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Product Description
When "man is the measure of all things," woman is forever trying to measure up. In this enlightening book, Carol Tavris unmasks the widespread but invisible custom -- pervasive in the social sciences, medicine, law, and history -- of treating men as the normal standard, women as abnormal. Tavris expands our vision of normalcy by illuminating the similarities between women and men and showing that the real differences lie not in gender, but in power, resources, and life experiences. Winner of the American Association for Applied and Preventive Psychology's Distinguished Media Contribution Award
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Do you sometimes feel inadequate and worthless? Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Do you sometimes feel inadequate and worthless? Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An analysis of the way science views women, this book has three main points: Women are not inferior to men, women are not superior to men, and women are not the same as men.
I read this book in college and almost immediately used a small portion of it in my final project for Human Sexuality. From my own research, I learned that the author's analysis of my topic (the G-Spot) agreed with the primary sources. I do not doubt that the rest of the book is just as accurate.
The reviewer who said that the author does not address the issue of abuse properly doesn't understand what the book is really about. It certainly is not about abuse, incest, or the like, nor what to do when you are recovering from it. It is about SCIENCE, and examples of biased interpretations of the same.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The subtitle says it all: Carol Tavris' book "The Mismeasure of Woman" is about why women are not the better sex, or the inferior sex, or the opposite sex. In particular the last bit plays a major role, as Tavris analyzes the various explicit or implicit ways in which sexism is pervasive by taking males as a default or standard for all of humanity. She goes effectively into many examples of this phenomenon, such as medical testing that tests only on men, men as standard in civil law, men as standard in psychology, etc.
Tavris makes a clear case about the truth of physiological differences between men and women, and their importance in socio-economic contexts in everything from toilets to employment, while at the same time stressing the untruth of many of the pop psychological assumptions about the 'mental' differences between men and women, which experiments in social psychology have disproven many times. She also criticizes the medicalization of many social psychological problems among men and women both, where psychological issues that are clearly consequences of social ills or systematic mistreatment are perceived as 'diseases' from which only medication can be an escape. In particular it is often the case that what is considered a personal failing in women is considered a 'disease' beyond his control in men, whereas in reverse many natural and universal psychological phenomena, such as mood swings or periodic unhappiness, are considered symptoms of inherent weaknesses (PMS etc.) when they appear in women.
Equally however, Tavris makes sure to reject the mystifying nonsense about women as being superior to men, or having a "special bond with nature", and things of that sort. She concludes that what matters is not the use of a (usually male) standard and then measuring both sexes by them, but what is more important is making sure that an effective equality can exist between both sexes in the social and economic spheres, and to prefer social policy to psychiatry. This book is a valuable contribution to understanding the true nature of sexism today.
Tavris makes a clear case about the truth of physiological differences between men and women, and their importance in socio-economic contexts in everything from toilets to employment, while at the same time stressing the untruth of many of the pop psychological assumptions about the 'mental' differences between men and women, which experiments in social psychology have disproven many times. She also criticizes the medicalization of many social psychological problems among men and women both, where psychological issues that are clearly consequences of social ills or systematic mistreatment are perceived as 'diseases' from which only medication can be an escape. In particular it is often the case that what is considered a personal failing in women is considered a 'disease' beyond his control in men, whereas in reverse many natural and universal psychological phenomena, such as mood swings or periodic unhappiness, are considered symptoms of inherent weaknesses (PMS etc.) when they appear in women.
Equally however, Tavris makes sure to reject the mystifying nonsense about women as being superior to men, or having a "special bond with nature", and things of that sort. She concludes that what matters is not the use of a (usually male) standard and then measuring both sexes by them, but what is more important is making sure that an effective equality can exist between both sexes in the social and economic spheres, and to prefer social policy to psychiatry. This book is a valuable contribution to understanding the true nature of sexism today.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a college student majoring in psychology and ethnic/gender studies, I have read numerous books about psychology and gender. Tavris has written one of the best. She looks at each side of every argument she brings up, and is not afraid to make new arguments that go against status quo beliefs. Every reader will learn something new about discrimination against women in areas such as medicine, education, and science while reading this book. Open your mind and open Tavris's book. You will wish you would've read it sooner.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
no evidence of a wandering womb!
I thought this book was thought-provoking and well-written. A non-hysterical feminist book which was refreshing and interesting. I even persuaded a few males to read it.
Published on 12 May 2004 by quiet feminist
Carol Tavris' next profession should be that of executioner
These book reviews for Carol Tavris' book do not even start to address the damage she has done to women and men alike. Read more
Published on 23 Jun 1998
Rationally discussed similarities and differences between
...men and women. Like the book jacket says, this book will clearly, rationally, and scientifically explain why women are not the weaker sex, the superior sex, nor the opposite... Read more
Published on 23 May 1998
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