Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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31 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spell-binding, as if it came from Mars., September 4, 1999
By A Customer
Amneus deftly describes in this book how thefeminist/liberal/leftist attack on the notorious and now officiallydiscredited "patriarchy" is in fact an attack on civilization itself, since the former was the prerequisite for the latter. He documents how the feminist wish for the rights of the more primitive matriarchy along with the benefits of civilization, which only patriarchy can produce and provide, is wanting to "have your cake and eat it too", of wanting to have it both ways, that the two are incompatible. That, and that the effects on men are uniformly negative, which is why men should oppose these trends. And while many claim we're still under a patriarchal system, Amneus shows that we're actually a long way towards going back to the matriarchal stone age. Not only that, but many applaud this as if it were something progressive. Even the "family values" and "compassionate conservativism" crowds don't get it. Amneus shows how deluded these folk are, pointing to the ghetto, Haiti, and the indian reservation for what actually ensues when women are in control. On the one hand, the material in this book is something we already kind of know; on the other hand, reading the book reminds one of how much we've forgotten in the last generation or two as other assumptions and beliefs have become the unexamined norm and certain ideas have become verbotten. That's what makes the book so refreshing and eye-opening, since it's definitely not a re-tread of standard 50's traditionalism. It urges men to view their work as their bodies in "Our Paychecks, Ourselves", where he implores men to refuse to pay child support for the male-only "privilege" of having their families destroyed and their children taken from them. Further radical ideas include a thorough debunking of conservative favorite George Gilder's sentimental views about the civilizing effects of women, and the reasons why single men should avoid educated, independent, "career" women like the plague. Some would no doubt consider this book to be a misogynistic diatribe, such is the strength of its point of view, except that in promoting civilization over primitivism Amneus is hoping to show how patriarchal systems benefit everyone, not just the evil, brutish, straw-men erected by feminism or the incompetent bozos of the TV sitcom (which are actually more common under matriarchy). Much of the material in the book is, in fact, taken from feminist writings, only it's turned around to show what its real implications are once men and children are included in the consideration. The book says so many things that aren't even on the radar screen of others in the murky public debate over gender roles and the relationship between the sexes, divorce and custody, the rise in adolescent gangs and crime, the "breakdown of the family", etc., that anyone reading it is certain to feel as if the author is from another planet. This is perhaps the best evidence that we're no longer living under some oppressive patriarchal conspiracy, as the common propaganda would have us believe. This all doesn't imply Amneus comes across as some wacky lunatic throwback, only that he provides a unique and clear perspective sadly lacking today anywhere on the left or right. In fact, the book is concise and well-documented scholarship, not a creation of some ranting Archie Bunker or Andrew Dice Clay. It's also available in its entirety on-line..., though after reading it you'll be sure to want to order several copies - either to give to friends or to burn, depending on your persuasion. Read this book only if you're ready to have your thinking seriously re-aligned, especially if you're a male confused by the many conflicting messages coming from the mostly female dominated debate of the last decades.
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17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Death, Taxes, and Hierarchy, November 3, 1999
By A Customer
Although hierarchy (patriarchy) advantages some and disadvantages others, everyone benefits to the point that hierarchy maintains social order. Hierarchy, like death and taxes, is a certainty where societies form. When revolutionaries (feminists, communists) say they want equality and want to eliminate hierarchy, what they REALLY want is another system of inequality where they're in charge. It may be that feminism may be a potential cause of so much social dosorder, because we've scrapped hierarchies that maintain order wholesale for the last 35 years. The "garbage generation" will have to clean up the fallout from this failed social experiment...let me put it this way, the results will make the current social, political, and economic turmoil in the former USSR look like paradise. This book is a must read for anyone who doesn't want this to happen.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Patriarchy but not hyper patriarchy, January 2, 2009
Fantastic sociological observation, relating society's functioning to the dynamic within the smallest social unit, the family. The author's observation of matriarchal societies is unique and surprisingly accurate.
The only flaw is his lack of observations concerning the 'hyper patriarchies' of the Middle East and Eastern Europe and its destructive influences. Also, clarification of Catholic patriarchies such as South America and the Philippines and their relative lack of success would be interesting.
Otherwise fantastic and original work.
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