Killer Woman Blues: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Gender and Power Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

Killer Woman Blues: Why Americans Can't Think Straight about Gender and Power Book

"She's a cutthroat killer," Martha Stewart gushes about the head of an investment firm. A Cosmopolitan cover story exclaims, "Infidelity--It's Not Just for Men Anymore." "Go Ahead, Be a Bitch," counsels Woman's Own. Rick tells Oprah how his wife "liked to slap [his] face a lot." Demi Moore plays a hard-driving, ruthless executive who is also a sexual harasser. Taken individually, these homages to violent or exploitative behavior by women might not be worth getting riled about. But with the blight of images of aggressive women in every genre of entertainment (the list of films about women killers alone fills two pages), cultural critic Benjamin DeMott smells something akin to a cultural conspiracy going on, one that silences feminist calls for reimagining relations between the sexes without stereotypes (what he calls "gender flexibility") and transmogrifies feminism into a dumbed-down campaign to turn women into men ("gender shift"). DeMott sees this phenomenon everywhere, from riot grrrls to bruiser chic guy-talk, from sitcom humor in King of the Hill and The Single Guy to the writings of cultural critics such as Camille Paglia and Katie Roiphe. In each case, they reduce equal justice to "free expression of violent hatred of the other sex" and equal sexual candor to "equal right to objectify and humiliate." None of this is the stuff of true feminism, DeMott reminds readers as he turns to the works of such feminist writers as Catharine MacKinnon and Carol Gilligan. Rather, feminism is liberationist politics and the goal is humane interactions. DeMott's biggest concern is that the raiding and pillaging of gender identity is undermining women's moral authority and weakening the country's sense of social justice. Through stories about people such as Sandra Quintana, a high school gang member in New York City who was transformed with the help of concerned teachers and school programs, DeMott links the "violent woman" with the rise of the politics of pitilessness and acceptance of corporate greed. While it's easy to be skeptical of his claims on the surface, just as it is to laugh at gender shift jokes, his lengthy list of examples and critiques of contemporary writings are compelling. This is an eye-opening addition to the literature on feminism and a trenchant indictment of where the sexes have landed at the turn of the millennium. --Lesley Reed Read More

from£13.77 | RRP: £15.95
* Excludes Voucher Code Discount Also available Used from £9.63
  • Product Description

    The new "killer woman," says Benjamin DeMott in this lively and provocative book, believes that empowerment lies in tough, aggressive, "male" behavior. This gender denial, he contends, is reshaping American society and betraying the original vision of feminism, which embodied the ideal of a more compassionate and nurturing society for both women and men. Today, many women believe they must "become men" to succeed -- and men are perceived as often ruthless and brutally competitive. Differences molded by nature and history are obscured, as is the healthy flexibility that would free both sexes from rigid gender positions. The other side of this coin is an increasingly hard-nosed ethos in corporate America and in our public policy.
    We can no longer think straight about gender and power, DeMott argues, because we are inundated daily by a flood of cultural material -- popular and literary fiction, movies, sitcoms, commercials, cartoons, the whole media mix -- embodying the killer woman and her values. It leads us to believe that the sexes have nothing to teach each other except ever harsher modes of selfishness and cruelty, both at work and at home. DeMott makes his case persuasively with a wealth of fascinating and highly entertaining material. Present, among others, are Nicole Kidman, Walt Whitman, Courtney Love, Teddy Roosevelt, and Rudy Giuliani, along with The New Yorker, Salon, Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, and much more.
    Concluding with a passionate plea for a return to feminism's large-spirited vision of human variousness, KILLER WOMAN BLUES clarifies several of our nation's most troubling social problems and will surely be heatedly discussed.

  • 0395843669
  • 9780395843666
  • Benjamin DeMott
  • 1 February 2001
  • Houghton Mifflin (Trade)
  • Hardcover (Book)
  • 256
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. If you click through any of the links below and make a purchase we may earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Click here to learn more.

Would you like your name to appear with the review?

We will post your book review within a day or so as long as it meets our guidelines and terms and conditions. All reviews submitted become the licensed property of www.find-book.co.uk as written in our terms and conditions. None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.

All form fields are required.