The Golden Notebook

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

Rather than a novel, this reads like a long notebook of anecdotes lumped together. There are different parts of the author's life that are explored. She is communist during the time of the red scare. That provides a big part of her identity. However, she is losing faith in it. The bad actions of people like Stalin as well as some of the drivel that gets published have caused issues. She also explores her sex life. There seems to be many cases of having affairs with sexually frustrated married men. What is the place of women in the world and. how can she live an appropriately fulfilling life? The life of a novelist ties much of this together. Her novel explores areas that are verboten. Her status as a communist also makes it challenging. The book goes on and on and seems to repeat the same things told from a somewhat different angle.

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters

Thoughts on the Education of Daughters by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is an early book on education of women. The author is concerned that some women are becoming mothers at young age when they have barely been children. She advocates instruction to help them to be good wives and mothers. They should be able to succeed in the roles without being excessively dependant on others. Training should be had in various needs to allow it work well. Modern critiques may see limitations in this. However, it does provide a positive experience for society. Well trained mothers will help provide better families and are likely to provide a greater societal influence than an independent laborer. 

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft

This is an early feminist essay. The discussions include topics which seem almost foreign to us, such as joint education for boys and girls. It advocates greater respect for women and less treating of them as appendages of men. It is a little longer than I expected and does go around a lot of topics regarding women's right.

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers

Men can have a huge impact on black women. That seems to be an underlying theme of this vast epic of multigenerational black history. The novel goes back and forth in time from the civil war era to the modern day to explore a fairly well-to-do black family. Creeks also come into play as they are treated as a not-quite-white, but not black group. The modern family has Creek, African and white ancestry. There are legitimate marriages, rapes and out-of-wedlock affairs. Sex and pregnancy comes to impact the lives of women in different ways. One woman had her educational prospects cut short by an unplanned child. She made sure this didn't happen to her daughter by having her get an abortion. However, this daughter ended up getting addicted to drugs and really ruining her life. There are also various modern and "slave-era" rapes as well as standard relationships. It is all quite a mess. In general, the women are running things, while the men are fooling around. However, there are some "good" men that are helping things to move forward. There are not many whites in this novel, and those that appear tend to "not understand" the life of the main characters. The book concludes with the main character learning about history and understanding the efforts to protect an old church site from being trampled by tourists.

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It

Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It by Richard V. Reeves

Men are struggling today. Traditional "manual labor" careers are disappearing. There has been a lot of effort to increase female representation in traditional male vocations. However, there has been little effort to increase male representation in traditional female vocations (and homemaking). The educational institutions are tilted in favor the average girl. Boys tend to mature later than girls, putting them at a disadvantage. Society often focuses on the male dominance at the top. However, this masks the significant challenges for the majority. To make matters worse, there is a reluctance to call out male challenges. "Toxic Masculinity" is often thrown out to disparage negative actions by boys, regardless of the how small. Males (especially white males) are seen as "privileged", thus making it hard to advocate for them. Even non-white males get caught on the outside of programs meant to help others. (For instance, black females have seen great gains in education attainment, while males seldom take advantage of opportunities.)

This book is careful to acknowledge that people differ greatly. There is a significant overlap in male and female attributes and abilities. Programs like Title IX have helped increase female access to education. There are many organizations that strive to help women in traditional male careers (e.g. "Women in STEM"). There are very few that help attract men to traditional female careers. Early childhood education is dominated by females. Efforts have been made to increase female representation at higher education, but little has been done to support males in elementary education. There has also been little support for men to take on traditional childcare and home roles.

What needs to be done? The author suggests giving opportunities to "red shirt" children and let them start school later. This would especially benefit boys. Giving child care for this would also help. Programs should be put in place to encourage balance in female-dominated professions. Health care and education were two areas mentioned. Vocational education should also be encouraged. Men should not be overly victimized. Treating men fairly and seeking balance would benefit men - and women.

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez

There are aspects of society where men are considered the "baseline" and women are ignored and considered deviation from standard. "Man" has historically been used as a collective word to represent all people. However, the definition of "all people" was primarily focussed on males. In much scientific research, the subjects are primarily men. Medical studies will often miss any variations based on females and hormonal changes. Even crash test dummies are created based on a men's body.

This book goes on to detail many areas where females are underrepresented and the societal improvements that result when women are better represented. In Bangladesh men forget simple things like kitchens in buildings provided after disaster. At Google, it took a female executive to advocate for close-in parking spots for pregnant workers. This case headlights the general approach and faults of the book. It picks out some group and then cherry picks areas where they are disadvantaged and how they can help society as a whole. However, this could easily said about any attribute. Even the same traits discussed here could probably be more narrowly identified. Would 5'4" red-heads make better leaders?

Immediately after reading this book, I started "Of Boys and Men". This one focuses on the disadvantages faced by women. The other, the disadvantages faced by men.  Both of them are filled with well researched statistics and anecdotes. If we focus too much on the one group we miss the fact that other groups are disadvantaged in other areas. Many of the disadvantageous women face are related to women moving into areas that were previously dominated by men. Men historically worked out of home, while women took care of family at home. Now, women have moved out of the home. However, men have not taken over a similar amount of at-home work. Women are still primarily raising children. Men are disadvantaged in homemaking. Women are disadvantaged in the workforce. 

There are also challenges in identifying differences in groups that represent half the population. The average male and female body size differ, but there are also men that significantly differ from this average and women that are very close to it. If you look at positive "feminine" attributes, you can find over-representative men and underrepresented women. Are we merely substituting a functionally identical woman for a man, while keeping the rest of the population underrepresented? Or are we really expanding the options for all women (and others) to best contribute to society?

What About Men?: A Feminist Answers the Question

What About Men?: A Feminist Answers the Question by Caitlin Moran

Woman are free to advocate for themselves. Men, however, are often derided as the patriarchy and prevented from taking pride in themselves. in this book, Caitlin Moran points out differences from the life of men and advocates for them. She claims that the "patriarchy" still exists, yet is really only a small percentage of the straight, white men. Most men have significant challenges in society.

Where do women and men separate? From this British point of view, football is a key separator. Young children play together. As they get older, football becomes important for boys. Girls also tend to develop fine motor skills earlier, helping them to outperform in school. Boys tend to focus more on football and beating each other up. Girls are involved with personal relationships with petty feuds, while boys tend to resolve issues quickly with violence and move on. Girls talk about feelings. Girls are concerned with make-up and clothing. Boys just where simple similar clothing. This is likely accurate in the general sense.

Sexuality is an area where there are obvious significant differences. Men have the greater drive. Women often live in fear of being raped. Men live in fear of being falsely accused as a rapist. (Even an unsubstantiated accusation could be devastating.) Women talk about their sexual organs and will have appropriate medical exams. Men typically don't talk to other men about their genitalia. It seems a continuation of a general theme. Women talk. Men get physical.

The book has some interesting generations. However, it also has a significant focus on British men at a particular point in time. Significant time is spent countering "men activists" that are popular at the time. This seems to show that there is a need for a "male" version of feminism. However, a good alternative to the negative male-rights activists is not given. 

The Case Against the Sexual Revolution

The Case Against the Sexual Revolution by Louise Perry

This is a good book about the pitfalls of feminism that will probably alienate all of the potential audience. That is a shame. Conservatives will be turned off from the feminist stance. Liberals will be offended by the break from orthodoxy. It takes as a given that men and women are different. Men have a sex drive. Rape has been seen in the wild and with humanity as a way to propagate genes.

One of the challenges with any "touchy" topic is that orthodoxy sets in. Science cannot look at things with an open mind without being castigated by one side or another. Results will appear to "confirm" what is already thought. This could lead to multiple levels of confirmation of something with minimal base in reality. 

It is a great challenge to overcome this orthodoxy even with proof. We may celebrate someone like Galileo that is now deemed to be on the right side of history. Meanwhile, we scoff at others that were on the "wrong side" of history. Society assumes that it is advancing forward and that today is the best up until now. However, history goes through ups and downs. More understanding and knowledge can lead us to change what was previously thought.

The author argues that feminism and the sexual revolution has primarily benefited men. Males typically have a stronger sex drive. Women are typically looking for a longer term relationship. This is genetically logical. Men can spread their genes far and wide with minimal commitment. Woman need to make at least a nine month commitment for a single child.  A woman "acting like a man" ends up acting in the interest of men.

Sex work and pornography has commonly been viewed as "empowerment" by feminists. However, many end up in the work against their will. Even famous adult entertainment actresses often come back to express the horrors of their experiences. The best way to support women is to just steer clear of it all. 

The author has spent significant time working with rape survivors. Her experiences have helped drive her towards looking at the trade offs that have been made by "liberated" women. Alas, it does not look good.

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution by Cat Bohannon

How did the female human body get to be the way it is? What did that do to help humans to grow and dominate. The author looks at the female body from both a biological and cultural perspective. Historical "Eves" were identified that were the first to have certain traits. At the start, these are millions of years old (such as live birth and producing milk). The book progresses to the more modern adaption. Cultural evolution such as gynecology, mating and sexism also come into play. The author looks at the historical sexist practice as having a mixed bag of benefits. (Cultural norms that had women eat last made it difficult on pregnant women. However, other practices ma have helped women. Today, these are seen as lest valuable. 

The author tries to tie in trans and gay women, but this ends up muddying things up. (These are historic genetic dead ends. Though perhaps that is the evolutionary point - they could be passed on when people lived differently than how they may have felt. However, noe people live how they desire - but also have more ability to have medical means to reproduce.) 

Exploration of non-child bear women is interesting. There are a few hypotheses. The grandma can help pass on information and assist in caring for younger children. The author seems to lean towards the "life extension" view. Humans have been able to extend their life, but the child bearing limit still remains. This has then given people the social advantage.

The book goes to extensive detail of differentiators between men and women and specific traits that help with reproduction. There are many great details. While many conclusions are very settled, there are some that are plenty of areas that are still up for debate. I am most hesitant to accept anything that our current cultural norms and practices are the ideal biological way of evolutionary reproduction.

The Power

In the near future, girls get a "power" to shoot people with electricity. This book is structured as a history written 5000 years after the event. Once the power comes out, women come to dominate, complete with physical exertion and course language. Men are subservient. A woman also starts a matriarchal religious movement. In the future, people have difficulty understanding how society could be anything other than a matriarchy. There are those that subjugate men, while others attempt to support the oppressed sex. It ends up just a reflection of today's values with gender roles reversed.