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biolexicon's review
1.0
I wish I could look past the sexist and inflammatory content to evaluate this book's writing. I will say though that there is one point I agree with this author on is that males and females are treated differently in the education system. I got through the introduction and first chapter, and will list the many problems I have with his assertions thus far:
-One of the first things taught in a science, statistics or logic class is that correlation doesn't imply causation. This means you CAN'T say that educated women are unhappy because of their education unless you can prove this specific connection, not just that educated women are unhappy in general. There can be many causes for this: these women may be unhappy due to anxieties created by advertising and the media, demands to complete a majority of the housework since the male isn't pitching in (regardless of whether housework makes them feel happy), they could be unhappy due to the rising standard of living, WE JUST DON'T KNOW! This book is based on a simple logical fallacy.
-This books misunderstands the implications of Title XI. Title XI works to provide opportunities for young women to pursue their choices. It doesn't push women in one direction. It did wonders for women's athletics, which some women have taken advantage of, but sports doesn't work well for me so I didn't. But the most important thing, is if I had an interest in volleyball or soccer I could have followed through. It doesn't push women in any direction and having a male author who didn't go through public school as a female gives him no authority to suggest that Title XI pushes females in any direction.
-He suggests that career counselors in high school should be able to suggest motherhood as an option. That isn't to say they don't factor it in, I know first hand that they do. But suggesting motherhood alone is a ticket to helping women stay in abusive relationships (should they get into one) and decreases their ability to be self sufficient should they want to later in life. If, right out of high school, I get no education, career training or experience and should I want to leave my husband when I'm 50 I have no way of supporting myself. Guidance counselors can suggest options such as: getting certified for childcare, massage therapy, medical or dental assisting. These are certifications that can be completed rather quickly and leave these females able to do something should they need an income later in life.
If a book could get zero stars, this one would be deserving. I have no intention of finishing it and am very upset that my local library carries a book that promotes discrimination and sexism.
-One of the first things taught in a science, statistics or logic class is that correlation doesn't imply causation. This means you CAN'T say that educated women are unhappy because of their education unless you can prove this specific connection, not just that educated women are unhappy in general. There can be many causes for this: these women may be unhappy due to anxieties created by advertising and the media, demands to complete a majority of the housework since the male isn't pitching in (regardless of whether housework makes them feel happy), they could be unhappy due to the rising standard of living, WE JUST DON'T KNOW! This book is based on a simple logical fallacy.
-This books misunderstands the implications of Title XI. Title XI works to provide opportunities for young women to pursue their choices. It doesn't push women in one direction. It did wonders for women's athletics, which some women have taken advantage of, but sports doesn't work well for me so I didn't. But the most important thing, is if I had an interest in volleyball or soccer I could have followed through. It doesn't push women in any direction and having a male author who didn't go through public school as a female gives him no authority to suggest that Title XI pushes females in any direction.
-He suggests that career counselors in high school should be able to suggest motherhood as an option. That isn't to say they don't factor it in, I know first hand that they do. But suggesting motherhood alone is a ticket to helping women stay in abusive relationships (should they get into one) and decreases their ability to be self sufficient should they want to later in life. If, right out of high school, I get no education, career training or experience and should I want to leave my husband when I'm 50 I have no way of supporting myself. Guidance counselors can suggest options such as: getting certified for childcare, massage therapy, medical or dental assisting. These are certifications that can be completed rather quickly and leave these females able to do something should they need an income later in life.
If a book could get zero stars, this one would be deserving. I have no intention of finishing it and am very upset that my local library carries a book that promotes discrimination and sexism.
raafatgilani's review
5.0
Unlike some reviewers of this book, I actually completed the text, it would be disingenuous to review without going through a book in its totality.
The book is not a logically fallacy of ‘correlation equals causation’ and neither is it a memorandum to not educate women in about the STEM fields. Such a view towards the book would be to exercise a straw-man fallacy.
The book is rightly titled as “mis”-education instead of ‘education’. A crucial distinction is made by Tooley between the broad two types of feminism and their dynamic play in the field of education policy. Title IX and Sex Discrimination Act etc. are taken in for analysis on the basis of what sect of Feminism takes hold of it. Tooley fosters an important contrast to the “feminine mystique” of De Beauvoir with the concept of the “Bridget Jones Syndrome”. The concept takes on the entirety of the book’s scrutiny of the “equality feminist” outlook towards education of women.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, strongly so. It was recommended for my reading by an academic and I’m glad I picked it up. It not only goes over mild philosophical analysis but also through important junctions of evolutionary psychology and sociobiology which are crucial to the book’s discussion.
As the end of the book suggests its core ideal: Tooley notes, “All the book is gently asking is whether these last two groups of women [liberal & equality feminists] have had all the running in making education policy for all women, and whether the first [liberal] group of women’s voices has not been sufficiently heard…”
Tooley is a feminist himself who went through an interesting change of mind for the camp of Feminism he wanted to belong to. He robustly goes over as many spheres of the “equality” and “liberal” feminist as possible, outlining crucial areas of differences backed up by a well-done research on statistical and scientific data as well as the change of mind that many feminist philosophers have gone through and their many contradictory opinions.
The book is not a logically fallacy of ‘correlation equals causation’ and neither is it a memorandum to not educate women in about the STEM fields. Such a view towards the book would be to exercise a straw-man fallacy.
The book is rightly titled as “mis”-education instead of ‘education’. A crucial distinction is made by Tooley between the broad two types of feminism and their dynamic play in the field of education policy. Title IX and Sex Discrimination Act etc. are taken in for analysis on the basis of what sect of Feminism takes hold of it. Tooley fosters an important contrast to the “feminine mystique” of De Beauvoir with the concept of the “Bridget Jones Syndrome”. The concept takes on the entirety of the book’s scrutiny of the “equality feminist” outlook towards education of women.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, strongly so. It was recommended for my reading by an academic and I’m glad I picked it up. It not only goes over mild philosophical analysis but also through important junctions of evolutionary psychology and sociobiology which are crucial to the book’s discussion.
As the end of the book suggests its core ideal: Tooley notes, “All the book is gently asking is whether these last two groups of women [liberal & equality feminists] have had all the running in making education policy for all women, and whether the first [liberal] group of women’s voices has not been sufficiently heard…”
Tooley is a feminist himself who went through an interesting change of mind for the camp of Feminism he wanted to belong to. He robustly goes over as many spheres of the “equality” and “liberal” feminist as possible, outlining crucial areas of differences backed up by a well-done research on statistical and scientific data as well as the change of mind that many feminist philosophers have gone through and their many contradictory opinions.
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