The Mismeasure of Woman [Hardcover]

Carol Tavris (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0844669598 | ISBN-13: 978-0844669595 | Publication Date: June 1999

A work that challenges accepted notions about the sexes traces the deep-rooted sense of guilt and deficiency in women that has been caused by the practice of defining man as the norm and woman as his opposite. 30,000 first printing. Tour.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Men are normal, women are deficient" is the tacit message our culture instills, asserts California social psychologist Taviris. In a valuable, enlightening roadmap to sanity for women and men, she argues that there is far more substantial evidence for similarity between the sexes than for differences. She refutes ecofeminists and other theorizers who claim that women are more empathic and peace-loving than men. She disputes feminist historians who argue on shaky grounds for worldwide prehistoric matriarchies centered on Mother Goddess worship; she debunks feminist psychoanalysts who, she says, reinforce Freud's notion that men and women are inevitably worlds apart psychologically. Rejecting the notion that women are less sexual, Tavris deflates the stereotype of the "coy female" propagated in sociobiology and pop psychology texts. Her lively study explores how society "pathologizes" women though psychiatric diagnoses, sexist divorce rulings and images of females as "moody," "self-defeating" or "unstable." She also presents evidence that women's expectations about premenstrual syndrome, a stigmatizing label for a natural set of bodily changes, may actually influence their symptoms. First serial to Redbook, Mademoiselle, Woman's Day and Self; BOMC and QPB alternates; author tour.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Tavris, a social psychologist best known for Anger ( LJ 1/1/83) presents a considered and comprehensive analysis of how women are measured against men in society. She examines why women are not inferior, superior, or the same as men. Comparisons have led to labeling men as "normal" and women who do not perform physically, sexually, mentally, or emotionally like them as "abnormal." Tavris argues that the costs of these measurements have been, and continue to be, substantial for women. She also presents careful and convincing critiques of Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice (Harvard Univ. Pr., 1982) and other works on the psychology of women such as codependency, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . Tavris articulates and synthesizes convoluted philosophical arguments easily. The result is an accessible, thorough, and enjoyable feminist overview of women in society. Recommended for public and academic libraries. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/91.
- Melody Burton, York Univ. Libs., Toronto
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Peter Smith Pub Inc (June 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844669598
• ISBN-13: 978-0844669595
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,382,974 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Carol Tavris is a social psychologist, writer, and lecturer whose goal is to promote psychological science and critical thinking in improving our lives. She is coauthor, with Elliot Aronson, of "Mistakes Were Made (But Not by ME): Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts." Her other major books include the landmark "Anger: The misunderstood emotion," a book well known for its critical look at unvalidated notions about the inevitability of anger and the need to "ventilate" it, and how anger can best be expressed constructively. She is also author of the award-winning "The Mismeasure of Woman: Why women are not the better sex, the inferior sex, or the opposite sex," and coauthor of two widely used textbooks for introductory psychology. She has written hundreds of essays and book reviews on topics in psychological science, and is a highly regarded lecturer who has spoken to groups around the world, from New Zealand to Finland. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Charter Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and a member of the editorial board of the APS journal "Psychological Science in the Public Interest."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Balanced and Rational!, January 12, 2001

By 

Ollie Nanyes (Peoria, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mismeasure of Woman (Paperback)

I found this book to be well reasoned, well written and thought provoking. I am not saying that I agree with everything (I completely disagree with her assertion that same-sex schools are ok for women but not for men) but in most cases I found her insight to be refreshing.

An example of such insight: it is often claimed that women students have poor self esteem due to the fact that males score higher on "self-esteem" inventories. She points out that this could well be due to the fact that women mature quicker and therefore have a more realistic picture of themselves; that is, this is a case in which it is wholly inappropriate to compare women to the *men's* standard.

In short, she has helped me understand that "equal treatment" is not always the same as "fair treatment".

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in seeing a feminist point of view that is NOT inherently anti-male.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic on women's identity & power, December 29, 2001

By 

Kate McMurry "Young Adult Author" (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Mismeasure of Woman (Hardcover)

Carol Tavris, Ph.D., is a social psychologist who lectures and writes on many aspects of psychology. Her brilliant book, Anger: the Misunderstood Emotion, is a classic, and this book promises to become one, too.

In Mismeasure of Woman, Dr. Tavris carefully exposes the origins and structure of the prevailing habit of virtually all societies, even our so-called "enlightened" one, of describing men--particularly socially powerful men--as the "norm" and derogatorily measuring women in comparison to them. Dr. Tavris's direct, concise, highly readable prose is filled with documented examples showing that the differences between men and women are not primarily biological. Instead, they are created by socially mandated discrepancies in power, resource allocation and life experience.

Though many feminists have written about the relegating of women to penis-envying, second-class men, I consider Dr. Tavris one of the most clear and persuasive of those speaking out against this "mismeasure of woman." In this book, I believe she does a better job of describing the extent of the problem, and is very inspiring in brainstorming possible solutions.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent look at how science studies women, October 7, 1998

By 

Ada Kerman - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mismeasure of Woman (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.