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A review by elizabeth_tegantvoort
On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good by Elise Loehnen
Did not finish book. Stopped at 31%.
The author doesn’t address the biblical definition of the seven deadly sins, despite slamming the Bible’s accuracy in the first chapter. The author doesn’t establish the lens from which she is interpreting the seven deadly sins from clearly- which in turn puts the interpretation into the hands of the reader. I am giving this 2 starts because there a few impactful points made, despite missing the mark. (Some examples below.)
In the Sloth chapter, she addresses the opposite problem of sloth- that many women feels as if they aren’t enough, and that the women feel as if they can’t take a break because of the patriarchal society. She in facts brings up biblical concepts of things we should do- we shouldn’t judge others and how they run their home, and how they teach their children. She reiterates it’s important to allow yourself to take a break. “What we’ve missed in the equation that time is money is that time is a nonrenewable resource. It’s insane to put a price on something so valuable.” ~ Sloth, p. 33
In the Sloth chapter, she addresses the opposite problem of sloth- that many women feels as if they aren’t enough, and that the women feel as if they can’t take a break because of the patriarchal society. She in facts brings up biblical concepts of things we should do- we shouldn’t judge others and how they run their home, and how they teach their children. She reiterates it’s important to allow yourself to take a break. “What we’ve missed in the equation that time is money is that time is a nonrenewable resource. It’s insane to put a price on something so valuable.” ~ Sloth, p. 33
In the envy chapter, she talks about how jealousy is a part of society and is different for men and women. There are some parts that resonated with me such as “Blame is a form of self protection.” “It’s not true that if one woman wins, another must lose.” This is a biblical concept also- Where in Matthew 7:3 Jesus says to focus on the log in your own eye instead of blaming or criticizing the speck in your brother’s eye. She talks a lot in this chapter about analyzing the root of envy.
I could spend more time talking positively, because there was a lot the resonated with me, but ultimately, I DNF’d this one at 31% read- it just took a lot of energy to decide what she was claiming, and if I agreed with it or not. If she better propped up her argument by defining the seven deadly sins, or just re-wrote the first chapter- I would’ve finished this one as I do like some of the points she made! They weren’t just supported at all.
I could spend more time talking positively, because there was a lot the resonated with me, but ultimately, I DNF’d this one at 31% read- it just took a lot of energy to decide what she was claiming, and if I agreed with it or not. If she better propped up her argument by defining the seven deadly sins, or just re-wrote the first chapter- I would’ve finished this one as I do like some of the points she made! They weren’t just supported at all.