Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes [Hardcover]

Jack Kammer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1994

A candid testimony about the powers of the feminine from twenty-two accomplished female therapists, scholars, authors, and leaders discusses the subtle tensions between the sexes and calls for a more balanced public discourse about sexism. 30,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist and radio talk-show host Kammer here conducts 22 interviews with prominent women about how the battle of the sexes affects men and how rabid feminism, when used as a weapon against men, ultimately hurts everyone--including women. Kammer's questions are probing; the responses from women, among them writers, attorneys and academics, are more likely to stir greater controversy than to inspire a truce in the gender wars. "What do you think of the idea that Playboy magazine degrades women?" Kammer asks Barbara Dorrity, a leading anti-censorship feminist and occasional Playboy contributor, who answers, "I think it's ridiculous." Other topics discussed include male-bashing, reverse sexism, exclusion of men from the domestic front, husband abuse and the traditional male role as "success object." Kammer does not plead for a return to traditional sex roles but asks that women try to understand men as fellow human beings rather than enemies. Kammer and his interviewees, offering a valuable, undeniably slanted take on an ages-old topic, are not persuasive enough to change the mindset of many readers.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Kammer is a radio talk host and journalist who has focused his career on gender issues. In this work, he interviews 22 women about their views on issues like misandry (hostility toward men), false rape accusations, domestic violence against men, communication difficulties between the sexes, and barriers fathers face as parents. The book's format is taken directly from the interviews, with selected newspaper quotes used to support statements made by the author and interviewee. In scope and content, this is a brief commentary offering different perspectives on gender issues, but Kammer's pool of interviewees is too limited to be truly conclusive. Recommended for academic undergraduate libraries and public libraries with a large collection on gender issues.
- Frances Schmid Holland, Dean & Howell, Dallas
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 231 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Press; lst ed edition (February 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312104715
• ISBN-13: 978-0312104719
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,238,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jack Kammer, MSW, MBA is the director of the Center for Men and Boys in Social Policy (CMBSP), a public interest consultancy in Baltimore, Maryland USA. CMBSP provides fresh, gender-specific insights about men and boys for policy makers, service providers and community leaders.

For information on Jack as a consultant, presenter, trainer or speaker please see www.believeinmen.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book that needed to be written, July 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes (Hardcover)

This book brings a glimmer of hope to men. It also exposes much of the ugly hypocrisy and bigotry of feminism. It does so by allowing 22 women to express their views on how men are treated by women. The fact that most of these women call themselves feminists is what makes their honesty about the biased and misandric nature of modern feminist society so surprising. In a time when male views on anything related to gender issues are almost completely ignored Jack Kammer's book manages to express what men have been trying to say all along. Most importantly, the book accomplishes this in perhaps the only way that women will listen to - by quoting from the mouths of women themselves. For women this book offers a realistic look at what it's like to be male. For men this book offers hope. It shows that there are still women in the world who realize that men are people, too. And it shows that there are women who are willing to admit that sometimes women can be wrong.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book...again and again!, March 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes (Hardcover)

Obviously, I disagree with the the review that called this book unsatisfying; it has to be one of the more satisfying books I have seen. I have read parts of this book so many times I lost count; it is indeed heartening to hear from intelligent women sympathetic to men. Not only that, Jack Kammer appears unafraid of being firm and, at the same time, respectful to these individuals. He never stoops to misogyny; he seems to know that if there is to be a greater understanding between the sexes, these women are the ones who will help bring it about.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, a must read., June 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly About the Balance of Power Between the Sexes (Hardcover)

One of the few books on gender attempting to show that men suffer from inequalities and injustices in our society. Better yet women in the book say let's stop hating and bashing men; let's stop thinking of all women as victims and get on with our lives.