The Mismeasure of Woman: Why Women are Not the Better Sex, the Inferior Sex, or the Opposite Sex by Carol Tavris, Ph.D. Simon & Schuster Pb. 440pp. $13.00
Carefully reasoned and well-supported, this witty and engaging book asks us to be critical of common unconscious assumptions (e.g., the "male-as-normative" standard) and shows us the actual research evidence on gender. Tavris questions the conventional myths of innate male aggression and female passivity, the trendy idea that women are morally superior, and the simplistic notions that women and men are the same or opposite. Possibly the single best book yet on the psychology of gender.
Myths of Gender: Biological Theories about Women and Men by Anne Fausto-Sterling, Ph.D. Basic Books Revised 1992 Pb. 272pp. $15.00
A thorough and well-supported analysis and critique of the biological, psychological, genetic, and evolutionary evidence for a biological basis to gender-related behavior. If you think it's been proven that males are innately aggressive or better in math than females, you may be more skeptical after you read this biology professor's persuasive arguments. Clear and understandable but never simplistic, Fausto-Sterling offers a powerful antidote to the seemingly unending stream of superficial, unsubstantiated and sloppy pop books that claim or imply that anatomy is destiny.
Thinking Critically about Research on Sex and Gender by Paula Caplan, Ph.D. and Jeremy Caplan HarperCollins 1994 Pb. 111pp $17.95
Moving beyond popular notions about gender, the authors assert that much of the existing research on sex and gender is not well-established. They then provide constructive critical tools that readers (both students and others) can apply to analyze research and research methods and arrive at realistic conclusions. Paula Caplan, a psychology professor and researcher, is known for her careful logic and analysis.
Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st Century by Naomi Wolf Random House 1993 Pb. 361pp. $12.00
A sensible, balanced analysis of what has gone wrong with the women's movement, it asserts that "victim feminism" (women as sexually pure, mystically nurturing; stressing the "evil" things done to women) is obsolete. Instead, Wolf calls for "power feminism" (women as powerful human beings, no better or worse than men) and offers strategies for psychological and social change. Includes a balanced look at the issue of "political correctness" calling for "both/and" rather than "either/or."
Woe to the Women-The Bible Tells Me So by Annie Laurie Gaynor Freedom From Religion Fdn. 1981 Pb. 68pp. $10.00
Demonstrates the negative image of women in both the Old and New Testament by quoting over 200 verses from the Bible, showing what it actually says about women on issues that include marriage, prostitution, motherhood, menstruation, adultery, rape, women as property, and women's supposed "nature."
Women Without Superstition "No Gods--No Masters" The Collected Writings of Women Freethinkers of the 19th & 20th Centuries edited by Annie Laurie Gaynor Freedom From Religion Foundation 1997 696pp. Hd. $25.00
The first collection of its kind, featuring 51 different women and 64 articles. Includes Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Mary Wollstonecraft, Voltairine de Cleyre, Emma Goldman, Margaret Sanger, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Queen Silver, Anne Nicol Gaylor, Meg Bowman.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Fawcett Pb. $11.00
A chilling futurist novel about a puritanical religious
fundamentalist takeover of America, in which women capable of
bearing children are forced to be baby machines. Well-written,
powerful and compelling, it is a logical projection of where
the authoritarian religious right could take us.