Feminism: The Ugly Truth [Paperback]

Reviews of Mike Buchanan's The Glass Ceiling Delusion: At long last, someone has taken on the myth of discrimination against women who aspire to senior positions in business, including the boardrooms of major corporations. The Glass Ceiling Delusion demythologizes each of thirty elements the author has identified of the now generally accepted claim that women are discriminated against in the world of white-collar work. Much has been accomplished recently in disclosing the half-truths about women and domestic violence, for example, but Buchanan illuminates an area that other critics of ideological feminism have not considered. Buchanan's analysis is based partly on his experience of working as an executive for major British and American multinational corporations for over 30 years until 2010. His book should inspire research on settings of corporate power everywhere. Always witty and sometimes even biting in style, Buchanan's text is grounded in important texts in psychobiology, sociology, history and politics. It is an impassioned yet not angry argument that deserves the careful attention of policy-makers and a general readership. Professor Miles Groth PhD, Editor, New Male Studies: An International Journal Peter Saunders, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Sussex University: 'The Glass Ceiling Delusion attacks head-on the militant feminist myth that men and women have the same interests and capabilities. Reviewing a wide range of evidence, he shows that the under-representation of women in senior positions in business has nothing to do with discrimination and 'glass ceilings' and that attempts to impose quotas are therefore fundamentally flawed. A polemical book with an important message.' Glenn Wilson Visiting Professor of Psychology, Gresham College, London: 'Equality of opportunity is a fine thing but equality of outcome is another matter entirely. There is little doubt that men and women have, on average, different talents and interests that make gender quotas in the workplace unfair and impractical. The Glass Ceiling Delusion is a welcome, well-argued addition to the debate about whether women should be pushed up the social ladder just because they are women, and thus at a presumed disadvantage. This is rather an insult to women and Margaret Thatcher, for one, would not have agreed. Individuals should be treated as individuals, not as members of a particular race, class or gender. Whatever the historic injustices, this is the only way that social structures can evolve naturally.' Dr Vernon Coleman bestselling English author: 'The Glass Ceiling Delusion is an important and brave book, the best book on social economics and society in general published for decades. It's irresistibly compelling, cogently argued and superbly put together. It should be in all school and college libraries. It should be compulsory reading for social science, economics and politics students. It should be force-fed to male and female politicians. This is definitely a five-star book. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant. Brilliant.' Review of Mike Buchanan's David and Goliatha: David Cameron - heir to Harman? John Strafford Chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy: 'Mike Buchanan has courageously taken on the radical feminists. For too long this group have dominated the public policy agenda. Pay equality, gender balance in the boardroom, all women shortlists have been given far too much prominence in public life. We needed the other side to be put and in his book Mike Buchanan does just this. His description of the Prime Minister having a 'female-pattern brain' is an interesting aspect of David Cameron. Without being insulting it explains some of the current direction of Conservative policy. The book calls for a fight back against the radical feminists. It deserves to succeed. Women had a long hard justifiable fight to obtain the vote in our democracy (see my book Our Fight for Democracy), but now they have it the radical feminists want special treatment. This is not acceptable, each person's vote should have an equal value regardless of gender. Manipulating parliamentary candidate short lists to give preference to women is a distortion of democracy and anyone who believes in democracy should oppose it.'

Mike Buchanan (1957- ) is a British writer and former business consultant with a particular interest in the damage being wrought in the developed world by radical feminists: feminists (usually, but not exclusively, women) who campaign and scheme not for equal opportunities for men and women, but for equal outcomes (e.g. gender balance in the boardroom) regardless of the relative numbers of men and women willing to take on such roles and able to perform them successfully. This book follows two earlier books which critiqued the differences between the genders, and radical feminism, in the context of politics ('David and Goliatha: David Cameron - heir to Harman?') and in the context of the world of work ('The Glass Ceiling Delusion: the REAL reasons more women don't reach senior positions') Mike Buchanan worked as a consultant for the Conservative party (2006-8) but resigned in late 2009 in protest against the decision of David Cameron, the leader of the party, to introduce all-women prospective parliamentary candidate shortlists for the ensuing general election, using for this purpose legislaton introduced (without prior notice in the Labour party's 2005 manifesto) by the radical feminist MP Harriet Harman. Mike Buchanan has written nine books since 2008, the titles of which are (in reverse chronological order): Feminism: Crones' Disease / The Glass Ceiling Delusion / David and Goliatha: David Cameron - heir to Harman? / The Joy of Self-Publishing (also available as an ebook for Kindle, iPad etc.) / Buchanan's Dictionary of Quotations for right-minded people / Buchanan's Dictionary of Quotations for right-minded Americans / Two Men in a Car (also available as an ebook for Kindle, iPad etc.) / The Marriage Delusion: the fraud of the rings? (a hardback - the paperback edition is imaginatively titled 'The Fraud of the Rings') / Guitar Gods in Beds. (Bedfordshire: a heavenly county) / For Kogan Page: Profitable Buying Strategies: How to cut procurement costs and buy your way to higher profits - this title is also available, helpfully, in a Chinese language edition Mike Buchanan is the proprietor of LPS publishing, a British publisher, further details on the business and its titles may be found on Lpspublishing.co.uk.