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Maureen Dowd
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Are Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide Paperback – 3 October 2006

by Maureen Dowd (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 38
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Outspoken, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times Op-Ed columnist Maureen Dowd tackles the hot-button topic of gender politics in this "funny, biting, and incisive take on women's place in American society today" (Library Journal).

Are men afraid of smart, successful women? Why did feminism fizzle? Why are so many of today's women freezing their faces and emotions in an orgy of plasticity? Is "having it all" just a cruel hoax?

In this witty and wide-ranging book, Maureen Dowd looks at the state of the sexual union, raising bold questions and examining everything from economics and presidential politics to pop culture and the "why?" of the Y chromosome.

In our ever-changing culture where locker room talk has become the talk of the town, Are Men Necessary? will intrigue Dowd's devoted readers--and anyone trying to sort out the chaos that occurs when sexes collide.

THE INSPIRATION FOR WHITNEY CUMMINGS' FORTHCOMING HBO(R) COMEDY PILOT "A LOT"

Previous page
  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Penguin Publishing Group
  4. Publication date
    3 October 2006
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
  7. ISBN-10
    042521236X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0425212363
  9. See all details
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Product description

Review

"A blistering critique of modern gender relations."--Salon

"Fun...plenty of style and wit."--Baltimore Sun

"She'll keep you turning pages...Dowd has a voice that carries."--People

"No one vets the culture with a keener eye than Dowd."--Chicago Tribune

"Maureen Dowd has waded into the one topic more controversial than politics: sexual politics."--Austin American-Statesman

"The New York Times columnist is dizzyingly well-read and well-rounded, with references from Oscar Wilde to Valley of the Dolls. My favorite part was when she casually flund the phrase 'as Carmen Miranda used to say' into a discussion of the Enron scandal...very lively...always entertaining."--Chicago Sun-Times

"[Dowd] discusses sexual realities and absurdities, doing so with the same verve and nerve with which she handled the other hot-button topic--politics--in her 2004 bestseller, Bushworld...hilarious, cutting, and provocative."--Booklist

"Readable, provocative, and entertaining."--*Library Journal

About the Author

Born in Washington, Maureen Dowd began her journalism career in 1974 as an editorial assistant for The Washington Star, where she later became a sports columnist, metropolitan reporter and feature writer. From there she went to Times magazine, then moved to The Times's Washington bureau in 1986 to cover politics. She has covered seven presidential campaigns and served as a White House correspondent. In 1995 she became a columnist for The New York Times Op-Ed page and in 1999 won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished commentary.

In addition to her two New York Times bestsellers, Bushworld and Are Men Necessary?, Dowd has written for GQ, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Mademoiselle, Sports Illustrated and others.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Publishing Group (3 October 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 042521236X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0425212363
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 2.03 x 22.86 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 out of 5 stars 38

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lidz
5.0 out of 5 stars IS HILLARY NECESSARY?
Reviewed in the United States on 31 July 2015
Verified Purchase
Unfortunately politics rears its ugly head into every aspect of our lives every milli or nano-second of all the time of our lives. Although this book was probably intended to "call out" men --and it does that very well-- it must also be treated as a remembrance of why we do not wish to continue the trauma of the Clinton years (which have never really left us, and are continuing in 2015 to devastate us) in 2016 and beyond. Americans can have short memories. Ms. Dowd's book was published in 2005 and the paperback updated edition was published in 2006. All we need to remind us of the shortcomings of Hillary Clinton and her accomplice, "Slick Willy Boy" Bill Clinton are the chapters of "Are Men Necessary?"

In the long run men are not necessary. In the short run, the Clintons are definitely and definitively not necessary. This book is probably one of number of books which warn American voters about the dangers of inviting a First Family, any First Family, back to The White House. 200 and some odd years ago, The United States decided it did not wish to have monarchical government. Even though our democratic republic has been just an experiment, it has failed as most experiments do and in that failure many "monarchical' families have been involved. Of late the Clintons and the Bushes are a revolving door in which the nation has found itself to be injuriously stuck.

As for men and women, we shall continue to have our gender wars until the male gender no longer exists. And that is a probable outcome.
One person found this helpful
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Bei
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2015
Verified Purchase
hehe
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P J Clooney
1.0 out of 5 stars Put in Our Place
Reviewed in Canada on 20 November 2015
Verified Purchase
A constant barrage disparage man speak. Not even funny.
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Thomas W. Jeffries
4.0 out of 5 stars What does Maureen Dowd want?
Reviewed in the United States on 1 January 2006
Verified Purchase
I am a great admirer of Maureen Dowd. Her column in the New York Times is the first thing I turn to after scanning the top stories. Her choice of language is always entertaining, and her insights into the psychological motives of public officials always add new dimensions to my understanding of the news. I was therefore rather distressed when her column disappeared for several months while she was on "book leave".

For anyone else who loves her column - rest assured that this book will not disappoint. Dowd is best when glib and entertaining, and most irritating when she affronts our closest held biases. Her critique of Bill Clinton's womanizing rankled my liberal prejudice, but eventually helped me realize how deeply it offended large segments of the public. This volume has large measures of that which will both amuse and challenge your sensibilities.

What has most perplexed me is how Dowd seems to fixate on the sexual aspects of our society, and in a way this book is her own exploration of that obsession. She admits in the very first line that she does not understand men - and even that she does not understand what she does not understand about them. While many might confess to this failing from either side of the sexual abyss, most would be content to live with their doubts and use ambiguity to cover up moments of uncertainty. Instead, Maureen Dowd attacks the eternal dance of equivocation head-on.

It is difficult to know exactly what playbook she is reading from when it comes to personal relationships. Her several accounts of misanthropic affairs and flirtations suggest that she sees courtship and romance less as the ritualized surrender to necessary emotions, and more as stylized machinations to seize the high ground, and while she might disparage "How to Catch and Hold a Man", one suspects that she read it attentively.

Dowd's basic thesis is that feminism's road, which she once believed to be a six-lane freeway, appears now to be a gated cul-de-sac. While it is hard to separate the serious criticism from the satire, it is clear that she thinks women have succumbed to playing out bimbo fantasies from popular culture. She ridicules the Harvard MBA's who trade their textbooks for miniskirts and cover up their academic successes to score a date.

Dowd is most relentless in her sarcastic attacks on men. While she clearly feels that they are congenitally unfit for public office, she also thinks that things might work out because the Y chromosome is disappearing and in a few hundred thousand years men will be history anyway. One hopes that there is some irony here, but it is apparent that she harbors a rather deep-seated resentment of males.

Despite its caustic witticism and public outrage, this struck me as a deeply personal book that Maureen Dowd wrote in an attempt to answer a question that haunts her even more than sexuality: "If I am so successful, why am I dissatisfied?"
35 people found this helpful
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Igor Biryukov
5.0 out of 5 stars Women are indispensable nation
Reviewed in the United States on 8 August 2013
Verified Purchase
I found the book an entertaining introduction to the American politics from a feminist perspective, and thoghts about feminist-like figures, e.g. Hillary Clinton. Why Hillary Clinton betrayed the feminist ideals? It is very simple: feminism by definition is anti-elitist. But Hillary wanted to be the elite.

Gender is often about style and tone. Style of Maureen Dowd reminds me style of Sarah Palin - her otherwise ideological opponent. Dowd knows that male, "phallic" authority is a posture. Dowd, like Palin, has a "castrating" effect on male opponents not by way of being more manly than them (like Hillary), but by using the ultimate feminine weapon, the sarcastic put-down of male authority. But the primary mover in both cases is a heightened self-righteousness. I am fine if this spawns a sarcastic but funny book like this. I am less OK when this self-righteousness spawns global Politics.

Madelaine Albright once told a reporter that "U.S. is indispensable nation and we stand taller and see farther"! Condi Rice told Putin in 2008 (on TV!) that "while Russia is misbehaving, but the US would not punish it this time"? Susan Rice, the former US Ambassador to the U.N. was abrasive with male staffers -- I heard this myself from a Yale-based former diplomat. Perhaps it was different 30 years ago, but today most women are as tough as men and are often more confident. Outside the Y chromosome, in my opinion, there is no difference.
One person found this helpful
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