Customer Reviews

Setting Them Straight: You CAN Do Something About Bigotry and Homophobia in Your Life

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While I was in the USA 2 years ago I purchased this book and found it to be really good. Dr. Berzon gives some good tips on how to deal with the different people one is likely to come up against regarding homosexuality. Of course not every situation will be like those described, nevertheless its suggestions can help you to formulate your own responses. I would have preferred to see a few more methods in dealing with religious fanatics since we have plenty of zealots here in this country too. There was one section in dealing with a homophobic co-worker which was quite good but yet not everyone has a boss that looks the other way. What can one do if both your co-workers and boss are bigots? This is difficult indeed. Fortunately Israel is somewhat more liberal than the US in that we have laws which protect one's rights in the workplace, as well as the home and during compulsory military service. Sadly not eveywhere in the world are gays protected by law. There is no question that I would recommend this book to anyone who has to come up against bigotry against Gays and Lesbians. I also recommend the Eric Marcus book, "Is It a Choice". Both are well worth the purchase price.

I just finished reading this wonderful book by Dr. Berzon and I must say that it's gay empowerment at its finest! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is gay or knows someone who is gay but I recommend it even more to those who are unfamiliar with who and what gay really is. I'm now ordering a copy to be sent to my Christian mother. I wished all of our lawmakers would read this enlightend masterpiece!

I agree with all the comments (good and bad) that one reader made under the Amazon review heading "Usually helpful, but sometimes too brusque. March 11, 1999." However, I want to add that I love the way Berzon helps turn arguments around, forcing the attacker to not only examine his/her own words, but also why s/he would say them. Berzon uses her background in psychotherapy to help people search for the roots of bigotry. All gays and lesbians should read this book; their supporters should as well. Berzon offers knowledge, inspiration, and empowerment.

Great book for people struggling with being gay and that have to deal with bigots.The book teaches you why people hate, anger management,true morality vs. christian morality,different ways to respond to anti-gay comments, points to bring up when you're dealing with homophobic family,friends, co-workers and strangers,dispelling gay myths and more. Excellent book.

This is a relatively useful book in the battle to correct stereotypes and hetero-sexist thinking that exist today. However, many of the responses that Berzon suggests for such situations are rather confrontational, and will likely anger and embarass the offender rather than educate and enlighten him or her. Also, Berzon has certain political ideas which are completely legitimate for her to hold, but do not necessarily apply to everyone's experience as a lesbian or gay man. Some of these ideas are not directly related to gay/lesbian politics, but have become associated casually, and now seem to be accepted by Berzon as part of the entire gay/lesbian political agenda. (The most obvious one of these is abortion). However, overall the book does well in showing what kinds of situations can be rectified by speaking up, and how the encounter might proceed. Good for the discerning mind, but not quite as good for someone whose politics are shaped by what other gay and lesbian people tell them they SHOULD think.

Although some readers seem to have gotten a great benefit from Ms. Berzon's book, sometimes complicated questions deserve more complicated answers. At one point, she argues that a person very likely is born homosexual. And yet, at another, in disputing the use of the Bible to justify bigotry argues that the Bible never discusses sexual orientation. As she says, nothing was known of such things in the ancient world (apparently despite people having in-bred same-sex attractions). Missing is the extensive scholarship revealing how intimately homophobia relates to the development of modern capitalism.