way that emancipates both sexes.

Gender roles affect everyone.

Yup. Gender roles affect men too.

by
Type: Book; English
Publisher: Sydney : Finch Publishing, 2001.
Editions: 2 Editions
ISBN: 1876451327 9781876451325
OCLC: 155048297
Related Subjects: Fatherhood. | Father and child.

by
Type: Book; English
Publisher: Lane Cove, N.S.W. : Finch Publishing, 2001.
Editions: 13 Editions
ISBN: 1876451300 9781876451301
OCLC: 155053789
Related Subjects: Men -- United States. | Men -- United States -- Psychology. | Sex role -- United States. | Women -- United States -- Psychology.
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