American Men & Women of Science ( 8 Volume Set )

Book Description

When former heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries came out of retirement on the fourth of July, 1910 to fight current black heavywight champion Jack Johnson in Reno, Nevada, he boasted that he was doing it "for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a negro." Jeffries, though, was trounced. Whites everywhere rioted. The furor, Gail Bederman demonstrates, was part of two fundamental and volatile national obsessions: manhood and racial dominance.

In turn-of-the-century America, cultural ideals of manhood changed profoundly, as Victorian notions of self-restrained, moral manliness were challenged by ideals of an aggressive, overtly sexualized masculinity. Bederman traces this shift in values and shows how it brought together two seemingly contradictory ideals: the unfettered virility of racially "primitive" men and the refined superiority of "civilized" white men. Focusing on the lives and works of four very different Americans—Theodore Roosevelt, educator G. Stanley Hall, Ida B. Wells, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman—she illuminates the ideological, cultural, and social interests these ideals came to serve.

Customer Reviews:

On Theory and History.......2006-03-24

Of course Bederman is "biased," she is a human being trying to understand something with the mental tools she has available to her. So is everyone else. Bederman is called biased because the tools that she chooses to apply are different from those some readers are used to or like. Bederman very is very clear that her book is about applying particular theories and examining particular threads in history in order to make certain aspects of that history visible which are not visible under other frameworks. Bederman's history will not explain everything that happened between 1880 and 1917, even everything that happened to or was done by the figures she chooses to highlight. It would be a mistake to wander around for all of one's life trying to make everything one encounters fit within Bederman's historically specific argument, but by carefully examining the evidence available to her she does succeed in making what was merely assumed or unseen visible to modern readers.

The figures she presents seem to doing something very similar to Bederman herself: using the ideas and ways of thinking available to them for their own ends and changing them in response to what they saw in their environment. In reading the introduction and the early parts of each chapter I expected to be frustrated, even angry with many of the characters for their racism, sexism, arrogance, etc. But I wasn't. As Bederman explained the mental tools they were using their actions and writings made sense to me and I could see the ways in which they improved upon those tools, even if the results still seem unacceptable to me. Of course I am still aware that some of them caused harm and that, given the chance, I would have a lot to argue with them about and try to convince them of, but they made human sense and I would have a much better idea how to do that arguing.

It is not a flawless work by any means. Sometimes Bederman may, for the sake of argument, treat some of her figures as if they were thinking about the discourses they were drawing on a little more consciously and explicitly than is necessary or provable. While she chooses wonderful quotes to illustrate her arguments she is too inclined to "analyze" quotes by repeating what they said in slightly different words. This, among other things, gives the book a very repetitive feel and one has the sense that, if she were a little more confident in her reader's ability and willingness to understand her points the first time round, the book might be considerably shortened. That would be a welcome change for although reading a chapter or two of the book is enjoyable as well as interesting it soon becomes frustrating. Perhaps it would be best to put the book aside for awhile between chapters so as not to let the frustration build up.

A Challenging, Subtle book.......2004-09-06

This book is a shining example of how to apply literary theory (ideas such as "discourse") to historical study. Even those who might disagree with Professor Bederman's methodology will benefit from her lucid theoretical explanation in the introduction. In short, the book makes a strong, convincing historical case for the importance of gender in understanding how the concept of civilization was used during the Gilded Age and Progressive Era.

As one who has had some interaction with the author and knowing many others who have worked with her, I cannot resist adding that Professor Bederman has garnered immense respect from those who know her best (including many conservative Catholics and evangelical Protestants who may vehemently disagree with her on certain points). That her work comes from a specific point of view is undeniable, but to equate it with bias is both unfair and over-simplistic.

But don't take my word for it...read this book for yourself and decide.

Gender as a historical construction and analytical tool.......2004-04-20

After reading the reviews of this book I feel obligated to issue a contrasting view that many of the reviewers, oblivious to the gender system that invisibly yet inextricably contours their own behavior and sense of self, have missed; incidently, their reviews provide interesting insights not in any regards to the book as they utterly misinterpret the text, but rather themselves and the political texture of contemporary society.
Bederman illustrates how fin de seicle white men marshalled tropes of masculinity - their conceptions of manhood - to question African-American manhood. The narration of Ida B. Wells simply illustrates how she and other reformers inverted the gender discourse against the predominant, middle-class Anglo conception of manhood to crystallize their hypocrisy. Moreover, in no way does her feminism subvert or in some other way negate the value of this book, as it was, and remains a most valuable contribution for gender studies simply because the book shows how gender, and yes, men are gendered, is socially constructed.

Subdued Bias.......2004-02-15

Bederman chronicles the lives and movements of four prominent figures in the 1880-1917 period: Theodore Roosevelt, G. Stanley Hall, Ida B. Wells, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. However this work seems more of a history of feminism than a cultural history as Bederman focuses mainly on the achievements of women, the attempts women made for suffrage and better working conditions, all the while trying to explain away the positions of the male counterparts as lacking, unfairly oppressive, or some other pejorative term. Bederman's portrayals are quite thorough and academic yet they are not without bias, even though the bias may be subdued in some places.

Manhood is womanly.......2003-10-26

Like many others, I had to read this book, for college. Before telling us who the author was, we had to read the first two chapters. It was more than easy to tell that it was a woman. After all, she spends more time male bashing than discussing the issues critical to the text. Her development on HOW manhood is a social creation could use some help. How she develops it as it changes though time is interesting, but to bland. Some of her argument is based on stereotypes instead of facts. She may be a proffesor, but not everything she says is truth. Nevertheless, she does an exellent job adding storylines into her text to keep it interesting. I gave it 2 starz b/c the author writes well, but I would not recommend it to anyone unless the title was renamed Womanhood & other male bashing tales.

Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism

Average customer rating:

OMG i love this book! She has hit the pinhead with a jackhammer
Another Brilliant Book by Patricia Hill Collins
There's A LOT More To Say
Yes, people, we still have racial/gender stereotypes
Black Folk, Gender Matters!

Black Sexual Politics: African Americans, Gender, and the New Racism
Patricia Hill Collins
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 041595150X

Book Description

Caricatures of Black sexuality saturate American popular culture in bootylicious rap videos and paternity tests on the Jerry Springer show. Blacks have been cast as hypersexual animals in Western culture since a scantily clad "Hottentot Venus" was displayed in a cage in Paris in the 1800s.

In Black Sexual Politics, one of America's most influential writers on race and gender explores how images of Black sexuality have been used to maintain the color line and how they threaten to spread a new brand of racism around the world today.

The ideal of pure white womanhood, Collins argues, required the invention of hot-blooded Latinas, exotic Suzy Wongs, and wanton jezebels--images that persist in the media today in everything from animal-skin bikinis to the creation of the "welfare mom." Men confront a similar bias in a society that defines African American males as drug dealers, brutish athletes, irresponsible fathers, and rapists. Collins dissects the widespread impact of these distorted messages as she explores African American love relationships, sex in youth culture, interracial romance, sexual violence, and HIV/AIDS.

A revolutionary work that touches the intimate and public lives of all African Americans, Black Sexual Politics brilliantly illuminates the subtle interplay of race, sex, and politics in American culture today.

Customer Reviews:

OMG i love this book! She has hit the pinhead with a jackhammer.......2007-08-10

I am so confounded by the author and her views and studies. It is simply the greatest, I repeat greatest book on the Black American psyche. Although a little tough to digest and understand at times, she will re-emphasize her point so that we the reader don't miss out on the facts. I understand our workings more and how I view sexuality and other races. GET THIS BOOK since you are reading this review and you know this is the type of topics that interest you!

Another Brilliant Book by Patricia Hill Collins.......2005-10-26

This is another breakout of brilliance from Patricia Hill Collins. Collins has broken to a new level of analysis of the intersections of race, class, sexuality and gender, and offers transformative interpretations of black popular culture. BRAVO, Ms. Collins! This book is a must-read for any black individual that cares about the lives of the black diaspora, especially in the new millenium.

There's A LOT More To Say.......2005-05-26

I am not afraid to look the reality of colorism in the eye and acknowledge that it does exist within the black community. It is my greatest hope and dream that someday the dark skinned black and the light skinned black will be seen as the one family in the future. I want so much to love the lightskinned sister and brother as my own reflection and not be divided from them or made to feel that one is treated better than the other, but sadly, that day is not here and this book bravely and powerfully illustrates that point to the fullest.

I am a medium brown colored woman, my mother was very dark skinned and I have witnessed the evils of skin color prejudice all my life. In most situations, it was Black Men who were prejudiced against myself and the women around me beccause of our coloring. These men felt no shame or limit in their racist intra-family prejudice and measured their entire lives by how many light skinned or white women they could attain and how light brite their children could come out. It's everywhere and anyone who denies it is both a fool and a liar.

That is why I highly recommend THE BLACKER THE BERRY by Wallace Thurman. There is no truer portrait of the self-hatred among our people than the one extolled in this book, and what makes it even sadder is that this book was written in the 1920's. So that only shows how deep this kind of evil runs.

Lately, I have become very interested in this subject and I have searched for other books that explore this subject with intelligence, honest, beauty and wisdom and I have found several that I consider to be classics on the subject of Colorism.

(1) MARITA GOLDEN'S book "Don't Play In the Sun" is definitely the most modern up to date book of the bunch. It expertly weaves the story of her life experiences in the 1960's Black Power movement with the current struggles of women like Serena Williams and India Arie to find their way in the world, even in the midst of being shunned and ignored by the black community itself. The book's analysis of the Hollywood casting system and the "Mulatto Follies" of BET and MTV is priceless.

(2) "The Bluest Eye" by TONI MORRISON is by far the most riveting and painful book that I have read on this subject of colorism. I believe that her book, more than any mother, gets to the psychological and historical root cause of the problem and exposes the mode in which we pass the problem on generation to generation. The destruction of an innocent black girl named Pecola Breedlove will leave you heartbroken and shocked as you see the bold naked truth unfold right before your eyes. You can't ignore this book, because the story being told is the one that you are all too familiar with no matter what color you are.

(3) "Flesh and the Devil" by African novelist KOLA BOOF is another deeply powerful book that examines colorism, but not out in the open. This book is unique in that it focuses on a very enchanting love story between a Black Prince and Princess and follows their reincarnations through history as they struggle to find their way back to each other. Through detailed moments in black history, both in Africa and the United States, the provocative author highlights the way that black people originally viewed their beauty and humanity and then juxtuposes it against the way they see themselves now in the modern world. The result is nothing less than devastating. I love this book so much, because the storytelling is so rich and the depth is so sweeping and grand. Anyone who loves good writing and is proud to be descended from the Black race will find themselves literally changed forever by the powerful images depicted in this very poetically moving story.

(4) "The Color Complex"--VARIOUS AUTHORS, is a very simple, straight forward analysis from a sociological point of view. Much research and statistical facts are used to illustrate that our communities are infested with these issues.

(5) "The Darkest Child" by Dolores Philips is another great novel that shows us the poor blacks who live under the poverty line ingesting these complex social hierarchies based on color and how they not only expose their children to them, but force the entire community to live by the "color code". Everybody is used to it from slavery and the system goes on and on unchallenged. In this book, Tangy Mae, the darkest of 10 children by the white-looking mother Rozelle, struggles to find her dignity and confidence in the midst of her evil light skinned mother inflicting one horrid abuse on top of the other. One thing I will say for the evil white-looking mother, Rozelle, is that she treated all of her children hiddeously and with contempt, from the whitest to the blackest. But she killed the child who was born looking like Tangy Mae and that spoke volumnes. This book is a very real metaphor for what goes on. Very real.

Yes, people, we still have racial/gender stereotypes.......2004-08-25

with regard to sexuality and its relation to society today. From the fake, hypocritical outrage by Americans at the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake incident at the 2004 Superbowl that led to wasteful congressional investigation to the ongoing probe of R. Kelly's involvement with underage women that were taped at various times and places in the late nineties that were surfaced on the video shelves aroung the nation back in 2002 The saga and the media hype involved in the 2003-04 Kobe Bryant's rape case, the incessant media attention at Michael Jackson's child molestation case, another hypocrical outrage by media pundits over Serena Williams catsuit that showcase her behind at one of her tennis matches in October of 2002.

The ever growing love triangle/babymama drama of Britney Spears, Shar Jackson, and Kevin Federline and their kids by tabloid media. The ubiquituous, scantlily clad "video dancers" on MTV, BET, and VH1.

Bill O'Reilly's sanctimonius commentary on out of wedlock births by Blacks while ignoring the problem in other ethnicities on his nightly TV show. He continues to denounce hip hop as the source of all pathology in America and often urge his viewers to boycott Snoop Dogg, Eminem, and Ludicris in his many crusades against the corruption of "mainstream youth."

In December 2003, Essie Mae Washington-Williams revealed to the nation that she is the late U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond's daughter. Less than two years later, she released her autobiography of her life. The 2004 MNF skit which involves the basketball star and the lady from a popular Sunday night show. Also, sexually suggestive movies and videos from Nelly, 50 Cent, Snoop,etc., the revelation of Prince Albert that he had fathered a son by a black flight attendant as well as the lack of coverage regarding missing black women such as Latoyia Figueroa in recent months. Also, not to mention Fantasia Barrino's revelation of rape, illiteracy, and having a kid out of wedlock by a man who battered her prior to her break on Amer. Idol. And more recently, P. Diddy's perfume ad campaign raised a lot of stink in the heartland and the Bible Belt because of its sensual suggestedness. More recently, the Duke University rape crime involving a struggling black college student and white members of the lacrosse team at what it supposed to be a bachelor party in March 2006.

This book trace the origins of racial/sexual stereotypes from slavery onward and how they are affecting society today as well as black and interracial relationships. It also talks about homophobia and the ongoing hostility toward interracial relationships as well as the strained relationships between black men and women due to racism, classism, heterosexism, and the stereotypes perpetuated by the mainstream media today.

I thank Ms. Collins for having the guts to say about the current state of affairs with regards to black sexual politics and its implications in American society.

Black Folk, Gender Matters!.......2004-07-15

Professor Hill Collins asserts that Black Americans will not be able to advance at the rate they could unless they develop a progressive gender politics. Many activist black women have critiqued the overall community for not taking gender issues seriously. Still, this book gives it a fresh perspective that takes multiple identities into account, especiall in the post-civil rights era.

Hill Collins does a fantastic job in stressing that Black Americans are not a monolithic group. In her discussion about the media, she looks at black portrayals dividing depictions by gender and class-based groups. In discussing marriage, she analyzes "same race, opposite gender" mandates as they affect straight sistas, straight brothas, and Black gay men and lesbians separately. She understands that identities do not work in isolation by sit side by side continually interacting with each other.

Hill Collins does an excellent job in showing how all Black people are affected by any oppression. She shows that straight Blacks are harmed by heterosexism too since that same system that deems gays deviants deem Blacks globally as hypersexual. In a chapter on gender violence, she claims that Black men who dismiss the rape of Black women may feel differently given that so many Black men are being raped in jails.

Many talking heads say that older Americans are not as eager to employ new technologies. However, Hill Collins, a graying woman, does well in mentioning how the internet and other new technologies are affecting Black folk. Her analysis of J.Lo, the film "Booty Call", and the rap "Get Yo' Freak On" shows that she is very knowledgeable about youth culture.

I was disappointed how little sexual orientation matters got brought up in her "Fighting Words." However, in this book, she demonstrates thoroughly that she stands against homophobia. Not only is there a whole chapter dedicated to condemning heterosexism, gay issues are laced into every chapter. Like Guy-Sheftall's recent work, she is really trying to push Black thinkers that only want to talk about race, class, and gender (purposely in that order) to the exclusion of sexual orientation. She even praises media depictions of Black lesbian and gay characters.

It's funny that bell hooks is the most famous Black feminist when Hill Collins outshines her here by leaps and bounds. Hill Collins isn't as repetitive and demeaning. Her work isn't dependent upon personal anecdotes. She takes sexual orientation seriously and not just as a side issue. She dedicated to helping Black gays and lesbians and not just yelling that straight Blacks aren't homophobic. I can't wait for the day when Hill Collins gets all the credit she deserves.

Many might not like this book. She offers many critiques and close to no concrete solutions. The introductory chapter is full of caveats and can be easily skipped. Hill Collins cites Cathy Cohen, Dorothy Roberts, Professor Guy-Sheftall, and other progressive womanists so frequently, one may wonder what original ideas she is even proposing. Her discussion of blacks in the media is overly pessimistic.

Book Description

The final piece has been found.In a tiny cave in Central Africa, paleoanthropologist Samantha Colby has discovered the skeleton of what might be the long-sought missing link between ape and man.But the ancient bones raise more questions then they answer-and they suggest that human ancestry can be traced to something previously unimaginable. ..The most important discovery in civilization's history could mean death for Colby and renegade scientist Jack Austin.For it will lead them to even greater revelations that could rock the world-and to secrets no human should know.The final piece has been found.In a tiny cave in Central Africa, paleoanthropologist Samantha Colby has discovered the skeleton of what might be the long-sought missing link between ape and man.But the ancient bones raise more questions then they answer-and they suggest that human ancestry can be traced to something previously unimaginable. ..The most important discovery in civilization's history could mean death for Colby and renegade scientist Jack Austin.For it will lead them to even greater revelations that could rock the world-and to secrets no human should know.

Customer Reviews:

The most awful adventure novel I have ever had the misfortune to buy.......2007-07-22

When I picked up the book and saw that the action took place in Mali and dealt with paleoanthropology, I just had to have it. To my disappointment, the chapters about Mali are so frought with mistakes(e. g. the Dogon are not a warrior society but peaceful farmers. They don't hop up and down like Massai. The Songhai don't live close to the Dogon but in the North of Mali. Mali is not in Central but in West Africa. Etc. etc.) Add to that the gratuitous violence and hairbrained action about the anthropologists being armed with machine guns and having South African guards. I spent four years in Mali as a Peace Corps volunteer and can guarantee that the author never set foot there or even did careful research. An awful book I don't recommend to anyone.

A Helping Hand.......2006-10-23

Mr. Becker does a fantastic job with "Link". The story weaves in and out, telling a great story that envelopes the reader. Fast paced, action packed, with a little love story that even guys could like. Tracing scientific anomolies to logical conclusions, one gets a sense of the possibilities that Becker conveys. While somewhat simplistic at times, the simplicity does not detract from the book; but rather it speeds the read along to conclusion. In the interweaving vein of theories like "Da Vinci Code", "Link" ties together interesting aspects of buried science to spin a tale of fun and thrills that's hard to put down.

Excellent adventure novel.......2005-03-17

A paleoanthropologist, Samantha Colby, discovers a skeleton of a humanoid but not of human origin on a dig in West Africa. Along with this, her team finds a mysterious artifact made-up of a metal not found anywhere on Earth. She brings in Jack Austin into the picture and together they go around the world, trying to find the truth behind the find. They find the answer in the Andes - something not of this world which is the greatest discovery of our ancestors. Full of action, history, thrills and fun. An excellent adventure novel.

Good story. Bad science.......2004-06-05

I enjoyed the story, but the author's insistence on pushing a Creationist agenda greatly detracted from it.

The main character is supposedly questioning established scientific theories, yet he not only misrepresents them, he shows a complete lack of understanding.

Bad physics. Misrepresents abiogenesis. Misrepresents evolution. Shows a complete lack of understanding of the Big Bang theory. Shows a complete lack of understanding of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

For an ignorant Fundie, this would be a great book. For everyone else, if you can stomach the pseudo-science, the story's not too bad.

A Thumbs Up for Link.......2004-04-13

If a great book contains heart-beating action, violence, love, interesting characters and a bit of the unknown then "Link" by Walt Becker is a great book. Link is one of the best books I have read in awhile. This book makes you start thinking and the action never stops. There are several climaxes that lead up to a final climax and the end only leaves you wanting to read it over again.

The whole point of this book is to answer the question: where did we come from if there has been no clear evolutionary link between Homo erectus and Homo sapiens? This is a question that the author Walt Becker seems to have been asking for awhile. But he has come up with a theory that we, modern humans, come from extraterrestrials as well as Homo erectus. Although this theory may seem far-fetched he weaves it into a story with facts from existing old documents and myths that by the end you are sure that it is true.

The main characters he weaves this theory into is Samantha Colby who is a paleoanthropologist- the study of and search for the keys to human history. And Jack Austin who was Samantha's ex-boyfriend/fiancé who has out of the world theories that had caused him to fall towards the bottom of the scientific food chain. But Jack's theory about "the source" of where modern humans came from are soon going to come true when Samantha finds a fossilized skeleton of something she had never seen before- an extraterrestrial and a mysterious isosceles triangular object that has Egyptian like hieroglyphs all over it.

This object is made entirely of an element not found on Earth and on the bottom within the triangle is made of 100% beryllium, which is found in the African country of Mali where they are. This object sends them on a wild chase to the ancient ruins of Tiahuanaco in Bolivia South America where they find the truth, action, violence and love. They find the truth through finding a compound in the ground made by the aliens. In this compound they found incredible technology that could change the world as we see it now, mummified aliens and the answers to long unanswered questions such as how prehistoric people were able to build the great pyramids of Egypt out of stones that weigh several tons. Even with the technology we have today we can't move them in one piece. This story's ending leaves you satisfied but wanting more.

This is the only book that Walt Becker has written and I very much hope that he write more books. This book is unlike the rest of those books who are about scientists because the scientists in Link actually believe that there is a God. And by going over the book again I found a quote that is in the very beginning but you won't get how it relates to the book until the end:

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days-

and also afterward-

when the sons of God went to the daughters of men

and had children by them.

They were the heroes of old, men of renown.

-Genesis 6:4

Book Description

Drawing on 300 interviews and hundreds of focus groups, the author, a psychologist, revelas why so many black women are furious at today's black men.

Customer Reviews:

Takes black relations to another level..........2007-10-07

Do Black Women Hate Black Men?
This book was very interesting in such a way that forces you to question your own beliefs about black relations in America. The problem isn't so much that Black women hate Black men but the fact that many of the issues that plague both parties stem from the foundations of slavery. Over all, this book was worth every hour of my time and effort.

A wake up read.......2005-09-15

This book throws a lot of rocks into the crowd, had a lot of my fraterity brothers talking and hit a lot of us and the black women that we know and date. Although it was writen sometime ago, it is certainly current and right on with many of our relationships today. It reads almost like a prophecy in terms of many black men and black women relationships today and what is going on in serious dating, especially Internet relationships. We,the frat brothers that I have talk with that read the book, were particularly impressed with the solutions that were outlined. I give it a big thumbs up.

Dark, Real but true........2004-10-06

After hearing about this book on several talk radio programs including Tom Joyer,I decided to take a look at it myself. I wasn't disappointed. It is an easy read, well written but most of all it is refreshing to see the truth examined and told on both sides for the black man and the black woman. The author from his interviews and focus groups, early on, make it clear that most black women don't hate black men but that both show destructive behavior and anomosity toward each. He turns the heat up in the kitchen on certain types of black women and men which will push your emtional buttons but then one has to admitt that we all know many who fit these and many who are in denial but act out these very roles in their relatioships. I found the book to be pragmatic and realistic but more importantly I found his predictions about our relationships becoming true today. Noticably absent and somewhat disappointing was any discussion about black men and white women but I gave him a paas on this since the book's primary focus was only on black men and black women. Although not as emotionally challenging I also like the second half of the book which focused on solutions and what can be done to better our relationships. He cites several programs and techiques that are beginning to be used to help the black male cope with the black female and vice versa. For understanding how black men and black women are disconnected, I think this book is a must read for a snapshop of our future.

Great Book.......2004-03-16

I loved this book....It first caught my eye because of the title...but it is truly a play on words. It does not bash men, and if that is all you get from it...it really is too bad. It talks about the short falls of men & women, both sexes receive the blame for their actions. What I also enjoyed was his suggestions on how we could learn from the past, heal and move forward in unity. Must read!

do black women hate black men.......2003-10-08

Mr. Reynolds gets one star for being able to get his book of trash published. I picked up this book hoping I would find some answers to the animosity between black men and women. I was disappointed to find that the book does not answer the title's question, nor is it actually about what the flyleaf purports it to be. Sadly it is a book that places the blame for the failure of black men to value black women flatly and firmly in the laps of black women. The author actually generalizes that white women are "better mates" because they are more nurturing, understanding and supportive of black men. He only barely mentions why blacks are so embattled and embittered against each other. Throughout the book, black male accountability, respect, and integrity are not mentioned as required attributes to build black families. Instead he endlessly discusses money grabbing, foul mouthed, out for themselves, black women who not only destroy the pysches of black boys but also break the hearts of all those poor,innocent,loving black men. Brother give me a break! If you're looking for an excuse to "get with" a white women, you need not do it on the necks and backs of black women.The author with all of his education and research could have written something constructive, instead he just picked a really hot title and then re-hashed a bunch of stereotypes. The type of stereotypes that irresponsible black men like to use when they don't want to be held accountable for their own deeds. I would like to hear both sides of the story for every "a black woman has done me wrong" story. I'd like to know how many times the brother got caught lying, cheating, stealing, staring, or creeping and how he really dealt with the truth being put in his face. Did he own up to it? Did he make excuses? Did he get angry? Did he try to make it right? Or did he just employ that irrational thought process that makes him "dare" a black women to question him when he has been of less than noble character? We are all responsible for how we conduct ourselves in relationships. Who knows where the hurt started? But black men and women have been hurting each other for a long time. We are not each others enemies. We must learn 2 people at a time how to love and respect or at least be kind to each other. The answer won't be found by finger pointing. There's good and bad in every group, I count A.L. Reynolds III amongst the bad.

Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present

Average customer rating:

3.5 stars but this thing doesn't do halves

Surpassing the Love of Men: Romantic Friendship and Love Between Women from the Renaissance to the Present
Lillian Faderman
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0688133304

Amazon.com

First published in 1981, this feminist classic began modestly as an academic essay on Emily Dickinson's love poems and letters to her future sister-in-law, Sue Gilbert. In her original introduction, Faderman recalled her surprise at finding these records of an erotic attachment between women that showed no evidence of guilt, anxiety, or the need for secrecy. Yet 60 or 70 years after they were written, the original letters had been bowdlerized by a niece of Dickinson's, who clearly found them too shocking for publication. Why, Faderman wondered, was passionate love between women, once almost universally applauded in the Western world, now almost universally condemned? She learned that the love between Dickinson and Gilbert had many precedents, and that it was only in the late 19th century that medical literature and antifeminism combined to rank women who loved women "somewhere," as she puts it bluntly, "between necrophiliacs and those who had sex with chickens." For this new edition, Faderman explains that she has resisted the urge to update her text, hoping that her exploration of romantic friendship, from French libertine literature through the dawn of feminism through the lesbian panic of the 1920s will still serve as "solace and ammunition" for those hoping to find "a usable past." --Regina Marler

Book Description

A classic of its kind, this fascinating cultural history draws on everything from private correspondence to pornography to explore five hundred years of friendship and love between women.Surpassing the Love of Men throws a new light on shifting theories of female sexuality and the changing status of women over the centuries.

Customer Reviews:

3.5 stars but this thing doesn't do halves.......1999-07-28

The author forcefully insists on the real passion between the women that she studies; this becomes to me repetitive and distracting. However, given the historical context of this book, in which a "lesbian recovery" of history was less accepted, I see the purpose of her tactics. In any case, the author draws together a wealth of evidence that makes for fascinating and provocative reading, even if she does lean a bit too much on literary examples as proof of what attitudes were "really." She makes a strong case, though. Recommended.

Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love (Gender Lens Series, Vol. 1)

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former student of Professor Espiritu
I found the book to be an excellent source of information.

Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws and Love (Gender Lens Series, Vol. 1)
Yen Le Espiritu
Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0803972555

Book Description

What is the "Asian American experience"? What role does gender play within that experience? How do race and economics factor in? Asian American Women and Men answers these questions and examines how Asian American culture is shaped by a variety of forces. This groundbreaking volume in the new Gender Lens Series is among the first to explore the Asian experience from a gendered perspective. Author Yen Le Espiritu documents how the historical and contemporary oppression of Asian Americans has structured gender relationships among them and has contributed to the creation of social institutions and systems of meaning. In so doing, she illustrates how race, class, and gender do not merely run parallel to each another, but rather intersect and confirm one another. Some of the topics discussed include Asian Americans and immigration, labor recruitment, education, relationships, and stereotypes. Asian American Women and Men has an exceptionally broad audience including students and professionals in gender studies, Asian American studies, race and ethnicity studies, sociology, political science, anthropology, and American studies. This product is now available from: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. Phone: 800-462-6420 Fax: 800-338-4550 http:\\www.rowmanlittlefield.com

Customer Reviews:

former student of Professor Espiritu.......1999-12-10

Once again Professor Espiritu has written a book that not only conveys the Asian American experience but more importantly the human experience. This book is for those of us who live the Asian American experience and for those willing to educate themselves about our country's racial heirarchy compounded by the disparity between genders.

I found the book to be an excellent source of information........1999-09-21

I really enjoyed reading this book. Even though, I "knew" the political and societal situations of Asian Americans in the United States, it still was an eye opener. This book gave me an oppertunity to understand some of my believes and how they were formed. I think it is a must read for everyone who is from Asian decent and who would like to understand the Asian American experiences. The author did a wonderful job of integrating all aspects of Asian culture. I highly recommend this book.

The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment

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MEN ARE NOT MERE BREADWINNERS AND SOLDIERS
The economy changed, and the culture had to adjust.
duh?
Two stars is overly generous

The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight from Commitment
Barbara Ehrenreich
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385176155
Release Date: 1987-03-01

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MEN ARE NOT MERE BREADWINNERS AND SOLDIERS.......2004-12-28

For men who think that feminism is a threat to the male sex, this book will open eyes and minds in the same way abolition liberated white slave-owners from their barbaric addiction to controlling other human beings against their will. And for women who see feminism as a threat to families, this book will either help relieve them of their ignorance of history, or only further convince them that a woman can have no other meaningful purpose than to bear and rear children.

This book addresses the disconnect between traditional gender roles and reality that has been building up steadily since the industrial revolution. The trend toward industrialization came to a head during WWI and especially WWII when many women worked in factories to produce munitions used by their husbands to kill. As the sudden return of men from great carnage sparked the baby boom, the notion of the "housewife" came to describe women's return to domesticity aided with a new arsenal of household gadgets and appliances. Betty Friedan wrote "The Feminine Mystique", in response to the vacuousness of this newly created paradigm of the suburban housewife paradise. Her book pointed out the absurdity of the domestic female role when modern conveniences had rendered them obsolete. Even childrearing was becoming usurped from the domain of women by the increasing institutionalization of public schools as day care centers.

A quarter century after Betty Friedan's landmark book, Barbara Ehrenreich finally gave men the same insight into how their roles have become outmoded in response to historical changes. If the feminist protest was against viewing females as mere baby-factories, this book critiques the socialization of men into being either breadwinners, or soldiers willing to sacrifice their lives in war. In a purely economic sense - with the vanishing of agriculture, women had ceased to contribute to the finances of the family as men competed in an increasingly specialized labor force. For the first time in history, in 1950's America, women had become purely concerned with reproduction thus forcing men to be even more focused on production, at the expense of leisure time. The blandness of this female domestic tranquility was matched by the sense of "pseudo" power men had over their wives as "kept" women. This books shows that the other side of the coin of feminist rage over female oppression was no picnic for men either.

Men were oppressed in an opposite but equally intolerable way. Taken to its logical extreme, the male gender role had become equivalent to greed. No other instinct could better serve a man in a world where male success was defined purely in financial terms. More so than ever, men were encouraged to be workaholic machines, denying their emotions. In this context, any sensitivity or weakness in a man was tantamount to a betrayal of his family in his role as provider. But in "The Hearts of Men", there was a longing for something deeper than the accumulation of wealth as expressed by the beat writers and 1960's counterculture. As long as a woman's place remained at home, marriage and family increasingly appeared to be a death sentence of hard labor. They rejected this heart attack-inducing life of the breadwinner. The elevation of sex and free love for its own sake in the 1960's was in part a reaction against this prostitution-like relation between the sexes whereby the husband had to pay for the privilege of having a "housewife".

This book rightly takes some of the blame for the breakdown of the family off the shoulders of feminism, and perhaps suggests that some of the blame should go to the insensitivity of American wage labor capitalism toward the personal lives of employees, in the relentless pursuit of profit over people. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in gender, history, and yes - family values.

The economy changed, and the culture had to adjust........2001-08-14

Ehrenreich emphasizes that the economy changed dramatically during the post war boom, and the changes in the economy eventually demanded changes in the culture. Women have always worked, but they use to work at home on a farm. Even as late as the 30s and 40s America was still heavily agricutural. But during the 50s and 60s farm life died out in America, not totally of course, but to a large extent, replaced by big industry and then computers. On a farm a woman could do valuable work, in the new world of the 50s there was nothing for a woman to do but sit around and look pretty. You had millions of women of intelligence and strength and a desire for meaningful labor, and they no longer had an outlet, because they no longer lived on a farm. On a farm the could help their man and their family everyday, in a meaninful way. In the 50s, they were mere parasites, living at home in ease while the men worked. And eventualy, of course, the men got tired of that arrangement. To put it another way, on a farm, a man needs a wife. In the modern world, a man doesn't need a woman as much, or at least not in the same way. At some point, the culture had to adjust to the changes in the economy, and that adjustment was feminism. Women had to work so they could still contribute something meaninful to a marriage.

duh?.......2001-07-03

With the notable exception of the Anglo-American versions, most revolutions are premised on the belief that the existing structure of society has been artificially imposed and that by altering that structure you can remake human beings and human nature in a new image. So the French Revolution required that the monarchy and the aristocracy be discarded and expected that egalitarianism and brotherhood would follow, as day follows night; meanwhile, Marxist Revolutions suppose that once capitalism and capitalists are done away with, the happy workers of the world will share and share alike. Of course, history has shown these revolutionary ideals to be absolutely ludicrous, and such revolutions have come a cropper when the ugly but immutable facts of human nature have come roaring back with a vengeance. This creates a rather hilarious situation whereby revolutionaries are continually being surprised by manifestations of the very characteristics which mankind has understood itself to have since time immemorial--greed, lust,selfishness, etc.. Barbara Ehrenreich is not only a socialist, but a radical feminist, which means that besides that Marxist vision, she also believes that once the patriarchy is overthrown, men and women will be coequal and will live in blessed harmony. This book then is based on her supposedly controversial discovery that the disintegration of the nuclear family, which has generally been blamed on feminism, owes just as much to the political desires of men. Duh?

Just step back for a second and think about Women's Liberation has meant for men. Basically, women have had to take on more economic responsibilities and more child-rearing responsibilities, while at the same time their mortality rates have begun to more closely match men's and, thanks to abortion of female children and these worsening health rates, their absolute numbers have begun to decline back towards those of men, or even below. In exchange, men have gotten to slough off economic responsibility for women and children, have been able to get out of child rearing responsibilities, and have gotten much freer access to intercourse with females. How can Ehrenreich possibly be surprised that men were willing participants in this process ?

GRADE : D

Two stars is overly generous.......1999-06-27

I thought that this book was well researched. That is why I was generous enough to give it two stars. However, the dryness of this novel cannot be described. This book dragged on for hours and at the end it was hard to make a point out of the book as a whole. I got as much out of the first page as I did from the middle 200. I do not recommend this book to anyone who expects a book that will not only flow well, but will also keep the reader even remotely interested.

Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classics) (Verso Classsics, 26)

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A must for all African American women and for those with sons
For Wallace, the civil rights movement meant, "A white woman in every bed and a black woman under every heel"
Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman

Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (Verso Classics) (Verso Classsics, 26)
Michele Wallace
Manufacturer: Verso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1859842968

Book Description

Michle Wallace blasts the masculinist bias of 1960s Black politics, showing how women remained marginalised by the patriarchal culture of Black Power. She describes the ways in which traditional, male-identified myths of Black womanhood block the development of a separate female subjectivity. With the original publication of this book, she aroused protest from intellectual and political leaders touching off a debate which continues to resonate through current feminist and black theory.

Customer Reviews:

A must for all African American women and for those with sons.......2007-05-12

This book is the most honest book I have ever read about the modern black woman's experience. My mother read it because it was given to her by a friend in her Master's program, some years ago

Then when I was a sophmore in college she gave it to me and I read it.

I would encourage women who have sons especially to read it, I have a daughter, a toddler, and she will read it too,probably in high school.

If we are to end the cycle of abuse and torment and empower black women in America we must start with all the issues she addresses.

For Wallace, the civil rights movement meant, "A white woman in every bed and a black woman under every heel".......2007-03-02

This is an account of Michele Wallace's experiences with the civil rights movement and growing up in the late 60's. Judith Wilson, who reviewed this for Ebony Magazine, has since said, "it was a pioneer work. Angela Davis's book 'Women, Race and Class' wasn't published until 2 years later. Ntozake Shange's play 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide' had moved to Broadway but it's approach was poetic rather than analytical"

Wallace mentions of the ladies in her family, "It was understood, you were either going to be a bright success or a desperate failure, and it was your job to proclaim which you were going to be at as early an age as possible."

She recalls how she was taken out of private Catholic school when her mom found posters of Richard Nixon in the bedroom she shared with her sister, "can you believe it? we were that brainwashed." Things would be entirely different at the NY school where she transferred. . .

This book, about Black women being shortchanged, is probably most relevant for women who came of age during the period of time from the 1960s to the 1990s, tho it has some relevant today, as it probably would have before the 1960s as well. Written in 1976, it was way ahead of it's time, well, ahead of the 'PC', politically correct, beliefs of it's time. This is an odd read and yet a modernly familiar one, in that at times, one is struck with a feeling Wallace is trying to say something completely opposite from what is literally on the page.

This is both a sensationalist book and a subtle book at the same time. For the most part Wallace shows us how black women are oppressed and almost never tells us they are. It wasn't until later, reading about this book and reading other Wallace, that I understood more what it was about. This work could be subtitled, 'Why I became a feminist'.

Some of the assertions Wallace does make are that black men and women have a sometime dislike for each other stemming in part from black men/white women relationships, and she asserts a lack of confidence he'd, "come home."

For Wallace, the civil rights movement meant, literally, "A white woman in every bed and a black woman under every heel".

Wallace was saying something that no one else believed, or at least, that no one else was saying. She must have felt pressure to go along with the accepted views of her day (or perhaps felt a desire to be understood), and I think what is going on here with this work, is that it is an example of the 'Wilson Rule' (If you have one un-PC idea {here the idea being that black women are the ones being taken advantage of}, you have to smother it in 6 politically correct ideas). Countless books have been written in this manner (tho only a minority of those at the library), each examining one un-PC idea the author believes in, and, so the author can sound reasonable, accepting every other popular convention of the day. The problem with this, is that at the end of the day, best case scenario, a young reader's learned 6 lies and 1 thing that's true.

Wallace is either a master propagandist or she knows her audience and wants to keep them reading: she begins each chapter repeating a true-ism, for instance, this genuine one, "white men were always the ones making pronouncements about everything" and ends up at the end of the chapter quoting a figure proclaiming, "Kill Whitey." This is almost an expose' of the civil rights movement.

Wallace mentions, as a young girl seeing Malcolm X on TV, feeling that he'd protect her. "One felt certain of that", she says. I must ask, just what did she imagine she was being protected from? To set the record straight, this was written about a time, the 1960s, when a black person, just like Ms Wallace, was nearly 20 times more likely to kill a white person than the other way around. This isn't something the civil rights movement has radically changed. In 1996 the figure stood at 11 times more likely (55 times more likely to assault a white person, 103 times more likely to rob one). Let's not even get into the incidence of rape. . . Whether because, at a certain point large numbers lose all meaning, or whether, because doing so might call into question many other works that, unlike this fine one, did win the Pulitzer prise for literature. Take your pick. These are whites brutally beaten, stabbed, blood let, tortured, burned, bludgeoned, shot, strangled, molested. All at rates many, many, many times higher than the reverse. Mrs. Wallace should visit an emergency room sometime.

Michele Wallace was criticized for what she does say here (and perhaps some for what she implies), and one has to wonder - is this criticism (of a work claiming black women are being treated unfairly), simply proof of her thesis?

Wallace doesn't ignore the media in her book. She asks, was there a conscious effort to keep young minds focused on sports, guns and violence, and off business, education and the stock market?

She begins her treaties on 'Black Macho' (the 2nd half of the book) with, "imagine for a moment that there was a part of your body, an organ, that by the very nature of the society in which you lived, existed under immense pressure. Imagine that this organ, placed in a conspicuously vulnerable position on your body, was to expand, rise, and remain erect at will. Imagine that your status in society depended upon your ability to control this organ. Imagine that if you couldn't get the dam thing to work, the very importance of your existence would be in question."

This is a sensationalist, titillating book filled with the 'F' word, 'Redneck', the 'N' word, and lots of people saying, kill the bigots. I imagine Wallace secretly enjoyed writing this even as she's mentioned, she, secretly enjoyed listening to Norman Mailers rants about the civil rights movement (Wallace was a journalist for the Village Voice a paper Mailer founded). I don't think she enjoyed writing this as much as I enjoyed reading.

Again, Wallace was criticized for Black Macho. She strays just too far from blaming all problems on white men. In a sense, in saying, black men, too, are oppressing black women, she made black men, too equal. 20 years later she says, "In some ways I'm still being punished today." People may believe her now, but they may still be afraid to admit so. Feminist Tammy Bruce in California was fired for coming out against OJ Simpson, who in her mind was an abuser at the very least. To be honest, 'Sexism', was, a huge issue. Well, if you were the wrong person it was. It's been said, President Bill Clinton being accused of sexism did a lot to reduce some of the perception of it.

Wallace was in one of my college textbooks, quoted for her reaction to gangster rap. For her, the solution for women everywhere will be found, when, "...women rap back." Not long after I noticed Queen Latifah with a big video out. Eminem followed.

To be fair and give my own political views, my background is in reading old -old- school conservatism. In fact, I'm somewhat of an 'anti-feminist'. Perhaps I'm just a chauvinist. I'm not wedded to any particular ideology tho - I do find them all interesting. Guess I'm a sympathizer too.

Michele Wallace is paid to be a feminist. After Black Macho, Wallace would edit a work titled, "All the women are white. All the blacks are men, but some of us are brave." She teaches a great number of courses at CUNY, and a seminar in film studies, 'Performance and Race in Cinema 1890-1930's' where she says, "Despite the many objectionable features, this is a body of work which is collectively unforgettable and irreplaceable."

I would trade all these films for 'Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman'. I couldn't help but like the voice of woman who wrote this book. I was in awe of Wallace. No. I was in love with the woman who wrote these words.

Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman.......2000-05-28

I read this book when it was originaaly published in 1976. Although Michele Wallace was a relatively young black woman (still in her twenties as I remember)I was most impressed by the maturity of her insights regarding both black men and black women. Her intent seemed to be to point out areas that both genders needed to look at if the race as a whole was to make any progress.

In both sections of her book, Wallace focused our attention on "male privilege" and how it translated into black "macho-ness", with the resultant effect that black men are as guilty of taking for themselves unearned advantages over black women as white people are guilty of taking for themselves unearned advantages over black people. She pointed out that black women continued to nurture the race physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and that the convenience of the self-sacrificing "superwoman image" (which black women willingly accept) allowed the predominatly male leaders of the civil rights movement to discount the interests and issues of black women, much like white slaveholders did; the typical black superwoman served only as an ancillary utility for black men. Wallace revealed to the world that black women, more often than not, were still "sleeping with the enemy."

Wallace was virulently attacked by almost every black "leader" who could get herself (yes, even women) and himself heard. However, if you re-read the book today, you cannot deny the fact that she was prescient in her observations and conclusions. The problems which she identified then still exist today.

I would recommend this book as a basic text for every black women's college. It should be discussed whereever concerned black people convene.

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All African American Couples Should Own!

Leave your Ego behind when you read this book.....

Friends, Lovers, and Soulmates: A Guide to Better Relationships Between Black Men and Women
Dr. Darlene Hopson
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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How to Love a Black Man

How to Love a Black Woman: Give-and-Get-the Very Best in Your Relationship

What Brothers Think, What Sistahs Know: The Real Deal on Love and Relationships

The Sistahs' Rules: Secrets For Meeting, Getting, And Keeping A Good Black Man Not To Be Confused With The Rules

SoulMates: An Illustrated Guide to Black Love, Sex, and Romance

ASIN: 0671505610

Book Description

Are you looking for a special companion? Frustrated because you can't seem to communicate with the person you are with? Determined to meet someone whose vision matches yours? If so, Friends, Lovers, and Soul Mates is for you!

Filled with self-assessments, dozens of case studies, and an appendix of organizations, Friends, Lovers, and Soul Mates is more than just a relationship book for Black men and women. It is a guide you can use at any stage in your life, whether you want to figure out why you don't currently have a relationship or want to enhance your existing relationship. There is no magic wand to create the nourishing bonds we so desperately need and deserve, but with hard work and the guidance that you can find in this book, a healthy, nurturing, and loving relationship can be yours.

Customer Reviews:

All African American Couples Should Own!.......2003-03-05

This book is one that "ALL" African American couples should own. My professor used it as the main text in his class and it not only helps you understand yourself but your mate as well. It also gives you insight on why we behave in the manner in which we do, and provides exercises to help you sustain your relationships. The authors are African American Husband and Wife Psychologist who also practice what they've written.

Leave your Ego behind when you read this book............2000-11-03

I say that because in reading and understanding the husband/wife authors, you will become humble and start looking for opportunities to become more of a soulmate to your lover or friend. I agree that a person can indeed become jaded or exasperated with the "games" that men and women play on each other! Sometimes a person wonders how did their parents or grandparents ever get together! This book was one of the FIRST of the truly HELPFUL books in the Iyanla Vanzant, Maya Angelou, Dr. Ron Elmore tradition! This one has the benefit of a very intuitive and intelligent husband and wife team aiding you in the process ! A very good investment. May the reading and applying of the information bring about a healing and lifetime love for you! Peace -ed-

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