From the first page of the preface to the end of the book, Sommers hard hitting style never lets the reader down. On the first page Sommers quotes from Gloria Steinem's Revolution from Within that 150,000 females die of anorexia each year. But Sommers is unwilling to accept this figure without a reasonable investigation. And what does she find? Lo and behold, the actual number is quite different. In fact, depending on the source, the actual figure hovers somewhere between 50 and 100. Now, a 1,500 fold increase in statistical evidence may be acceptable to some but Sommers will have no part of it. And the book goes a long way in shedding light on a number of other feminist lies.
Sommers' book also paints a picture of a civil war in the feminist movement. A nasty little battle between what she calls "gender" feminists and "equity" feminists.
The gender feminists are obsessed with beliefs of oppression and conspiracy against women, while equity feminists are concerned with classical values of true equality for women. Unfortunately, the gender feminists have the upper hand.
Sommers states, "American feminism is currently dominated by a group of women who seek to persuade the public that American women are not the free creatures we thing we are. The leaders ... of the women's movement believe that our society is best described as a patriarchy, a 'male hegemony,' an 'sex/gender system' in which the dominant gender works to keep women cowering and submissive."
These gender feminists, "believe that all our institutions, from the state to the family to the grade schools, perpetuate male dominance." She goes on, "they must convince us that the oppression of women, sustained from generation to generation, is a structural feature of our society."
Sommers further paints a distressing picture of how these gender feminists have managed to take control of almost all areas where public money and gender issues collide. Of special concern are our university system and the branches of government that deal with "feminist issues."
For the pseudo-intellectual classrooms of the women's studies departments, Sommers has no mercy., She says, "My experience with academic feminism ... has served to deepen my conviction that the majority of women's studies classes ... are unscholarly, intolerant of dissent, and full of gimmicks. In other words, they are a waste of time."
She doesn't stop there, but goes on to point out that although their numbers may be in a minority, the gender feminists have managed to push their way into commanding positions. The negative affect they are having on higher education is quite astounding. As Sommers puts it, "when future historians go back to find out what happened to American universities at the end of the twentieth century that so weakened them, politicized them, and rendered them illiberal, anti-intellectual, and humorless places, they will find that among the principal causes of the decline was the failure of intelligent, powerful, and well-intentioned officials to distinguish between the reasonable and just causes of equity feminism and its unreasonable, unjust, ideological sister -- gender feminism."
As for the affect that the gender feminists are having on government, Sommers points to the $360 million Gender Equity in Education act. This biased piece of legislation has as its reason for being a report by the American Association of University Women, "Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging America." This report has been brandished about in the media and congress as "proof" of bias in our educational system. But when Sommers looked into the AAUW study what she found was distorted facts and innuendo published under conditions no reputable scientists would agree to.
Sommers goes on to expose a number of other important issues and lies including: Super Bowl Sunday being the most violent day for women; the "rule of thumb"; and battery being the No. 1 cause of birth defects.
If you are looking for a good book, written by a woman, that cuts through the hype to the truth, this is it. A must read.
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