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.

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.