Gender Knot Revised Ed: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy by Allan Johnson
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Book Reviews of Gender Knot Revised Ed: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy
Book Review: I recommended it to all of my friends.
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book, especially for those not terribly familiar with how social systems work. Great starting point for coming to terms with the reality of our Patriarchy!
Book Review: great.
Summary: 5 Stars
allan johnson is insightful, honest, and aware of gener issues. his book is interesting and eye-opening. it's a great, informative read that makes you think.Book Review: Good, only one complaint.
Summary: 5 Stars
Insightful in every aspect you can think of, just read the other reviews. Only one complaint:
Johnson does a poor job of categorizing various types of feminism. There is a chapter on feminism in which he compares different approaches women have taken to understanding and acting upon their lower status in society. This is both a necessary and extremely difficult task. It is necessary because not all efforts that call themselves "pro-woman" are actually working toward ending patriarchy; some are so caught up in the system that they are actually perpetuating it, and it is important to highlight that fact. (Just like in the case of various men's movements). For instance, Johnson (rightfully!) comes down hard on Deborah Tannen's work ("Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus"-- give me a break).
But this sort of classification is also very difficult because there aren't really clear-cut separations between some flavors of feminism. It is easy to over fragment the movement, defining "eco-feminism", "radical feminism", "difference feminism", "Marxist feminism" and on and on. Johnson, probably aware of this, goes too far to the other extreme: he defines only "liberal feminism" and "radical feminism." The problem is that liberal feminism--which he then criticizes as watered-down and ultimately ineffective--is far too broad a category. It seems to encompass just about every popular effort to bring pro-woman ideas out of academia and other intellectual circles. For instance, Johnson lumps Deborah Tannen together with Naomi Wolf in the "liberal feminist" category-- a problematic thing to do since Wolf has publicly denounced Tannen's ideas.
Book Review: Exceptional!
Summary: 5 Stars
Dr. Johnson tactfully, yet accurately describes the "elephant in the living room". We live in a world created and dominated by men and masculine rules and values, yet very few people acknowledge that many of the largest problems facing the world can be directly linked to this fact. It's a fascinating book.Book Review: who's to blame?
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book because he does not enforce a man-hating policy. Instead, he addresses everyone who participates in the patriarchal society. So many men and women resist feminism because everyone's looking for the people to blame, and no one wants to feel guilty. He states simply that we are all to blame if we do not examine how we live our lives. I know now that even though i'm a woman, i too was to blame. Patriarchy is bigger than all of us, and to say that Johnson hates men or is self-loathing is ignorant and only goes to prove the point of his book. If you have the chance to see him speak--do so. It's worth it.