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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eminently sensible, worth four and a half stars, April 28, 2002
Reading this sensible and intelligent book, and remembering how much I enjoyed Rhode's later book on the reform of the legal profession, I wondered why it is that such an eminently reasonable and articulate woman, who has provided such a thorough and well documented defense of feminism, should be so obscure in the world of public intellectuals. Rhode teaches at Stanford Law School, this book is published by Harvard University Press, and she does not write in a the complex academic jargon that all good journalists are trained to hate. Yet she is never called upon when journals like The New Republic or the New York Review of Books thinks it should have a female contributor. Pity, because this is a good book. Let's start off with "Ideology and Biology." Rhode points out the flaws in biological explanations in sex differences. There are species of primates where the men tend the infants and the women forage for food. Media trumpet studies that point out gender differences, and ignore the many studies that find no difference or are ambiguous (especially on PMS). Over the last thirty years the differences in math scores between boys and girls has dropped dramatically. Those differences that do remain "have not taken account of even obvious influences such as the number of courses taken." "Many studies find no correlation between levels of testosterone and violence, hostility, or aggression." Much of the gender gap on physical strength is clearly related to our aesthetic desire for unhealthily thin women and our desire to encourage boys sports. "Men may be more likely to use speech patterns to establish control because they are more likely to occupy positions where they are IN control." "Beginning at Birth" starts off with how in 1918 one journal stated that boys should be clothed in pink and girls in blue, since it was obvious that pink was the more masculine colour. And we're off to how toys rigidly reinforce gender rules and unreasonable body ideals. If you think that it may simply be PC to worry that Barbie Dolls are unrealistic, consider the survey of 33,000 females. Three-quarters considered themselves too fat, though only a quarter were overweight and a third were underweight. "In recent surveys [of children's books], male characters come up with solutions five to eight times as often as females, and females care for children eight times as often as males." Then it's on to Media Images, about how the media euphemize rape and how incredibly snotty TIME magazine was towards feminism during the 1970s. One cannot go into full detail about the next chapters, which look at sex and violence, about the problems of women's work, about family values (and in particular, welfare, child custody and teenage pregnancy). What one should point out is how well documented this book is, with 79 pages of notes to 250 pages of text. Moreover consider the depth of the sources. Rhode quotes anti-feminists in considerable detail. She has read very widely not only in her own chosen field of law, but also in science, education, media criticism, sociology and economics. The scholarship quoted in widespread and representative. She demonstrates in considerable detail that in rape, domestic violence, employment discrimination and sexual harrassment cases the presumption of innocence is definetely alive and well. One is struck at how difficult it is to prove these cases. Rhode quotes cases about how a woman who was maced, taunted and handcuffed to a toilet did not prove sexual harrassment. There is the (admittedly exceptional case) about the convicted murderer who got custody of his child over the lesbian mother. Or consider the open and shut case of discrimination at Price Waterhouse. Though ultimately successful it took seven years for Ann Hopkins to claim partnership at a firm where 98.9% of the partners were men, where she had billed more hours and brought more business than any other nominee that year, had gotten high ratings from her clients, and who was unfairly criticized as lacking in "charm," while similarly "abrasive" men had no problems getting promotions. We get a useful introduction to pay equity, where otherwise nurses would earn less than tree trimmers, schoolteachers earn less than state liquor store clerks and librarians earn less than street crossing guards. The book is not perfect. Katha Pollitt pointed out that the book is rather weak in providing political strategies, though if it were easy to think up it would already have happened. And comic books have provided more female heroes in recent years. But it is a book that everyone should read, and by a woman who should be a leading public intellectual if male centrists had the courage to listen to what she had to say.
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4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Informative, yet still lacking., March 6, 2004
"Rhode breaks little new ground," wrote one critic (Katha Pollitt, for the Atlantic Monthly) about Deborah L. Rhode's 1997 book Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality. While she has admirable intentions, her writing has several shortcomings which destroy the effectiveness of her book, even for some of those who may agree with her. Rhode received her B.A. in 1974 and her J.D. in 1977, both from Yale. She has an extensive list of legal and political honors and positions. Currently, Rhode is on the faculty at Stanford University. Several of her books have met with moderate success. Given Rhode's qualifications, it is disappointing that the thesis of Speaking of Sex is weak, making for a poor read. Throughout the book, Rhode's arguments are riddled with contradiction. Possibly the most prominent weakness of this book is that it fails to call the reader to action. While the book has some merits, such as its basic intents and its informative value, it falls short of making the world a better place for women. One of the most obvious downfalls of Speaking of Sex is its frequent self-contradiction. At times, Rhode seems to call for complete equality between the sexes, essentially producing a unisex society. At other times, she argues that female qualities should be celebrated in an effort to raise the status of her sex. In other examples, Rhode contradicts herself about the political aims of current feminism. "A way we avoid confronting gender inequality . . . is to individualize the issues," she explains. Only a few pages later, she complains, "We settle for equality in form rather than equality in fact." These clashing aims illustrate the contradictions, or perhaps conflicts, within the feminist movements of the past couple decades. Laws and some policies are changing and have been changed in favor of gender equality. Feminists haven't reached their ideal level of equality, but the social momentum is certainly moving in their favor. Rhode's thesis in Speaking of Sex seems only to be "Gender-based discrimination exists." While knowledge of this fact may be important, it alone will not provide any solution. Awareness of gender inequality may not be widespread among the general population. However, the audience of this book will likely be predominantly feminist and progressive, leaving only the result of "preaching to the choir." This could very well result in a more passionate feminist movement, but with little action. If Rhodes would add direction to her discourse, it would carry much more potency, resulting in real improvement in gender equality. However, she rarely proposes solutions, leaving the reader unsure of how to handle the problem at hand. In all fairness, Speaking of Sex has the potential to be valuable to certain audiences. Rhode covers a variety of women's issues ranging from domestic abuse to fairness in the workplace to abortion. Where she lacks in suggesting a course of action, she succeeds in providing an informative, comprehensive book on gender issues. To an uninformed reader, Speaking of Sex gives plenty of evidence that women do not have the same opportunities and status that men may enjoy. Even an informed audience may glean fodder for debate from the book. Though Deborah L. Rhode's Speaking of Sex may inform some readers about the problems facing women in society today, it fails to provide a solid foundation for solving these problems. There may exist other books which are equally as informative that also propose solutions and lack contradictions. Such books would be an improvement upon Speaking of Sex for educated readers.
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