Legalizing Misandry: has anyone else read it yet?

[Odysseus]

I recently finished reading Legalizing Misandry: From Public Shame to Systemic Discrimination Against Men by Nathanson and Young.  I highly recommend it; it is even better than "Spreading Misandry, their first book on the subject of misandry.  The second review on amazon.com is by me (it's at the top right now).

If anyone has read it, what did you think of it?  I thought it was very thorough, and it managed to touch on a ton of different men's rights issues.  I found especially interesting their discussion of sexuality and power. They point out that a lot of feminist arguments around sex assume a rather crude syllogism: "The power differential between men and women is evil.  The power differential between men and women is inherent in heterosexuality.  Ergo, heterosexuality is inherently evil" (p. 210).

They also point out the tendency for ideological feminists to foist off an instance of female oppression  onto men, instead of actually solving the underlying issue (they discuss this issue in the context of affirmative action, but it applies in many other areas).  

Legalizing Misandry also has some really cool appendices on answering the critics of Spreading Misandry, political correctness and silencing men, romance novels as "respectable porn," and feminist abuse of statistics.

Of course, there is a lot more juicy stuff in the book.  I'll probably post some good quotes from it sometime soon.

[Men's Rights Activist]

I have the book, but haven't had a chance to read it yet.  Hopefully I'll get some time this Summer.  Thanks for the review of the book.

[Questioner]

They also point out the tendency for ideological feminists to foist off an instance of female oppression  onto men, instead of actually solving the underlying issue (they discuss this issue in the context of affirmative action, but it applies in many other areas).

This is true, definitely applying to many areas.

When you frame it as "I'm a weak victim, you're a strong oppressor" then you can only look towards the strong to DO SOMETHING and take the initiative to right they've done wrong. It's insidious.

I've also noticed that feminists sometimes take an instance where a man hasn't done something (for instance, not showing his daughter how to change the oil in her car) and then try to frame it as him denying his daughter that knowledge. This changes a lack of an action into a calculated, deliberate act.

[CaptDMO]

Working on it.
It's not a fluff read.
I thought that it might be less intimidating when I found that the appendices
were about one quarter of the book, until I started scanning (and ultimately getting buried in) those. Even the table of contents is  provoking (me at least) to read on.

One saving grace is that about one quarter of the book is notes/index. I've learned my lesson, I won't go there until I get through the main body.(yah, right)

Until then it sits in the honored "current reading in progress" spot on top of the table next to my favorite chair. I never did get a suitable explanation from the publishers why it's release was delayed.

[dr e]

I got my copy of Legalizing Misandry and this is one powerful book.  In some ways this book almost serves as a text for most of our issues.  I couldn't help but go to the section on DV first and have a look.  Very well done with some interesting side stories.  An example is the origins of the VAWA.  They claim that VAWA came as a consolation prize for the women's lobby after they were excluded from the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990.  Apparently the lobbying groups didn't want the women's lobby involved in their efforts (fears of being swallowed up by the mammoth?) and found ways to exclude them. (Maybe we can learn a lesson from that one.)  So the politicos gave the powerful and excluded women's lobby a bone in the VAWA.  Actually it has turned out to be considerably more than just a bone....

The chapter on DV quotes liberally from Farrell and from Phillip Cook's book Abused Men: The Hidden Side of Domestic Violence.  Some great information is offered including a short section from Farrell about the liklihood of males abusing being much greater when the men feel powerless and when the men do abuse as a result of this powerlessness that this is a breaking down of the male role of provide and protect and the ideas of traditional masculinity.  Farrell points out how the feminists have tried to portray this "breaking down" not as a result of difficulty or pathology but instead as THE NORM OF MASCULINITY and therefore incriminating all men as potential batterers.  Maybe their ploy could be likened to using an infection as an example of wellness. :roll:

The section on lesbian violence is also clear, convincing and a backbreaker to the fems.  This entire book makes point and point after point that refutes the silly ideas of the fems that have been supported through chivalry and brainwashing.    

This book is chock filled with interesting sections.  I hope I can find the time to get through it.  

If you are serious about men's issues you should get a copy of this book.

[Men's Rights Activist]

Coincidently, I picked it up again last night for the first time in a long time and I too first went to the section on d.v. last night.

I heard Warren Farrell speak years ago, and I still hear his articulate scholarly voice, whenever I read something by him.  

I'm very much hoping to get some quality time to read more in the near future.  Beyond just the enjoyment value of reading this book, I suspect this book will be an excellent resource for future well documented quotations.

[gwallan]

I heard Warren Farrell speak years ago, and I still hear his articulate scholarly voice, whenever I read something by him.  

Chapter eight of Farrell's "Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say" is online at MND.
What a Man Might Say When He Hears, "It's Men In The News, Men in Government, Men at the Top - Where are the Women?"
Well worth a look.