THE GOOD GIRL SYNDROME: How Women are Programmed to Fail in a Man's World--and How to Stop It

by William & Eleanor S. Field Fezler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 1985

The victim of the so-called good girl syndrome believes that anger is unfeminine, that women are supposed to give and men take, that women shouldn't enjoy sex too much or else men won't respect them, and other such unpleasant and erroneous drudgery. In fact, this manufactured malady is nothing more than a tedious brew of clich‚s. Nearly every patient anecdote is followed by an example of the erroneous belief it illustrates. The lack of seques into the bulleted beliefs make reading disconcerting, however. For those who take solace in self-help books, parts of this can be read for a confirmation of existing suspicions. For example, ""Victims of the Good Girl Syndrome live in an externally controlled world, where rules for doing come from outside themselves. The outside world is dominated by men, and the rules that govern it are made by men for the benefit of men.""The book opens with a test for determining whether you may indeed suffer from this syndrome. If you agree too strongly with such statements as ""Inner voice tells you that it is the goal of a good woman to help her man succeed, even if he doesn't help her""; ""Deep down, you worry that you are selfish for wanting independence""; or ""You constantly seek the approval of men, whether at work or at home,"" send back your gift subscription to Ms. Magazine. Only for those women who still believe men are smarter and should be deferred to at all times.

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 1985

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1985

Categories: NONFICTION