In Defense of Women [Paperback]

H. L. Mencken (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2005

1918. Mencken, American newspaperman, editor and critic known for his excellence in framing insults aimed at anyone. Contents: The Feminine Mind; The War Between the Sexes; Marriage; Woman Suffrage; and The New Age. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

H.L. MENCKEN (1880-1956), Baltimore journalist, critic, and essayist, began his career on local newspapers in 1899, becoming editor of the Evening Herald in 1905-6, then serving on the staff of the Evening Sun during 1916-17 as a war correspondent in Germany. He became literary critic of The Smart Set in 1908, and was co-editor of this lively periodical with George Jean Nathan. Mencken and Nathan also founded The American Mercury in 1924, which Mencken edited until 1933. Mencken is best known for the aggressive iconoclasm of his editorial policies in these magazines, especially during the decade following World War I, when he exhibited a savagely satirical reaction against the political and cultural imperfections of the time. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 228 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC (May 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417905166
• ISBN-13: 978-1417905164
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,221,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mencken sets us straight about the sexes, April 24, 2002

By 

David C. Moses (Taipei, Taiwan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Defense of Women (Hardcover)

Mencken's "In Defense of Women" has such a bad reputation in some circles that I'm almost afraid to review it for fear of virtual grenades. But surely the bad reputation is unjustified, for whether one approves of Mencken's conclusions or not, it would seem hard to deny the nobility of the his intentions in publishing them. He simply wished to help us rid ourselves of some harmful and incorrect stereotypes. To wit: men think they are intelligent and clear-headed while women are emotional and sentimental. But in reality, Mencken explains, it is men who are prone to sentiment and women who are intelligent and clear-headed. Of course many things follow from both the misconception and the "truth." Although it may be useful to some people to know Mencken's ideas about the sexes (I find this knowledge useful), perhaps the best reason to read "In Defense of Women" is that it is incredibly entertaining. If you are not amused by Mencken's style, or if you are afraid that you might encounter an uncomfortable truth or two, then by all means keep safely away.

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as it gets, November 21, 2000

By 

Greg Nyquist (Eureka, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Defense of Women (Library Edition) (Audio Cassette)

This is not a book for faint of heart. No one was better at invective than Mencken, and his defense of women is far more of an attack on men than a defense of the "unfair" sex, as Ambrose Bierce signified our better half. Mencken's basic argument goes something like this: women are pretty bad; men are worse; therefore, women are better than men. This is, to be sure, a gross over-simplification. Mencken's argument is really much more sophisticated and ingenious. He picked it up, he tells us elsewhere, from a madame of a bordello. It contains a great deal more truth than most people would be willing to admit. Mencken's hillarious presentation is recommended only to hardened cynics (which is to say, hardened realists). Sensitive people with "beautiful" souls are well advised to avoid this brilliant book.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could almost have been written yesterday..., May 15, 2001

By 

Martian Bachelor (Feminacentric America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Defense of Women (Hardcover)

Reading this book made me wonder "where are the men of today who are writing like this on these topics?" -- things like soul mates, monogamy/polygamy, affairs, prostitution, romance novels, Darwin's theory of sexual selection, the double standard, the "Madonna/whore complex" (not called that then), sexual harassment, employment discrimination, abolishing marriage, and declining marriage and birth rates all make an appearance in the book. And much of it retains its essential truth. The more things change...

It's especially interesting to see where HLM was right and where he turned out to be wrong. For instance: the book was written just before men gave women the vote (i.e., during World War I, when Mencken was in his mid-to-upper thirties and still a bachelor); Mencken thought women voting would cure politics of rampant corruption -- because women wouldn't allow such shenanigans. This is not to say that he had any kind things to say about the suffragettes. He didn't, and some of what he wrote was outrageously funny. One can extrapolate in a straight line to some of today's feminists.

His basic thesis -- which may or may not have been meant to be taken seriously -- is that women are more intelligent than men, the proof being the ease with which they typically defeat men in the war between the sexes:

"I am convinced that the average woman, whatever her deficiencies, is greatly superior to the average man. The very ease with which she defies and swindles him in several capital situations of life is the clearest of proofs of her general superiority. She did not obtain her present high immunities as a gift from the gods, but only after a long and often bitter fight, and in that fight she exhibited forensic and tactical talents of a truly admirable order. There was no weakness of man that she did not penetrate and take advantage of. There was no trick that she did not put to effective use. There was no device so bold and inordinate that it daunted her."

It would be fifty years before Esther Vilar's "The Manipulated Man" continued with many of the same themes. But Mencken was quite prescient in the section on women's martyrdom, which today we'd call their claim to victimhood or being "oppressed". I could go on at some length about how close his description of marriage is to what prevails today (based on reports which come to my attention), but I'll spare you.

I'm sorry I waited so long to get around to this book, as it's truly a classic written by a great mind -- a highly recommended trip above the stratosphere for all men and, especially, bachelors.