The Morning After: Sex, Fear, and Feminism

by Katie Roiphe

Book Overview

When Katie Roiphe arrived at Harvard in the fall of 1986, she found that the feminism she had been raised to believe in had been radically transformed. The women's movement, which had once signaled such strength and courage, now seemed lodged in a foundation of weakness and fear. At Harvard, and later as a graduate student at Princeton, Roiphe saw a thoroughly new phenomenon taking shape on campus: the emergence of a culture captivated by victimization,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316754323
• ISBN13: 9780316754323
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Back Bay Books
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

A thought provoking book

This book, while written by a young, sometimes cocky, graduate student, is nonetheless very interesting. It asks us to look at the culture of fear and victimization that feminism has become in recent years, compared to the ideology of freedom it once was. Comparisons are made between victorian ideology and new feminism, and readers are asked to question the idea of the voiceless woman that must always depend on the watchful eye of a higher authority to protect them. Almost as interesting as the book however is the response to it. Her critics accuse her of being conservative while virtually everything she says has to do with personal freedom and having the right to make one's own choices. They accuse her of insensitivity to rape victims, yet she never derides rape victims, only a culture that defines "rape" as virtually any heterosexual sex, even when the women in question were willing participants. Her critics accuse her of being elitist and out of touch with society, yet clearly the problems she discusses are at the forefront of social issues throughout every level of modern culture, and the inequality and injustice in laws regarding sex/gender are common areas of criticism for both men and women. Her critics even accuse her of a lack of scientific backing when the book is stated to be only a record of her personal experiences, and despite the fact that she does give convincing, rational arguements that debunk her opponents' statistics and provides research from other sources to support her opinions. I feel that anyone curious about the state of sexual politics, law as it relates to sex/gender, and feminism, would be well served by reading this, if only to expand their view on the issues and get a common sense, reader friendly version of issues before delving into more scientific works. If you are going into this book just to look for a fight, I urge you to actually look at the arguements presented and be objective, as there are some rather compelling issues presented.

Feminism

I just finished rereading The Morning After. In it, Katie Roiphe makes no claim to having all the answers, but she notes (in a quietly expressed, earnest, rational and refreshingly non-shrill style) that the notion of "feminism" she developed as a young girl growing in her home had no resemblence to the "feminism" she encountered at college, which was obsessed with women solely as the victims of men. She points out - with good reason, judging by the venomous remarks of those who've given her bad reviews here, that it was acceptable for these feminists to stifle dissent and pass that off as an argument. It was acceptable to lie about being raped, as one female student admitted doing, until the alleged rapist, who didn't even know her, threatened legal action. As for Roiphe's "making fun" of rape victims, that's just hooey. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and if Roiphe is correct - that the most visible feminists tolerate no straying from the party line (and Roiphe makes a damned good case for that), one has to wonder why. In any event, wherever you stand, you should read this book. One should NEVER be afraid of reading dissenting opinions. That is one of the things college is supposed to be about.

interesting personal essay

The author makes it clear that this short book is an essay on her thoughts concerning the effects of feminisism on college campusus; in particular she refers to her experiences at Princeton.I found the book to be very easy and enjoyable reading. As someone who has attended a "Take back the Night" events on a college campus, her observations really resonated with me. This is really not a reference work; someone who wants studies and data needs to look elsewhere. But, if someone wants to think about the various ideologies on the relations between the sexes, this essay is a good place to start.

Praise for Dissent

You may not agree with Ms. Roiphe's ideas and observations, but you should find the clear writing style and accessible arguments refreshing when compared to the writings of others of late, whether you consider them to be feminist or not.One of my greatest sources of frustation in academic feminist literature is the appropriation of horrifically impenetrable jargon culled from French literary theory. I suspect more people don't rebel against this style and rhetoric firstly, because they want to include themselves among the fashionable and politically powerful (and to criticize these theorists is suicide), and secondly, they cannot argue against something that is so vague and rarified in its specialist vocabulary, filled with tautology and a sense of its own unique insights. Katie Roiphe sees through the mess and mire and writes clearly, passionately and resolutely in her analysis of the fashionable victim-based feminism (also called gender feminism or establishment feminism) that has taken root in the Ivy League, not to mention elsewhere in academe. I think those most opposed to her ideas of personal responsibility in the academic, emotional and sexual realms willfully cling to immature phases in their own development. Perpetual victimhood, to sum up Roiphe, is a dead end.I think some of the resistance to this book arises from Roiphe's own poise, not to mention her own loveliness, to judge by her photograph: resentment-based feminism is deaf to common-sense, it seems. Also, that Roiphe wrote the book while still a student must account for another great surge of resentment from many quarters. I recommend this book as palliative and antidote to anyone whose mind has been stifled by trendy gender feminists who hide their intellectual bankruptcy within the thickets and labyrithine tangles of post-structuralist theory.

I'm sorry I couldn't give it six stars

This book is full of engaging insights, and the amount of vitriol it's inspired in it's critics is telling. Roiphie's point of sustained victim-hood is well taken, and is one of the major forces inhibiting feminism from reaching it's goals. A must read for those who want to incorporate the full spectrum of gender issues into their thinking.