‘Men’ book
raises questions
By
Katie Plourd
Online Forty-Niner
Managing Editor
While pundits, politicians, analysts, strategists and the news media swarm
around ideas of the female presence in the 2008 presidential election, Maureen
Dowd’s book, “Are Men Necessary?,” forecasts the disposition
that is sure to overwhelm American minds from now until 2008.
Her novel accounts for personal experiences with men, historical analyses or
the relationship between men, women and power, and her own thoughts on the
issue.
She opens her novel with a clear statement, despite the fact she can pen over
300 pages on the male species, she doesn’t understand men. Period. “I
don’t understand men. I don’t even understand what I don’t
understand about men. They’re a most inscrutable bunch, really.”
The book is an investigative discourse on what makes men and women so inherently
different and the modern day factors causing gender discrepancies. Dowd, who
is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the New York Times and has regularly
covered politics in Washington D.C., infiltrates the book with the wit and
charm that is often seen in her columns.
She brings humor to issues such as the latest developments of, the beauty obsession
of women in America, sexual politics, the state of feminism and the difficulties
she faces attempting to find a man being such a strong woman.
Dowd injects her usual satirical opinion of current politics and the Bush administration
into her analysis of men in the modern world. In one instance she contends
it may be beneficial for a woman to run the country. Using the consistency
of a women’s menstrual cycle as her reasoning, she says that women only
get moody one week a month, but Vice President Dick Cheney, for example, has
a temperamental attitude 24/7.
Dowd has drawn some criticism for her analysis of the feminist role in politics
and today’s modern world from feminists since its release. A writer even
wrote to the New York Times in response saying,
“
Will someone please marry Maureen Dowd?” because they think she has turned
her dating crisis into a national crisis.”
This may be true, but readers, women and men alike will find Dowd’s wit
and parody of feminism and dating relatable and comical. If you’re into
current events this book definitely an enjoyable read.
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