Customer Reviews

The Morning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Not that anyone could call Katie Roiphe "balanced"...her debut, written while still in college, reads like a long talk with a loquatious new aquaintence at the campus coffee bar. She is not a sophisticated writer, and this book has no research to support it, really. And yes, it can be damn insensitive to people who have experienced sexual trauma.

However, it also bring up some very commonsense point which makes you wonder -- "Why has no one else thought of this?" Perhaps the key is Roiphe's writing style, which caught the attention of critics, because people have been worrying about the perpetuation of "victim mentality" with women for a while.

Roiphe explores the issues that she encountered at her insular, Ivy League college, which makes those experiences privleged ones. However, the same issues of which she speaks are prevalent at colleges around the country, an inherently privleged environment, but not unimportant to the rest of society. (Though, if there's one thing Roiphe is most guilty of, it has to be classism, which I chalk up to her age, her life experience, and her affluence. Her complete tunnel vision cripples the book significantly.)

But Roiphe gives voice to the ostracized in the mainstream feminist movement, and she articulates that alienation well. Sure, she believes that women should get equal pay for equal work, she knows about the glass ceiling, and she is aware & horrified by sex crimes. But she also feels like she can overcome those obstacles without placing herself in the role of victim of sexism. And she likes nail polish and reads fashion magazines too, probably. She wants to join the feminism club, but she feels that she can't.

She also voices the very funny politics of college sex life, where consentual sex is...well, ambiguous. (Which is, I think, one of her most interesting points, and it has spurred many a chat between my circle of friends.)

Now, I know that her stance of sexual assault is one of her most controversial, but I don;t think she is trying to play denial. She just argues for a better vocabulary of terms, and thinks that every construction worker whistling at you does not constitute harassment. And that's one of the big rifts between Roiphe and her early 90's feminist adversaries.

Like my feelings about Camille Paglia, I think Roiphe raises interesting issues, and I think she is worth reading. While her personal experiences do not enlighten the world, they are telling of what kind of experience is happening in our Ivory Towers of education. And her voice, as a dissenter, shouldn't be given automatic short shrift just for not agreeing with the Faludi party line of the era. (Although, on a side note -- Susan Faludi, what happened? Ugh, "Stiffed"? )

To be a balanced feminist on either side, peruse this short and surprisingly entertaining text. I guarantee, it will force you into some opinions, either way.

Contrary to many reviews of this book I have read, it does not pretend from the outset to be anything more than a narrative of experience and opinion. While framing certain discussions in factual analysis, for the most part Roiphe presents a personal discussion of the date rape/sexual harrassment "crisis". I suppose it behooves me to point out I'm a man and do not possess the special knowledge or training to understand the real impact of her words, but it would appear that arguments against the book are arguments against personal understanding. The irony is that Roiphe makes this specific point. Not as intellectually sound nor as scholarly as Christina Hoff Summers' books, it doesn't aspire to be. Roiphe asks questions of herself and her readers not through ideology but through experience and the idea that there is a base reality of existence. Anyone who is interested in the debate of new feminism and its impact on classic feminism should read this book. Of course, ideology may prevent some from getting past the assumption that there is power in discussion.

Even though there is no formal research behind this book, I feel that it would be worthwhile to examine Roiphe's argument more in depth. Roiphe argues that many aspects of modern feminism infantalizes women thereby stripping them of their hard-won autonomy and power. She also argues for a more pluralistic definition of feminism.
This is a very thought-provoking book, but it does have drawbacks. I believe that Roiphe wrote this when she was a young grad student; although one can argue that she writes ith an extraordinary amount of confidence, for many, her writing may seem cocky, which can irritate the readers at times, especially since she is making provocative arguments with little support. She also has a tendency to draw her arguments from literature, which may be best left in a literature critcism class. Nevertheless, I suppose we may forgive her for such weaknesses as she does admit that this is a book of her personal observations without any scientific research.
There are times when one feels that the book is complete conjecture due to the lack of academic research behind this book, but that also makes it more accessible. You will either agree with this book or view it as some young student's attempt to gain attention, but it's worth a read and deeper analysis of some of her arguments.

This book, while written by a young, sometimes cocky, graduate student, is nonetheless very interesting. It asks us to look at the culture of fear and victimization that feminism has become in recent years, compared to the ideology of freedom it once was. Comparisons are made between victorian ideology and new feminism, and readers are asked to question the idea of the voiceless woman that must always depend on the watchful eye of a higher authority to protect them.

Almost as interesting as the book however is the response to it. Her critics accuse her of being conservative while virtually everything she says has to do with personal freedom and having the right to make one's own choices. They accuse her of insensitivity to rape victims, yet she never derides rape victims, only a culture that defines "rape" as virtually any heterosexual sex, even when the women in question were willing participants. Her critics accuse her of being elitist and out of touch with society, yet clearly the problems she discusses are at the forefront of social issues throughout every level of modern culture, and the inequality and injustice in laws regarding sex/gender are common areas of criticism for both men and women. Her critics even accuse her of a lack of scientific backing when the book is stated to be only a record of her personal experiences, and despite the fact that she does give convincing, rational arguements that debunk her opponents' statistics and provides research from other sources to support her opinions.

I feel that anyone curious about the state of sexual politics, law as it relates to sex/gender, and feminism, would be well served by reading this, if only to expand their view on the issues and get a common sense, reader friendly version of issues before delving into more scientific works. If you are going into this book just to look for a fight, I urge you to actually look at the arguements presented and be objective, as there are some rather compelling issues presented.

I just finished rereading The Morning After. In it, Katie Roiphe makes no claim to having all the answers, but she notes (in a quietly expressed, earnest, rational and refreshingly non-shrill style) that the notion of "feminism" she developed as a young girl growing in her home had no resemblence to the "feminism" she encountered at college, which was obsessed with women solely as the victims of men. She points out - with good reason, judging by the venomous remarks of those who've given her bad reviews here, that it was acceptable for these feminists to stifle dissent and pass that off as an argument. It was acceptable to lie about being raped, as one female student admitted doing, until the alleged rapist, who didn't even know her, threatened legal action.
As for Roiphe's "making fun" of rape victims, that's just hooey.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and if Roiphe is correct - that the most visible feminists tolerate no straying from the party line (and Roiphe makes a damned good case for that), one has to wonder why.

In any event, wherever you stand, you should read this book. One should NEVER be afraid of reading dissenting opinions. That is one of the things college is supposed to be about.

This book is full of engaging insights, and the amount of vitriol it's inspired in it's critics is telling. Roiphie's point of sustained victim-hood is well taken, and is one of the major forces inhibiting feminism from reaching it's goals. A must read for those who want to incorporate the full spectrum of gender issues into their thinking.

Whether you agree with her arguments or not, this book is a thought provoking look at what some of the issues regarding date rape really reflect. Is it insulting to women to think that we are unable to say NO when we mean NO? Roiphe presents what I feel is a valid point - rape happens, and is horrible, and in no way should a woman be made to feel responsible for a forcible rape, but women do have a responsibility to make their wishes known clearly. As a college student, I know too many girls who've had sex even if they didn't want to because they worried about what the boy would think if they said no. Is it rape if the woman doesn't clearly state that she doesn't want to have sex? This book presents a strong argument that women are strong enough to voice their own opinions, and it is just society's implied roles that lead women to think that their voice doesn't matter.

You may not agree with Ms. Roiphe's ideas and observations, but you should find the clear writing style and accessible arguments refreshing when compared to the writings of others of late, whether you consider them to be feminist or not.

One of my greatest sources of frustation in academic feminist literature is the appropriation of horrifically impenetrable jargon culled from French literary theory. I suspect more people don't rebel against this style and rhetoric firstly, because they want to include themselves among the fashionable and politically powerful (and to criticize these theorists is suicide), and secondly, they cannot argue against something that is so vague and rarified in its specialist vocabulary, filled with tautology and a sense of its own unique insights.

Katie Roiphe sees through the mess and mire and writes clearly, passionately and resolutely in her analysis of the fashionable victim-based feminism (also called gender feminism or establishment feminism) that has taken root in the Ivy League, not to mention elsewhere in academe. I think those most opposed to her ideas of personal responsibility in the academic, emotional and sexual realms willfully cling to immature phases in their own development. Perpetual victimhood, to sum up Roiphe, is a dead end.

I think some of the resistance to this book arises from Roiphe's own poise, not to mention her own loveliness, to judge by her photograph: resentment-based feminism is deaf to common-sense, it seems. Also, that Roiphe wrote the book while still a student must account for another great surge of resentment from many quarters.

I recommend this book as palliative and antidote to anyone whose mind has been stifled by trendy gender feminists who hide their intellectual bankruptcy within the thickets and labyrithine tangles of post-structuralist theory.

I bought the hardbound release way back in prehistoric 1993.My female friend has yet to return it to me, so I assume she likes itenough to keep it. Author addressed honest perspectives that can make a feminist quasi-community blink in denial instead of putting her analyses on the discussion table-- not bad for a recent college grad (at that time). Katie's occasional fluff wedged between her thoughtful insights are easy to make fun of, though! But some fluff is always good or else it becomes textbook reading.

I greatly enjoyed Roiphe's writing style, which I believe made for easy, enjoyable reading. The book was interesting, but not without it's internal conflicts.

RAPE -- define it. Roiphe does a great job of it, so she believes. I don't believe in blaming the victim, but I can agree with her idea of lying around in the mire (of victimization) year after year, simply to get attention.

Rape becomes for many, a way to feel privileged, a way to demand attention, a way to... ensure sympathy. She draws much of her conclusions from her evaluations of "Take Back the Night['s]", held year after year at Harvard and other universities.

I liked this new idea of America's view of over-victimization; where, women seek NOT to go on with their lives merrily, but to view and seize every occasion to be not a victim, but THE Victim. This she covers in detail in her section on Sexual Harassment, where she goes on to say that the idea of being a victim has sunk so low, that some women choose to include a man whistling at them in the street as a possible threat to their integrity. Depending on their own personal definition, some women may consider the whistle as Sexual Harassment, maybe even rape!

One thing that bothered me is that, as much as she disagrees and even despises many prominent feminists that she lists in her book, she always seems to be at their seminars, or keeping up closely on their latest dogma-- Confusing.

The book ended with much ambiguity, and I was left feeling... confused, empty. What she plans on doing with the rest of her life, as far as marriage with a man? I think she was hinting toward a more puritanical future, ... if that's the word.