| THE MYTH OF MALE POWER Why Men Are the Disposable Sex Warren Farrell, Ph.D. New York: Berkley Books, 1994 |
Rating: 4.5 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-425-14381-0 | ||||
| ISBN 0-425-14381-3 | 446pp. | SC/BWI | $13.00 | |
When I first began to read this book, I was put off by its style. Deciding it was excessively polemical, I laid it aside — but later I returned to it. I am glad that I did so. This is an important book; its message has great value in these days of political correctness, radical feminism (what some call "feminazism") and rampant claims of date rape.
Dr. Farrell has taught at UC San Diego as well as at other colleges. He is the only man ever elected three times to the board of the National Organization for Women. He currently conducts workshops on relationships for colleges and corporations. His previous book, Why Men Are the Way They Are, was a best-seller.1
The Myth of Male Power looks at societal implications of extreme feminism. The first two paragraphs of the introduction state his thesis succinctly (emphasis in original):
There are many ways in which a woman experiences a greater sense of powerlessness than her male counterpart: the fears of pregnancy, aging, rape, date rape, and being physically overpowered; less socialization to take a career that pays enough to support a husband and children; less exposure to team sports and its {sic} blend of competitiveness and cooperation that is so helpful to career preparation; greater parental pressure to marry and interrupt career for children without regard for her own wishes; not being part of an "old boys'" network; having less freedom to walk into a bar without being bothered... Fortunately, almost all industrialized nations have acknowledged these female experiences. Unfortunately, they have acknowledged only the female experiences — and concluded that women have the problem, men are the problem. – Page 1 |
Farrell says that men are conditioned to protect women in all ways, chiefly by being the breadwinner and, if circumstances demand it, the bodyguard. He points out that men are obliged by cultural norms to work full time to support their families, to protect the nation (the "mother country") as soldiers, and to protect individual women from harm, if necessary giving up their own lives in the process. He even says that unemployment for men is like rape for women — over-dramatic, in my opinion. Men, he asserts, have more stress and fewer supportive relationships in their lives, commit suicide more often than women, and tend to die younger than women.
Chapters 11 and 12 of the book deal with crime. They present a host of statistics, such as "ITEM: For every woman who is murdered, three men are murdered." Many specific cases are cited to demonstrate that women are:
a) more likely than is commonly believed to commit murder and assault;
b) less likely than men to be severely punished for these violent crimes, even when they have confessed their guilt.
Farrell discusses this difference in punishment levels in Chapter 12: "Women Who Kill Too Much and the Courts That Free Them: The Twelve 'Female Only' Defenses"2. These twelve defenses boil down to the fact that women are less likely to be suspected of, or investigated for, violent crimes, and when suspected, are more likely to be believed when they protest their innocence. An especially egregious case is that of Bessie Reese. (Which is probably why Farrell leads off the chapter with it.) Reese's husband took a trip with one James Richardson during which, according to Farrell's account, he "decided not to return to Bessie." She retaliated by poisoning the lunches of the seven Richardson children, all of whom died. She never became a suspect, Farrell reports, despite having been tried for poisoning her first husband (she was freed) and convicted of shooting her second husband (she did a short stint in jail). However, James Richardson got the death sentence, notwithstanding the fact that he and his wife had been working in a citrus grove eight miles away from the scene of the crime while Bessie was serving his children lunch. After he had spent 20 years in prison, Bessie confessed. Yet even a second signed affadavit from her did not bring about a new trial for Richardson; that took political protests over racism. (James was black; Bessie was white.)3 This trial finally freed him after 21 years. Farrell interviewed the prosecutor for the appeal, and asked why Bessie never became a suspect in the first trial. Apparently she had been having an affair with the local sheriff. Farrell claims this is an extreme example of the generally unremarked sexism favorable to women. He says, "And perhaps the most dominant sexism was how Bessie's sexual power led to the sheriff protecting Bessie at the cost of transforming himself from a stopper of crime into a criminal."
This case is compelling (as are, to a lesser extent, the others Farrell describes.) I am sure they happened exactly as he describes them. (The book is thoroughly footnoted.) Nevertheless, it is hard to dismiss my feeling that these are carefully selected examples which may or may not truly represent the general state of affairs. (Pun unintended.) But, contradictory as it may seem, I also believe that Farrell's assessment is correct. My own experience, and other sources I have read, corroborate it.
Equally correct, and more applicable to normal lives, are Farrell's discussions of sexual harassment in the workplace, and of rape. In both these areas, his view — that women are not always and exclusively the victims — rings true. Either of the chapters (13 & 14) dealing with these topics would by itself be worth the price of the book. They cut through the feminist cant that "all men are rapists and that's all they are." Society today, as Farrell makes painfully clear, not only supports and defends women who elevate trivial incidents to the level of Sexual Harassment (my emphasis), it actually encourages the latter behavior by providing financial incentives for it (TV and film dramatizations, talk-show appearances, book contracts) while seldom delivering more than a "slap on the wrist" to those whose deceptions are discovered. Also useful is the light Chapter 13 sheds on the famous harassment cases brought by Dr. Frances Conley and Anita Hill.
It does not denigrate or minimize the real problems that women face today to maintain that men also have problems, are also sometimes the victims, and can legitimately object to overzealous feminism. Even if Dr. Farrell sometimes overstates his case, this well-researched book exposes some serious faults in the way many men and women relate to each other and to society — and proposes some solutions. I recommend it to members of any of the above groups.
To contact Chris Winter, send email to this address.