39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-provoking, interesting reading, but shallow analysis, May 30, 2006
On the plus side, this is an eye-opening book. The human animal is by nature, I guess, a pretty envious creature -- and when overt competitiveness is frowned upon (as it is for women generally), the spirit of competition can find some ugly outlets. Much of this book is composed of quotations from the 500 interviews that Barash conducted; these mini-stories dramatize how close to the surface female envy and insecurity lie. I hadn't quite realized all of this, or perhaps I should say I hadn't wanted to know it. Once Barash lays out the evidence as to how hard we women compete and how devious we can be, well there it is!
On the other hand, the book is a bit long on story-telling and short on analysis. Especially bothersome, to me at least, is the author's failure to distinguish fully the evidence and anecdotes that she gleans from TV and the movies from her real-life interviews. Interleaved with factual material are vignettes taken from Roseanne, Sex and the City, Friends, Desperate Housewives, and so forth. For example, just after describing competitiveness between women in the medical profession (and with hardly a pause), Barash suddenly launches into a recap of an episode she saw on E.R.: "a young nurse living with a doctor feels envious of an attractive resident who develops a crush on the same man..."
Hello! Not real people! You'd think that someone who is a "professor of critical thinking..." (see book flap) might provide a little more in the way of distancing and questioning than the introductory "Although the E.R. writers try to create happy endings for women" (167). A fuller and more analytic attempt to unpack the various ways that media and fiction shape narratives about women might help to explain how we got where we are and be a better first step to understanding what we can do about it than the book's simple exhortations to be nicer and more supportive to each other.
Still and all, read with a certain skepticism, this is an interesting study -- and it is well written enough. It goes beyond discussing the problem to offering solutions, though I remain less sanguine than Barash that simply resolving to be less envious is really going to change human nature.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It tells it like it is, April 6, 2006
After encountering one of the worst situations regarding women in the workplace a few weeks ago this couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I first saw Diane Sawyer from Good Morning America talking about it and immediately went online and ordered it. I read it cover to cover however it would have been more helpful if more solutions were offered in the different situations. Even though the author covers solutions the majority of the book is focused on confirming what most of us know when it comes to jealousy, rivalry, and envy. However it doesn't hurt to see it in print - a real reality check. If all females would read this then maybe we could start correcting the problems.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's About Time, March 10, 2006
Finally a book that blows the cover on what women really do to one another and how to face the reality. Barash shows us all the ways in which women rival one another, while they pretend they're not the least bit envious or competitive. I found the book both revealing and honest--I admit I saw myself and my friends in some of her interviewee's stories. The last third of the book shows us ways to make things better and this was quite useful. A delightful read about a subject no one has touched yet.
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