I want to read a book written by someone like me, except smarter and better at writing

by Furry Girl

04.18.10

I guess that's what everyone wants in a book, right?

For most people, that's not hard to find.  Take any average computer programmer, carpenter, pastry chef, archeologist, or soldier, and there will be books from authors more skilled in their field, ready to offer philosophical insights and practical information.  I don't think there's anything like that out there for me, unfortunately.

What I want is thoughtful, aggressive, non-misogynistic, and secular critique of feminism.  It doesn't really seem to exist.

Today, I went browsing around on Amazon - with its wonderful recommendation engine - in search of any anti-feminist sorts of books that I'd actually want to buy and read.  What I get are piles of books written by overgrown frat boys, religious people, and hardcore conservatives who think women should have never been allowed out of the kitchen in the first place.  I'm in earnest search of The More Awesomely Eloquent Me, and all I'm getting is stuff about Jesus, abortion, the homosexual agenda, the dangers of communism, and an out-of-date collection of essays by Phyllis Schlafly.  (Whose work I suppose I should read anyway, just for a historical perspective from someone who fought second wave feminism.)

Although I didn't find anything that was exactly what I'm looking for (criticism of feminism), I'm considering these three books:

* Spreading Misandry: The Teaching of Contempt for Men in Popular Culture by Paul Nathanson and Katherine Young.

* Venus: The Dark Side by Roy Sheppard and Mary T Cleary.

* A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce by Alec Baldwin and Mark Tabb.

Already in my collection, but as of yet unread, are these other two that I hope will be interesting.  Both of these authors have a bunch of books out, and I bought one of each to test the waters, and the Jesus-ness of their politics:

* The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom by Phyllis Chesler.

* Who Stole Feminism?: How Women Have Betrayed Women by Christina Hoff-Sommers.

Edited to add: I also have in my existing collection The Myth of Male Powerby Warren Farrell.  I should have included this book in my original post, but my "to read" stack is embarrassingly tall, and I forgot about it until a commenter reminder me of him.  I've only read the introduction so far.  I was bracing myself, from the title, for an angry douchebag rant, but instead, I got a well-thought-out "this is what I've learned after being a professional feminist" from a former board member of the National Organization for Women.

So, what else is out there?  Where's the secular non-conservative criticism of feminism that I want to read?  I asked this on Twitter, but what I suppose I didn't make clear is that I'm not looking for feminist-identified authors criticizing other factions of feminism, or feminist-identified people who acknowledge issues they have with parts of feminism.  I am looking for something outside the echo chamber, outside of pots calling kettles black.  Things not written by feminists.  I realize that, on the left/liberal side of the political spectrum, if you fail to identify as a feminist, you're treated as though you enjoy microwaving baby kittens for amusement.  But come on, there have to be plenty of other assholes like me, right?





30 Comments »

  1. I've met a number of people of both genders with a similar attitude towards "feminism". (Quotes intentional, to distinguish the "stuff you are talking about" from what the word should mean, "women are people too".)

    The problem with your wish for such a book is that people with this attitude have decided they have much better things to do with their time then spend the years it would take to write such a book, and then the decades of scorn they would endure for having written it. There are so many more useful things to do with one life.

    Comment by Mark Atwood — April 18, 2010 @ 10:52 pm

  2. Mark: Yup, book-writing isn't easy, that's why it's generally reserved for people who are already well-off and/or established writers, or academics with grad students to do the real work for them. I've had many people tell me (including today on Twitter) that I ought to write a book. I appreciate such votes of confidence, but I want to giggle and ask, "Where on earth would I find the time to do that?" Now, if some publisher magically came to me with a good-sized advance, and said "write the great book on unfeminism!", I'd be all for it. But, without real money up front to justify taking time away from my paying job, I'm not economically privileged to where I can just take a year off from work, write my dream book, and just hope someone might buy it.

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 18, 2010 @ 11:00 pm

  3. Try WHO STOLE FEMINISM, I think it comes closest to what you're describing. No, she doesn't take on the feminist movement in principle, but she does point to a lot of missteps that took the movement in a bad direction, and questions who would benefit from that. It was written about fifteen years ago, so it may or may not seem a little dated. But no Jesus-ness about her at all.

    I also recommend another of her books, THE WAR AGAINST BOYS.

    Comment by Russ the Librarian — April 18, 2010 @ 11:35 pm

  4. Thanks, Russ. Like I said, I have Who Stole Feminism in my pile to read- and I haven't read anything else by Christina Hoff-Sommers. If I like her style, I'll give her other works a go. It's always encouraging to hear if something is not Bible-thumpy, which seems to be the case with almost every criticism of feminism available in book form.

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 18, 2010 @ 11:38 pm

  5. What about Warren Farrell? He's not perfect, but I liked "Why Men Are The Way They Are". Although it isn't criticism of feminism per se, but rather an analysis of the male gender role, if you want to write a book about men's disadvantages, it's impossible to not criticise feminism, or at least some of it's explanations on the way.

    Comment by Luis — April 19, 2010 @ 2:07 am

  6. I actually have one of his books in my stack of stuff to read, "The Myth of Male Power". I will edit to add that- I forgot that one.

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 19, 2010 @ 2:38 am

  7. Have you maybe considered working with a skilled editor/co-author to take your blog content and turn it into a publishable set of essays on unfeminism? (Non-feminism? Anti-feminism? I dunno, what works best - I like feminisnt myself.)

    You've got several good base pieces to work from, based on what I've seen thus far, and with assistance from one of those smart, writer-type people could come away surprised with the results - without the "ZOMG I HAVE TO WRITE A WHOLE BOOK FROM SCRATCH?!" pressure it might actually be an enjoyable project. Emphasis on might, there. I'm certainly no expert in the subject, but it's a line of thought I've considered a few times myself. The trick is, I think, figuring out who to partner with. Someone reliable but not high-strung about getting work done, and someone who is capable of sharing the author's (your) vision, at least enough so to keep the tone/content consistent.

    Comment by Giania — April 19, 2010 @ 9:29 am

  8. I recommend you read Counterknowledge: How We Surrendered to Conspiracy Theories, Quack Medicine, Bogus Science and Fake History

    Comment by kevin burctoolla — April 19, 2010 @ 11:17 am

  9. Kevin: Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm looking for feminist critique; also, that book seems to get low reviews, and the author sounds sort of like a poor man's James Randi (or any of the other leading debunkers of falsehoods).

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 19, 2010 @ 5:42 pm

  10. Giana: thanks for the suggestion, but the issue is simply one money, not a lack of interest on my part. I barely have enough time to do the things in my existing life, let alone adding in writing a book. Despite what people think about porn, I am not actually rich, and can't afford to take a sabbatical to focus on writing. As I said, I'd be excited if a sizable advance dropped into my lap, but I can't justify taking time out from work, especially in a recession. (And even then, just hoping the book sells, so I can get my teeny-tiny fraction of the sales price.) Also, if I'm going to do a book, I'm not going to have it ghost-written by someone. Gone-over by a sharp editor, yes- but I don't actually need help writing things.

    In "The Redneck Manifesto", Jim Goad wrote something like, "The working class has always been too busy *working* to write books."

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 19, 2010 @ 5:54 pm

  11. I fucking *love* Who Stole Feminism. I really ought to buy my own copy of it (I've just checked it out of the library a bunch).

    Unfortunately, I can't really think of anything else to recomend.

    Comment by Lanthir — April 19, 2010 @ 6:00 pm

  12. Well there's a book that exactly fits your descripiton, but it's in swedish. Called "klassisk Feminism" from Louise Persson

    Comment by Sina — April 20, 2010 @ 2:04 pm

  13. Sina: Do you have any idea if there's an English translation?

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 20, 2010 @ 3:39 pm

  14. I tend to find black feminist, womanist and anarchist/anarchafeminist writings most interesting - bell hooks, Alice Walker, Audre Lorde, Emma Goldman, Wendy McElroy

    Comment by BroadSnark — April 20, 2010 @ 7:01 pm

  15. Doesn't criticize the movement of feminism overall but certainly offers views that many so-called feminists would balk at: Theorizing the Sexual Child in Modernity. It also offers insight to another type of sexuality rarely discussed, that of the child's.

    Comment by lovely_bookcase — April 20, 2010 @ 7:58 pm

  16. BroadSnark: Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm not looking for better feminists (I know they exist), I'm looking for anti-feminists.

    lovely_bookcase: That sounds rather like "Erotic Innocence: The Culture of Child Molesting", which was already on my list of things to eventually buy and read. Honestly, I don't know if I'll read the one you suggested, since it's $80 and only 200 pages, but thanks.

    Thank you to everyone for the suggestions, here, on email, and Twitter, but I'm not looking for *general book recommendations* that I might enjoy, I'm looking specifically for books by authors that are *opposed to feminism*.

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 20, 2010 @ 8:14 pm

  17. Sex at the Margins by Laura María Agustín offers a serious critique of radical feminism, especially for believing all sex work in some way or other is based on coercion and would be degrading. Very insightful book, based on thorough research, good historic overview, especially of the way early feminism during the 19th century helped construct the present idea of the 'prostitute'.

    Comment by Arum — April 21, 2010 @ 12:47 pm

  18. Arum: That one's also in my big pile of books to read, although I didn't know she got into feminist critique. (Bonus!) It exists in my mind as, "That trafficking book everyone seems to recommend."

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 21, 2010 @ 12:58 pm

  19. Have you tried any of Camille Paglia's stuff? I've only read Vamps and Tramps, she makes a lot of good points against the lamer aspects of feminist thought in that one, though she does have some lame opinions on occasion as well... I think Gloria Steinem called her a nazi once...

    Comment by Royce Icon — April 21, 2010 @ 5:04 pm

  20. Royce: Camille Paglia has always been on my vague mental list of "people I think I would find painful to read", but perhaps I'll give Vamps and Tramps a go someday.

    Comment by Furry Girl — April 21, 2010 @ 5:51 pm

  21. She can definitely be a bit of a hard read at times, but vamps and tramps is a collection of her pieces for magazines and whatnot- they tend to be a bit less drawn out than her other books from what I've read.

    There's a lot of good arguments against popular feminist thought of the 90's in there...

    Comment by Royce Icon — April 22, 2010 @ 1:12 pm

  22. I would definitely recommend Camille Paglia if you want an "unfeminist." I personally don't find her hard to read, and I think she might be exactly what you're looking for.

    Comment by Timory — April 26, 2010 @ 4:08 am

  23. I would suggest reading some Murray Rothbard. He has a large catalog of work that may be pertinent. Here is a link to one of his articles on the subject of "feminism" http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard4.html

    JM

    Comment by Jay — May 4, 2010 @ 6:39 pm

  24. JM: I'll check him out. I personally find libertarians to be a VERY mixed bag, so we'll see if he's one I might like.

    Comment by Furry Girl — May 5, 2010 @ 5:10 pm

  25. I understand what you mean, and I wouldnt classify him as a libertarian per se, he gets pigeon holed with that moniker when he should be considered an individualist. The term libertarian today, much like the term anarchist, or vegan, is being co opted by those who are not versed in its history or meaning.
    Emile Armand is another one to maybe take a whiff, his writings are influential to Rothbard to a certain degree.

    Keep on discovering. Am enjoying your essays :-)

    JM

    Comment by Jay — May 6, 2010 @ 8:13 am

  26. Unfortunately, I don't think there's a english translation

    Comment by Sina — May 14, 2010 @ 2:26 am

  27. Maybe bad advice but do what I did: write what you want to read. It may be the only way of making sure it's out there. And you'll discover like-minded individuals that way.

    XX

    Comment by Amanda — May 19, 2010 @ 11:31 pm

  28. Hi! I've just been reading over your blog. Just as a guide, what are your main differences with what's called sex-positive feminism?

    In the mean time, like others I'm guessing Paglia might interest you?

    Comment by Sagredo — June 3, 2010 @ 10:56 pm

  29. Sagredo: I'd suggest reading this blog's introduction or my "about me" post:
    http://www.feminisnt.com/2009/introduction-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-the-non/
    http://www.feminisnt.com/2009/biography-of-a-pornographic-polemic/

    Comment by Furry Girl — June 14, 2010 @ 12:48 pm

  30. Comment by Trackbacks — February 5, 2012 @ 3:45 am

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Comment policy for Feminisnt: I do not publish blatant insults and trolling. You must use a name/handle other than anonymous or asdf because I am tired of giving space to detractors who are too lazy to pick a fake handle and too scared to use a real one. I no longer publish comments bitching at me about how feminism is the greatest thing ever. And I may not publish your comment if I have already addressed that specific issue several times already. Read my responses to other comments before asking a new question. Finally, if your comment hinges on an obvious logical fallacy, I might not publish that, either, except to make fun of you. All new commentors have their first comment held for moderation. Commenting on my blog and taking up space on my server is a privilege, not a right.

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