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A review by rotorguy64
Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women by Christina Hoff Sommers
3.0
Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women hasn't aged very well, in my opinion. Twenty years ago, reading about all the stupid and immoral antics pulled under the name of feminism might have been shocking, but not so much nowadays when "check your privilege" has become a widespread joke. Everyone who reads this book has probably already made up his mind that modern feminism is a cancer, and will only have this view affirmed. Beyond this insight, there's not much that Who Stole Feminism? can teach you. It is just too light on philosophical questions. Sommers outlines the differences of equity- and gender-feminism, criticizes the "female epistemics" proposed by gender-feminists, and that's about it. You will gain zero philosophical insights that are not directly related to questions concerning feminism, and even those insights will be rare and superficial. Considering that Sommers is a professor of philosophy, I expected a lot more.
On the plus side, Who Stole Feminism? is very thorough and exhaustive as a source. If you want to look someone or something particular up, give Sommers' work a try. Her accounts are not just detailed, they are also surprisingly fair, with her giving credit where it's due and even going out of her way to point out when a feminist has been civil or friendly. She's not trying to push a narrative in which all feminists are the devil incarnate, to the point where she sometimes steers to the side of being too benevolent, at least in my opinion. She is also very in-depth when it comes to deconstructing specific empirical claims from feminists. Her tenacity in tracking down studies quoted by feminists and cross-checking what these sources actually say is particularly impressive and even inspiring.
All in all, I can say that while I didn't enjoy this book and didn't feel a lot wiser for having read it, I greatly appreciate it as a source. If you're really aspiring to be an expert on gender-issues, however, you should probably fully read it.
On the plus side, Who Stole Feminism? is very thorough and exhaustive as a source. If you want to look someone or something particular up, give Sommers' work a try. Her accounts are not just detailed, they are also surprisingly fair, with her giving credit where it's due and even going out of her way to point out when a feminist has been civil or friendly. She's not trying to push a narrative in which all feminists are the devil incarnate, to the point where she sometimes steers to the side of being too benevolent, at least in my opinion. She is also very in-depth when it comes to deconstructing specific empirical claims from feminists. Her tenacity in tracking down studies quoted by feminists and cross-checking what these sources actually say is particularly impressive and even inspiring.
All in all, I can say that while I didn't enjoy this book and didn't feel a lot wiser for having read it, I greatly appreciate it as a source. If you're really aspiring to be an expert on gender-issues, however, you should probably fully read it.