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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Does anyone remember?, August 2, 2006
This review is from: Real Men Don't Eat Quiche (Paperback)
I don't know if anyone remembers this book, which burst upon the scene in 1982 and instantly made its authors the current talk of the airwaves. It became a many-week bestseller, and one of them (I'm not sure which), proceeded to make the rounds of the talk shows, where he came off as intelligent, articulate, and funny, poked fun at his own book, and showed that the book really wasn't meant to be taken seriously in the first place. The scathing and well-written review by my fellow Top 50 reviewer E.A. Solinas notwithstanding, this shows they completely missed the point of the whole book. The book is a total satire, and pokes fun at the then raging battle between the sexes back in the 70s and 80s, when the traditional male role was under constant attack by feminists individually and the media collectively, and formerly secure, macho men who had never questioned their roles or behavior before were coping with a newly found insecurity and looking for a new definition of homegrown, American beefcake and maleness. That quest continues today in more subdued form (and with less existential angst), but whatever the ultimate fate of feminism, there's no doubt that it had a telling effect on many American men who examined their traditional roles for the first time. (Perhaps it could be said they finally realized they had delusions of gender). :-) This little book now stands as one of the funnier outposts along the ages old warpath in the battle between the sexes, especially in how that debate took shape and was framed in the U.S. during its earlier years.
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Real men don't worry about it., March 5, 2008
This review is from: Real Men Don't Eat Quiche (Paperback)
I first read this in 82 and used it as a teaching tool for young Marines. The point of the book is real men don't change their thoughts, opinions or behavior based on those of others. A Marine Gunnery Sergeant at the time, it made perfect sense though I didn't need this book to know that. I recently bought it again as a sort of teaching tool for my youngest son and oldest grandson with the following instructions: Read it, tell me what you think it means. Their answer: Always try to do the right thing and don't worry about what others think. Grade? 100%
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9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's supposed to be humor, folks, September 1, 2006
This review is from: Real Men Don't Eat Quiche (Paperback)
I read this back in 1982 and considered it harmless satire on macho masculinity. Sure, there are a lot of knuckle draggers who really believe this stuff, but everyone is entitled to their own idiotic opinions. You're certainly not going to change anyone's attitude by telling them they're morons. Honestly, folks who take this seriously ought to remember that "real men" are too self-assured to care about other people's benighted definition of "real men". Bruce Feirstein had his moment in the sun, and now he's a footnote in feminist backlash. It doesn't matter whether he actually believed this stuff. I would guess he probably wrote the book just to get people riled up. Seems to have worked, too.
Overall the book is funny and a good read. Just don't read too much into it.
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