Women's Reality

I found this book to be a POWERFUL awakener for ALL women. It will take your blinders off completely and show you the 'game' the white male society plays on all women and all people of other races. After reading this book, you'll be very angry at how you've been duped -- BUT YOU WILL NEVER BE FOOLED INTO THINKING YOU'RE INFERIOR AGAIN.

This book was recommended to me by a psychologist during a mid-life career crisis. As a pioneer in a traditionally male field (engineering), I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the effects of sexism on women's lives. This book opened my eyes to deeper levels of understanding. Women really do have a different reality than men because our life experiences are substantially different. (The same is true for racial minorities.) In both our personal and professional lives, we struggle to adapt to and gain the approval of a rigid "alien" White Male Culture that discounts our unique perceptions and talents while insisting that we conform to limited stereotyped roles of its own choosing. In this constrained environment, most of us are only partially successful in reaching our goal of becoming whole, valued individuals. The resulting widespread personal and societal dysfunction harms us all -- men as well as women. What a waste.A basic flaw in the White Male System is its closed-mindedness in thinking that it has all the anwers. Differences are seen as threats that must be annihilated. The world in becoming increasingly global in nature, and the toxic effects of this attitude will increase. To survive and prosper, our society must embrace and learn from other cultures, including minorities within the U.S. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.I only wish I had read this book many years ago. It is full of thrilling "Aha!" moments, as one truth after another is affirmed. I saw myself and many other people I know in its pages, and I now have a deeper understanding of our struggles and the reasons behind various life choices. The insight gained from this book could have saved me much frustration and battered self-esteem by placing my career struggles within a larger context. The Southern corporate culture is particularly deeply entrenched in extreme White Male System thinking, so beware! I also found the "levels of reality" concept fascinating and plausible. It's exciting to see life as a progression of stages moving toward increased knowledge and maturity rather than as a narrow, stagnant rut.Realization of the formidable obstacles we face makes the substantial progress women have made during the past three decades even more impressive. I wholeheartedly thank the author Anne Wilson Schaef and other feminist pioneers for moving us toward a more functional culture.

I first read this book almost 10 years ago and have since purchased half a dozen copies as gifts for colleagues and friends. The insights provided by Anne Wilson Schaef regarding the cultural differences between genders, expands the whole concept of diversity beyond ethnicity. I have used the ideas in this book both professionally and personally to bring individuals to a more common understanding of how we each respond to internal and external experiences in our lives. I continue to recommend this book to men and women alike.

This is a highly readable deconstruction of the White Male System of power under which we all live. Schaef breaks down the four tenants of the White Male System and how the White Male System is instilled in us from birth and how the mindset affects the attitudes, actions, and lives of everyone who lives in the Unites States. Schaef then goes on to explain how white women have colluded with the system, how the system affects minorities, and the thought processes we all go through as we deny, justify, condemn, divorce ourselves from, and finally accept and begin to change the system. This is a very concise, accurate book and the viewpoints of the author ring true. Although written in the 80's, the truths of the book are still accurate. A good place to start for readings on women in U.S. society, feminism, etc.

This is an excellent book that describes how oppression works in our society, how we keep it in place, and how it will ultimately be our demise. We have an alternative, however. We can give this book to everyone we know and ask them to join this enlightenment movement. It only takes opening your eyes and choosing to be curious. Read it! Read it now.