Customer Reviews

Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

In SEDUCTRESS author Betsy Prioleau attempts to restore feminine sexual power to modern women. She examines the wiles of historical seductresses in a meticulous treatment of their histories. Intense research is a hallmark of her authoritative guide to sexual sovereignty.

Early in the book she puts down myths about the sexuality of the historical seductress with voluminous facts that substantiate her theories. She categorizes the seductresses into six prototypes. The first insidious falsehood is that seductresses must be young and beautiful, but she dispels the myth with stories of very ugly enchantresses of the past. Age is a second misnomer, with celebrated allure of "old dames." The third myth centers on the intellectuality of a real seductress, with intelligence winning out over stupidity. Inspiration and artistic endeavor allowed women to build careers, tearing away the vapid housewife myth. Real seductresses were "movers and shakers," playing heavy parts in the world of government. Lastly, she explores the seductress as wildly adventurous and rakishly professional.

Prioleau next explains the art of seduction: physical art, dress and ornamentation, hygiene and cosmetic usage, artful detail of setting, body language and music, lustful experience with sex, psychological affectation, intimacy and ego enhancement for the male, along with comedy as an aphrodisiac, festivity and dramatic impact. Seduction is now, according to Prioleau, with a look at the past. The learning curve is open to every woman. "Ladies choice," she proposes.

SEDUCTRESS sets forth an archetype for the sex goddesses in ancient history, with a chapter moving from goddess mythology, through the divinity of Inanna to the Greek love goddess Aphrodite. She is described as a "lioness on the loose in the Olympian firmament." History treats her with scorn but she survives in mysticism and fairy tales. Her decline is followed by the demonic Lillith, the two-faced vision of beauty and fiery serpentine demonism.

The author writes in the meat of SEDUCTRESS with passion about Belles Laides, her so-called homely sirens. Isabella Stewart Gardiner, known as Belle, stated, "Never ever behave with pride, self-confidence, and self-conceit." Wallis Simpson, the divorced siren who caused David Windsor to abdicate the British throne, is another less than beautiful personality described. A chapter titled "Silver Foxes" is a word picture of the elder seductress such as Diane de Poiters, George Sand of the nineteenth century, and Colette, the modern aging siren. Mae West takes a big bite of this chapter, adding the categories of money and status to adulation reserved for sexual prowess.

Siren-scholars, artists, political divas and adventurers unfold in the bulk of the book. Their lives are a checklist for the women of today, to develop a new seductress prototype in the fast-paced twenty-first century world that paints sex as an act rather than an art. Prioleau suggests that women can become happier, sexier and more vital. Generous lists of notes, suggested readings and an index substantiate the author's research on her educational and stimulating topic. Difficult to categorize as a self-help book, SEDUCTRESS offers enlightenment and entertainment in the realm of female entitlement.

--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad

Betsy Prioleau's "Seductress: Women who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love" has been described as a self-help book masquerading as a well-researched history book, but this is misleading. It's actually a feminist tract -- disguised as a history book disguised as a self-help book -- with all the attendant weaknesses and strengths.

The meat of the book is an anthology of mini-biographies of "true seductreses." You won't find Marilyn Monroe or Madonna here, but you will find Mae West and Catherine the Great, plus some names you might not know as well, such as journalist Martha Gellhorn or "homely siren" Pauline Viardot. All are women who shattered the stereotypes of desirability. Most were neither beautiful nor submissive, and Prioleau categorizes them by type: scholars, artists, adventurers, political leaders.

Many of these women are inspirations. But in her rush to prove this, Prioleau makes some missteps. She holds up as "self-actualized" women who cheated on their husbands, kept multiple lovers, and left callous trails of broken hearts. (Having your pick of men is admirable, but the most intuitive conclusion is that you might eventually actually pick one.)

In choosing this view, Prioleau slips into the trap of many modern feminists: that a woman finds liberation by behaving just as terribly as the worst male cad. Indeed, Prioleau makes some uncomfortable generalizations about men: They cheat, fear women's sexuality, and "binge out on casual infidelity, wife trade-ins, and hit-and-run sex." This hardly seems fair, and the book is best read while sharply aware of this bias.

But darn if it isn't an interesting read. The women's lives are fascinating, if not always admirable, and Prioleau's writing sparkles with unexpected word choices: She descirbes Marilyn Monroe as "eaten and colonized" and states that "compliant, eager-to-please yes girls not only give off the BO of need, they fail men at a gut level."

Taken holistically, Prioleau's message is revitalizing and deeply gratifying. Women don't have to swallow themselves to succeed at love; every unhappy woman who has let others make her feel too unattractive, too fat, too nerdy or too weird to find a man would do well to heed her advice: "Heterosexual love isn't supposed to be the stuff of confiscated egos, stunted careers, 4:00 a.m. panic attacks, tears, and ice cream binges. We're meant to prevail in sexual relations and cash in on our full gender payoff: erotic primacy and combined success in love, work, and life."

I think what many of the previous reviewers found offensive was that the author turned the sexual double standard on its head; the old "promiscuous men are studs and pimps, promiscuous women are slut and whores" axiom. In this book, promiscuous women who enjoyed sex and didn't allow men to objectify them are the real and ultimate pimps, the studs. These women took on the male role of sexual conquerer and they are seen in a positive light for it. Although I personally can't imagine this being a satisfying lifestyle, I think it's awesome that some women have really put on the boys' shoes, dodged marriage and commitment, had successful careers, pursued attractive men, and toyed with lovers.
Women's sexuality is so often used against them, so often seen as their weakness that it is disturbing to the popular mind to see women using their sexuality, which society says is their mortal Achilles heel to be exploited by men, to their advantage. The notion that women would use the very weapon that's brandished against them to conquer the world is terrifying. It's okay to see women on the front of magazines displaying themselves for men's pleasure, but it's *not* okay when they use that display for their own personal gain, their own pleasure. They become dangerous.
And this wonderful book is about dangerous women. It's delightfully readable. It shows how many very accomplished women have been mistreated by historians (Did you know Cleopatra was *also* a great ruler, besides just being the mistress of Mark Antony? Did you know she was ugly?) It also shows how many women, notorius and famous and incredibly influential on the course of history, have been deliberately and systematically ignored in the history books, their names and faces lost to time immediately after their deaths. The author resurrects these powerful forgotten figures. Also fantastic was her classifications for these women -- ugly seductresses, old seductresses, musicians, politicians, artists, ect. The point is that these women didn't just have great sex -- which is what we usually think of when we envision a seductress. No, they seduced *the minds* of the public, of powerful figures, they used charisma to get what they wanted. And it's important to note that this is *not* unlike what men do to succeed in their careers! Men too use charm, charisma, their looks and body language to overcome objection and succeed in life. When this author uses the term "seductress", she really doesn't mean a woman who can get lots of people to sleep with her; that's not much of a talent at all. To this author, seductresses inspired devotion, respect, love, lust, envy, professional admiration, and shifted the social politics of their time.
Besides that, the writer is exciting and dynamic. Her style is action oriented and packs a real punch.
I have one gripe. The goddess theme was soooooo irritating. Soooooo irritating. Every woman had to be compared to Innana or some other goddess. It's easy, though, to skip over these paragraphs because they are sort of clearly marked in the text, so you can easily hop over them and get to the good parts. Don't let it keep you from buying this very pleasurable, empowering, beautiful book.

I don't rate many books 5 stars but this book is well written, organized, and interesting. It backs up my personal theory that I have developed over my life which is that "The most important thing a woman can do is truly get to know herself and pursue her personal passions." She needs to be strong enough so that when she falls deeply in love, she doesn't loose part of herself in the process. I also have to second the author's theory in the book that a woman's looks don't really matter, she can have whoever she wants if she has a joy of living and some of the other qualities of women profiled in the book. I'm an average looking woman who is currently quite overweight but lately I've rediscovered my joy of living, my sense of humor, and the pleasure of interesting conversation... and I see men years younger than me light up in my presence and so-called-playboys (men who normally have women falling at their feet) act like little nervous boys when I'm around. However the one theory this author puts forth in the book that I really disagree with is that reproduction and sexuality should be considered as completely unlinked human needs/desires. I believe a woman can be empowered, sexy, AND be a nurturing mother! In fact I think there are many examples in her own book that contradict this prejudiced theory of hers.

It sounded great. A book that encouraged women to follow their interests rather than obsess over their looks? Sign me up! But as I read, I got discouraged and annoyed rather than pumped up.

I found Prioleau seemed to lose sight of the everyday women she was trying to inspire and instead went on and on about how wonderful and perfect her subjects were. They seemed like idealizations of people rather than actual women. I can't help thinking that their lives were selectively edited.

The writing style was very irritating. I think it was meant to sound colloquial and sassy, but it came off as patronizing.

Also, her treatment of men was weird. Men are pigs, apparently - they cheat on women whenever they have a chance, leave them stranded with children, and don't care about their pleasure in bed. Remind me why I'm supposed to want to seduce them, please. Her depiction of women (other than her seductresses, of course) as mindless sheep was similarly aggravating.

Finally, the footnote about how men get (justifiably, according to her) angry at women who can't orgasm was creepy.

I found absolutely nothing inspiring in Seductress. It's amazing how something meant to be so uplifting can fall so short of the mark.

Sexy and spectacularly written, Prioleau's book is a must-read, especially for college-age women. With engaging snippets about seductresses throughout history, she demonstrates that Barbie boobs and high cheek bones aren't the ticket to sexual success; charm, wit, and intelligence will get women a lot further. That's not to say that appearance isn't important, however. Prioleau's seductresses always looked and smelled their best, even if they didn't have the proportions of a Victoria's Secret model.

She tears down the stereotype that it's impossible to have a good career and a fulfilled love life, citing examples of seductresses over time who've had it all. Prioleau's book is a great confidence boost. Women of all shapes and sizes have the power to seduce, she claims, and whether or not they choose to use this power is up to them.

The text is engaging and witty--and nearly impossible to put down. And in a time of date-rape, easy hook-ups, and male passivity, it's particularly relevant for women on college campuses. I can't recommend it highly enough for women of my generation. Get to the bookstores before they run out!

Even though I was excited to read this book and fascinated by the subject matter, I just couldn't slog through it. Prioleau should have written either: 1) an academic study of the seductress as mythological figure and icon in history, or 2) a light, fun, flippant, sexy book for modern women about the art and history of seductresses. What she's doing instead is trying to merge the two, and it's awful. Her tone is saucy and sassy, but the sorts of comparisons she's making are more suited to an academic, professional voice. She writes as if she's trying to be the reader's bosom friend, but she can't help peppering her language with little French phrases (far, far too many little French phrases). She's not using footnotes, but she can't resist quoting from sources, so the reader has to page to the back of the book and find the reference in a list sorted by chapter and page number. I would rather have either easily-accessible footnotes, or else no quotations at all but an annotated source list for each topic at the end of the book. Overall, she comes off like an overweight, matronly, middle-aged history professor who's trying desperately to be "hip to the lingo" and the best friend of all her students when everyone would like her better if she'd just cut the cutesy act and be herself. Because of the style she's adopted, I don't have much confidence in her as a scholar, and I can't stand her as a writer.

Prioleau's writing is even more disappointing because the subject matter is really interesting! I *want* to read about seductresses. She covers famous and not-so-famous seductresses from history, women who really took the world by the balls and got what they wanted out of life, and I'm genuinely interested in reading their stories. But she insists on comparing each one to a mythological goddess, when there's no reason to do so! Each figure is fascinating in her own right, without the need to be likened to a Neolithic owl-headed goddess figurine. I agree that it's important to discuss the goddesses, that goddesses should get their own chapter, but the mythology and the primeval worship of female sexuality is done to death here. I would have much preferred to see each historical seductress appreciated for herself, for her own unique way of seducing and claiming power, than as an aspect of some ancient magical womanly life force. I understand what Prioleau is trying to do, but it's not working.

I made it halfway through the second chapter before I had to put this book down in annoyance. I would read it happily if it was an academic book or if it was fun, light nonfiction. But it's neither, and the mash-up means that I'm turning away from a topic I honestly want to read about because of the author's writing style.

I love this book and often find myself re-reading it. I feel this book should be required reading for young women. It illustrates in a fun yet powerful way the power of the feminine.

According to the books of late, it seems women have two choices - they can either be cute, empty headed, manipulating kept women or hard-hearted, man hating manipulators.

This book disagrees, I felt the author was trying to illustrate that the only way to fully function in todays world is to be fully and gloriously your true female self. All the women described in this book were undoutedly true to them themselves. Yes, some were prostitutes but, in a time when women had no rights, these women rose above the small mindedness of society and carved out a place for themselves.

The author also goes on to point out certain similiarities that all these women shared and suggests a way that modern women can incorporate these qualities into their lives. (The author does not suggest becoming prostitutes).

In conclusion, read this book. It contains a lovingly crafted look at the female of the species. It suggests self knowledge, not self modification as the ultimate achievement of women in todays society. It illustrates another much more glamourous, satisfying and female path to follow.

Seductress ~ Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love is an astonishing work with a contemporary feel. Yes, the author is opinionated but I find this lends passion to the work...an educated reader knows how to read the ideas of others without feeling offended or put upon to accept what is being said as their personal 'truth.' It is Betsy's Prioleau's (and perhaps her editors) truth...and that is fine with me. I was given this book as a gift so I wasn't looking for self-help on how to seduce someone, as it seems the book has been marketed (judging from some of the negative comments and reviews on the back of the book) erroneously. This isn't a self-help book, it is a book depicting women in history who have lived their lives to the fullest and gone against the grain of society when they had to in order to fulfill their destiny. It is about women who were outcast by the herd of other women who were unable to embrace differences in others...despite being turned out, ridiculed, and tormented by society, these women followed their own path and blazed trails. It is has been a truth throughout history (and indeed, today) that many people, particularly other women, do not like powerful women. Unfortunately, as one reviewer has noted, the majority of the population are 'sheep' and so how else was the author to depict them?? If you believe and adhere to whatever society teaches you and settle into an acceptable life, then that is your choice. Why take offense when someone points it out to you when you read a book?? In that sense, perhaps the author will awaken a few people with her work.

If you love history or have an interest in Women's Studies, have an open mind, and believe in personal empowerment, this book is for you. But don't buy it looking for straightforward advice on how to seduce a man...you may learn something through the stories of the women written about in this book, but then you'd be following someone else again, wouldn't you?

Loved this book. Have recommended it to friends, given a copy to a daughter and reread it more than once. Is seduction a game? Maybe so, but if you want to be in charge of your own life you will need to play it. That's infinitely better than being played.