Tackling gender debate with lots of humour

Are Men Obsolete: You Decide,

edited by Rudyard Griffiths (Ebury Press, RRP $20):

This little book takes on the gender debate with four talented feminist writers and critics taking a crack at the argument both for and against those hairy creatures we share our lives with: Men.

In centuries past, women have tended to end up getting a bit of a raw deal: We’ve put careers (and sometimes other hopes and dreams) on hold to raise families and support husbands, while said husbands have gone merrily on their way, with barely a care in the world and not a second thought for the little woman at home, wiping noses and bums as she scrubs his floors and cooks his dinner.

Self described “dissident feminist” and professor of humanities and media studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Camille Paglia, joins children’s author, columnist, award-winning novelist and Bruce Springsteen fan Caitlin Moran against the argument, while Hanna Rosin (author, correspondent and columnist for everything from The Atlantic to the New York Times) and Pulitzer-prize winning Maureen Dowd argue that, yes, men really are so last century.

This lively debate kicks off with pre-debate interviews by the book’s author, Rudyard Griffiths, and is followed by a post-debate commentary that wraps it all up nicely. The whole thing includes plenty of humour and while it won’t answer any of those burning questions about where to from here, it will provide a spot of entertainment.

And, yes, the editor is a bloke. Perhaps they aren’t so obsolete after all.

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