Loving to Survive

by Dee L.R. Graham

Book Overview

A selection of insights into the relationship between men and women

Have you wondered: Why women are more sympathetic than men toward O. J. Simpson? Why women were no more supportive of the Equal Rights Amendment than men? Why women are no more likely than men to support a female political candidate? Why women are no more likely than men to embrace feminism--a movement by, about, and for women? Why some women stay with men who abuse...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0814730590
• ISBN13: 9780814730591
• Release Date: July 1995
• Publisher: New York University Press
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 1.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Interesting theory which lacks solid proof.

The theory promoted in this book, called Societal Stockholm Syndrome, is supposed to be a universal law of behavior which states that femininity, love of men, and heterosexuality are a function of patriarchy and thus cannot be called natural. The book tries to understand this newly discovered law and propose ways in which a more natural woman may be promoted. While the gender stereotypes of expected behavior fit well within the definition of the Societal Stockholm Syndrome, very little time is given to understanding that gender stereotypes are merely that: stereotypes, models for how people might behave, not a fact of how people must behave. When the theory is applied to the individual lives of each woman I doubt it will hold up for all of us. It certainly did not hold up for me. The most helpful part of the book is the final chapter, which discusses how gender stereotypes of what it means to be a woman can be recognized and fought. Overall it offers good insights but needs to be expanded to include the fact that women themselves may relate in such ways and often encourage such stereotyped behavior from other women.