Take a photo of a barcode or cover
femmecheng 's review for:
Is There Anything Good about Men?: How Cultures Flourish by Exploiting Men
by Roy F. Baumeister
"Although feminist ideas are mentioned from time to time in this book, I want to emphasize from the start that I am not debating any actual feminist scholars of the movement of feminist thought itself. In fact, I strongly suspect there is not point in debating with feminists...That means that even if an outsider like me made the most brilliant, correct, and insightful point against some feminist claim, the feminists wouldn't listen or change their views one iota. So why bother?"
Well, he didn't technically lie; he doesn't debate actual feminist scholars. Instead, he decides to create an Imaginary Feminist (!!!) who is to represent the 'established wisdom/feminists as perceived by men'. Oh boy.
"The idea of a glass ceiling is that there are hidden conspiracies among men to keep women down...Moreover, most serious social scientists recognize that conspiracy theories are generally wrong, and this one should be considered quite dubious."
So we come to the false premise that underlies much of the book. Baumeister refers to common feminist claims as anything other than 'conspiracies' exactly two times and expunges them on this basis repeatedly throughout the book. For someone with a PhD, I expect better.
"From the unfeeling perspective of the system, it could be worth it to restrict female access to education."
Yikes.
"Before we condemn men as hopeless sinners, however we might feel a moment of sympathy for their unrewarded successes. How many times on the dance floor, possibly head swimming with too many drinks, did he want to reach out and touch some woman’s derriere, and yet he resisted? How many times did he stop as soon as the woman with whom he was necking said to stop?
He doesn’t get any credit for all the times he stifles his desires, despite all the struggle and sacrifice that they cost him. Daily he wrestles with the beast, and mostly he keeps it controlled, even though it is part of him and, crucially, when he does manage to give it the sex it wants, the result has been some of the most glorious moments of bliss he has ever known. Mostly he succeeds in restraining himself. Out of every thousand times he has to deny himself and stop himself from acting on his feelings, once or twice he slips up, and these can be enough to shame him. In fact he’s lucky if their only lasting effect is painful memories tinged with shame, embarrassment, and guilt. These little slip-ups could ruin him, costing him his career, his marriage, his happiness, even his freedom."
He wants men to get credit for not sexually assaulting women...
There are many reasons to debate with feminists. To do so fruitfully, one would actually need to do what Baumeister referred to in the beginning - make brilliant, correct, and insightful points against some feminist claims. Baumeister fails to do this in this book. There is plenty good about men and they deserve a lot better than what they have currently and a hell of a lot better than what this book offers them.
Well, he didn't technically lie; he doesn't debate actual feminist scholars. Instead, he decides to create an Imaginary Feminist (!!!) who is to represent the 'established wisdom/feminists as perceived by men'. Oh boy.
"The idea of a glass ceiling is that there are hidden conspiracies among men to keep women down...Moreover, most serious social scientists recognize that conspiracy theories are generally wrong, and this one should be considered quite dubious."
So we come to the false premise that underlies much of the book. Baumeister refers to common feminist claims as anything other than 'conspiracies' exactly two times and expunges them on this basis repeatedly throughout the book. For someone with a PhD, I expect better.
"From the unfeeling perspective of the system, it could be worth it to restrict female access to education."
Yikes.
"Before we condemn men as hopeless sinners, however we might feel a moment of sympathy for their unrewarded successes. How many times on the dance floor, possibly head swimming with too many drinks, did he want to reach out and touch some woman’s derriere, and yet he resisted? How many times did he stop as soon as the woman with whom he was necking said to stop?
He doesn’t get any credit for all the times he stifles his desires, despite all the struggle and sacrifice that they cost him. Daily he wrestles with the beast, and mostly he keeps it controlled, even though it is part of him and, crucially, when he does manage to give it the sex it wants, the result has been some of the most glorious moments of bliss he has ever known. Mostly he succeeds in restraining himself. Out of every thousand times he has to deny himself and stop himself from acting on his feelings, once or twice he slips up, and these can be enough to shame him. In fact he’s lucky if their only lasting effect is painful memories tinged with shame, embarrassment, and guilt. These little slip-ups could ruin him, costing him his career, his marriage, his happiness, even his freedom."
He wants men to get credit for not sexually assaulting women...
There are many reasons to debate with feminists. To do so fruitfully, one would actually need to do what Baumeister referred to in the beginning - make brilliant, correct, and insightful points against some feminist claims. Baumeister fails to do this in this book. There is plenty good about men and they deserve a lot better than what they have currently and a hell of a lot better than what this book offers them.