Woman's Inhumanity to Woman

575 Pages·2009·25.84 MB·English

by  Phyllis Chesler

More Praise ro r Phyllis Chesler
"Cht:sler's (TCdCllti;lls arc imp<:c(,;lble, Iler e:-.:pbll"l ions thorough,
her research well docullle11lcd, [She] sccms to be ;Idvocating a re
turn to ;Hl ide;l tku inspired m;IIIY feminists in each of the 11101'1.."
l1Ient's phascs. This is not abollt mcn vs, \\'Ollil:n or wOl1lcn \'S,
women: It's aboul people karnillg 10 be.: fair,"
- SI, 1'I'II'fsbwg Til/ll's
"1\ he;ldy ;unalg;Hll of n::scan:h , ;lg;lin, the Chesler voice is
hrcathtakingly bold, nUhles.-;ly honcst, provocative, challcnging.
and compassionatt:, This is roug-h tcrrain, and Chcskr is kading
the war:' - TiklwlI m;lg;lzinc
"Myth-shattcring and idca·trimsfonning, . No intelligent discus
sion of the provocative issues she raiscs will ever be the same after
this book becomes a pan of the ('alloll,"
- Alan M, Dershowitz
"Phyllis Chesler has one of the 1I10S1 original and provocative
minds in modern j\meriGHI feminism. " I-It;re sht; is in top form,
cnlivcning her readers widl an e:-.:ciling and thought-prov()king ar
gUlllellt abollt the ot Ilel' side of sistcrhood, ~ - Vivian Gornick

\V{lT11dn's
Inhumanity
lo \\'0 Ill'! n
Phyllis Chesler
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Are available from the Library of Congress.
Cover design: Sarah Olson
Introduction © 2009 by Phyllis Chesler. © 2001, 2002 by Phyllis Chesler.
Published 2003 by Plume, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Originally
published 2001 by Thunder’s Mouth Press/Nation Books. All rights reserved.
This edition published 2009 by
Lawrence Hill Books
An imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-55652-946-7
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
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contents
Introduction to the 2009 Edition xi
Introduction 1
1. The Animal Within: The Female of the
Species 35
2. Indirect Aggression Among Girls and
Teenagers 78
3. Woman’s Sexism 124
4. The Mother-Daughter Relationship in
Fairy Tale, Myth, and Greek Tragedy 167
5. Some Psychoanalytic Views of the
Mother-Daughter Relationship 206
6. The “Good Enough” Mother and Her
Persecution of the “Good Enough”
Daughter 239
7. Sisters and the Search for Best Friends 288
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8. Women in the Workplace 335
9. Women in Groups 390
10. Psychological Ethics 436
Endnotes 492
References 503
Index 537
About the Author 552
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The world into which one was precipitated was terrible,
yes .... One entered hoping at least for the solidarity of
one's companions in misfortune, bUllhe hoped for allies,
except in special cases, were not there .... This brusque
revelation, which became manifest from the very first
hours of imprisonment, often in the instant form of ...
aggression on the part of those in whom one hoped to
find future allies, was so harsh as to cause the immediate
collapse of one's capacity to resist.
-Primo Levi
No one can humiliate you like one of your own.
-Judy Grahn
The black man wants to be white ... a native IS an
oppressed person whose permanent dream is to become
the persecutor.
-Frantz Fanon
The women who hate me cut me / as men can't ...
-Dorothy Allison
Most mothers worry when their daughters reach adoles
cence, but I was the opposite. I relaxed. I sighed with
relief. Little girls are cute and small only to adults. To one
another they are not cute. They are lifesized.
-Margaret Atwood