Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female

by Ashley McGuire

Men and women used to vive la différence!But now, contrary to all science and common sense, we’re supposed to believe that there is no difference. (And if you insist there is, you just might be accused of a hate crime!)Our culture-and our laws-are endorsing a worldview rooted in craziness.For instance, we’re told •Boys who think they’re girls (and who could change their minds tomorrow) should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports-and shower in their locker rooms•Expectant mothers are now “birthing individuals”•Coed college dorm rooms and bathrooms are great, but single-sex clubs are a campus danger•It’s horrible for stores to have separate boys and girls clothing departments (let alone toy sections)•It would be a great idea for our military to lower physical standards and push young women and mothers into combat roles in the militaryIf you think that’s insanity, you’re not alone, but you might be surprised at just how widespread-and successful-this lunatic campaign has become.In her compelling new book, Sex Scandal, journalist Ashley McGuire takes this radical campaign to task and •How so-called “gender-norming” flies in the face of science (which is proving that men and women are even more different than commonly acknowledged)•Why-especially if you have kids-it’s almost impossible to avoid the dangerous consequences of a “gender neutral” world •How embracing sexual differences can make policing safer, government more efficient-and hedge funds lose less money•How “gender neutrality” is making women more vulnerable to violence•How the word “gender”-formerly a grammatical term-has been used to dismiss the reality of definite, biological “sex” (male and female) with fluid “gender identities” •Why “gender” insanity is not something we can just ignore and hope will fade away, but need to refute-now-with hard, cold facts before it does any more damage (which it likely will)Sex The Drive to Abolish Male and Female is packed with news-breaking interviews, shocking examples, and “inconvenient” facts that everyone needs to read-and act on.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Feminism, Gender, Sexuality, Audiobook, Cultural

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2017

Reviews

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good overview of the madness that has our culture by the throat.

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is a joke. From the fact that Ashley McGuire herself uses "sex" and "gender" incorrectly despite those terms being the literal subject of her book, to pages and pages of her repeating her point as if just saying her story more will make a reader agree more. She offers no counterarguments and often mocks the other side while demanding respect for her views. There are many times where McQuire poses easily answered questions meant to "back up" her point. For example, she talked about how a gender-inclusive society can put women at a disadvantage because now women need man-like qualities. Said man-like qualities include more physical strength and heightened aggression. Again these are her words. But an easy fix to this problem is that women simply shouldn't adapt to a male-designed world, it's the male-designed world that needs to evolve for gender equity. Her writing style itself is another dissapiontment but the worst of this book lies in her blatant Transphobia. She constantly refers to Trans people by their birth-given gender rather than who they are. Men are "biological women" to McGuire. and again, this is yet another example of her forgetting the main point of her book; the difference between sex and gender. Someone, please remind her that sex is the biology(physiological characteristics, including their genitalia and chromosome composition), gender is society given social and cultural differences between individuals. Ex. women stay home and take care of the house and men go out and earn money. All in all, for someone who wrote 196 pages on gender and sex and used 271 pages of references, Ashley McGuire has no clue what gender or sex is.

Spoilers:
Ex." one loud customer who takes to the media can drown out one million others who are too busy to politicize their everyday shopping"(pg6). Imagine how many people must have agreed with that one voice to even give it a platform that can overlook the other one million who are "too busy to politicize their everyday shopping".

[Steven Kaminski · Rating 5 out of 5]

So...true story. I'm stationed in Okinawa and I have just returned with some others who were TAD (Temporary Assigned Duty) to Cobra Gold which was a joint forces operation in Thailand. And we come back to the clinic and we want to go out for dinner that night and we notice one of our friends was missing.
So I ask, "Where's Jodi?".
In disbelief one of my other friends says, "They sent her to Schwab for a few weeks."
I was in shock, "Why the hell would they do that?"
"They picked at random and she got the short end."
"Good God."
The reason why me and the friend in question were both in disbelief...is because at that time Camp Schwab...at the far northern end of Okinawa was a very isolated base with about 2,000 marines on base. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that out of those 2,000 marines...how many of them were women? FIVE. That's right...five. Five women on a base no where near civilization and 1,995 homesick marines.
And about a week before Cobra Gold a female marine on that base had been airlifted to San Diego for treatment following a brutal sexual assault and attack. We did call up to Schwab and for her own safety Jodi was staying inside the clinic and was sleeping in...wait for it...a closet that she could lock so she could feel safe at night.
This book that I just finished brought that experience back to me but also at its heart a very controversial argument: Just because women want to do everything that men can does that mean that we should disregard the fact that there are real biological and sociological differences and men and women. Also is erasing those differences causing a lot of gender confusion with kids growing up today?
The author in this book argues...and she puts forward some real solid evidence to make you think on it...that as a society because we are making a rush to get women into a society that was dominated through the male lens women are getting short shifted. But we are also being ignorant of real differences that are not benefiting women.

- At Tufts University a woman who wanted to pay for grad school decided to publicly auction off her virginity. She was paid $3.8 MILLION dollars. Many feminist writers and corporate CEO's by the way publicly wrote that this was empowerment. Why?

- When it came to the United States Navy the USS Wyoming was applauded for being the first submarine to integrate female and male sailors together. A year later though (And I totally missed this) 12 sailors were convicted of secretly filming every single female sailor on that ship and secretly sharing the videos with the whole crew.

- When President Obama wanted to integrate all of the forces with women serving in combat roles only the marine corps held back. They did a year long study and in the results (again I never saw this reported) integrated units increased the possibility of combat casualties by 66%. The Secretary of the Navy publicly berated the head of the Corps and went forward with integration over objections.

- in 2006 the Association of firefighters watered down their strength tests to comply with a settlement from the EEOC. Many female firefighters were passed to fill quotas even though they FAILED the physical fitness tests. In LA this led to a skyrocketing of claims for workman's compensation when many female firefighters were injured on the job. Because the standards were weakened for men and women to get women on board this eroded standards overall.

- When Kesha sued her producer for raping her and abusing her the female judge in her case dismissed it remarking, "Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime." When the actress Thandie Newton confessed she had been sexually abused during an audition she was more shocked that the director in question had video of the incident and was showing it to his poker buddies.

- One of the fastest growing gyms in the US is 'Curves' a female only gym. A male lawyer in Boston sued because they would not allow him a membership claiming discrimination. Is he right?

- Amnesty International recently argued that women could be more 'respected' if prostitution was legal. If a woman choses to sell herself for sex is that empowering? Are they right?

Some powerful questions and arguments in this book. I'm very much in favor of women being able to do anything. But this book made me definitely stop and think a few times. You would too...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent analysis of the modern trend to redefine the meaning of "female." When Rachel Donezal insisted she was "trans-racial" the world collectively lost it because white women should not pretend to be black women, even if they "identify" as black women. I do think that the world was too hard on Donezel, but I can understand why, because, after all, being black is not something you can simply take off and put on again as it suits you. And accepting scholarships and grants intended for black women is cheating, IMO. But why isn't the same true of transgender women who accept grants and scholarships intended for women? After all, billons of dollars are at stake.

McGuire argues that being a woman is not an arbitrary definition, but a biological and involuntary one. I accept the existence of transgender women, and believe they deserve to be treated fairly, but I don't think they are the same as women. In fact, the biological difference between the sexes is much, much greater than the difference between various races, which is mostly trivial external attributes relating to adaptations to regional climates. Sex exists in the DNA, and it is determined at conception. It affects many different biological aspects from heart rate to physical strength to dept of color perception. No matter what cosmetic and hormonal treatments we administer, we cannot (yet) change DNA. So I'm not entirely comfortable with considering men and women to be arbitrary definitions, because the future of the human species depends on that distinction.

McGuire takes on the Marxists and cultural relativists who tend to believe all human beings are a blank slate, that sex is cultural, not biological, and that the brain, alone of all organs, is unaffected by sex hormones or even by evolutionary modifications. Her chapters on women firefighters, police, and military, and the hot-button issue of locker room access, are nicely written and well-researched.

However I do have an issue with some of her footnotes, in that there are data sources that have since been discredited. I wish I could cite one, but I didn't put a Post-It on the pages and now cannot find them again. One of them is the so-called epidemic of rape on college campuses. There isn't one. College women are less likely to be raped than women outside of college. But I think she's right to call out the "lad" culture that seems to have become the norm for women. Excessive drinking is a problem, and the ridiculous notion that girls can do everything boys can do does not help. If a guy passes out drunk at a frat house party, he might wake up with Sharpie marker on his face, or his wallet or phone might be stolen. But the consquences for women can be much more severe. Some college girls believe they can take the same risks that met do and not be faced with any more danger than men would face, but that simply isn't the case.

Nevertheless I feel McGuire is a little too conservative in her attitude of reasonable behaviour for women. As a libertarian woman, I don't have an issue with women financing their tuition with prostitution, as long as the physical danger is not too excessive. I don't care what other women do with their bodies, including selling sex, if that's what they choose to do. I think McGuire occassionally comes off as a bit prudish, and the sources she cites are not always verifiably sound data, which is why I knocked off one star. However these are minor issues with an otherwise excellent book that covers an issue that is highly emotional for many: how do we define men and women, if not by their sex?

[Persy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF — had to put down because I’m in shock of the author’s ignorance on the subject matter she chose to write about.

This was just an angry opinion piece of a woman that I hope has since done more research on the difference between sex and gender. Big yikes.

If you’re a feminist or LGBTQ+ supporter, this book is not for you unless you enjoy being talked over by someone that knows little about the issues at hand.

[Bill Ver Velde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply fantastic! I love McGuire's thesis: erasing the distinctions between men and women forces women to become more like men. She brilliantly sets forth actual events to support her thesis. The book pushes the erasure of gender distinctions to its ideological telos where we end up in places like support for prostitution etc. The scary thing is, this is already happening! Overall, this is a well written, thoroughly developed work that our culture needs. This is the intelligent critique you've been looking for!

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing and frustrating in equal measure

First off, I will say that I agree with the author insofar as modern society seems to be jettisoning the concept of biological sex. I admit that transgender people are not people I completely understand. However, because of what appears to be a fundamental difference in how I see human nature, I don't necessarily agree with all of the implications that are drawn in this book. Being somewhat of an optimist at heart and not having the stain of religion, I believe that we as humans have the responsibility to transcend whatever biological tendencies we may (or may not) have. The central issue at stake is one that is never addressed by the author: that people are deserving of respect no matter who they are, irregardless of sexual proclivities. If people actually lived up to that, then maybe there wouldn't be so many sad cases as described within these pages. Still, despite not agreeing with the author at many points, I feel like the book is important and should be read. If nothing else, it provides much food for thought.

[Lee Edwardsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The idea that there is no biological basis for gender but it is just a social construct is of course not something science supports. It is simply a radical ideological position being pushed for political and social reasons.

The truth is, men and women are different, and they parent differently as well. Fathers don’t mother and mothers don’t father. In parenting, as in much else, men and women have different strengths.

In all this, women lose, men gain, and society is the worse for wear. All because we have bought the myth of the androgyny activists. A gender-neutral society effectively stacks the deck in favor of men by binding itself, in the name of political correctness and equality, to everything that makes women more vulnerable.

[Karin Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting perspective since the author had very feminist view points. She focused a lot on how the drive to eliminate gender mostly hurts women and can potentially undo what previous feminist movements have accomplished. A lot of truth and, of course, some things I disagreed about, but overall well thought out and researched.

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Men and women are different. The extent and significance of their differences has long been a matter of considerable dispute. If Ashley McGuire is to be believed, some now deny that any meaningful differences even exist.

A 2014 article in the online magazine Slate, for example, was titled, “Don’t Let the Doctor Do This to Your Newborn.” The author, Christin Scarlett Milloy wrote, “Obstetricians, doctors, and midwives commit this procedure on infant every single day, in every single country. It reality, this treatment is performed almost universally without even asking for the parents’ consent, making this practice all the more insidious.”

What insidious procedure was Milloy talking about? “It’s called infant gender assignment: When the doctor holds your child up to the harsh light of the delivery room, looks between its legs, and declares his opinion: It’s a boy or a girl, based on nothing more than a cursory assessment of your offspring’s genitals.”

Look, I get that a person’s sex should not trap them in rigid gender roles. I’m the son and brother of strong women, I married a strong woman, and I’m raising my two daughters to be strong women. I’m even an ordained minister in a Pentecostal denomination that ordains women. I get that society places constraints on women that are rooted in cultural traditions and prejudices rather than in realities about their sex.

By the same token, however, a doctor looking at a baby’s genitalia is looking at a biological fact, not just a social construction or a parental fantasy. It’s foolish to deny this. Unfortunately, as McGuire points out, “we live in a world of sexual denial. We are increasingly trying to treat men and women as if they were exactly the same. And then we’re surprised by the growing sexual confusion.”

Milloy’s article is just the opening example in an example-rich book. As the examples pile up—from infant gender assignment to gender-normed firefighting tests to transgender youth athletics—you begin to see McGuire’s point. And as a parent, I’ve got to admit that it’s not an encouraging one.

Men and women are different. Rather than denying this elementary biological fact, let’s celebrate it. After all, without those differences, none of us would be here today.

 

Book Reviewed:
Ashley McGuire, Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2017).

P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote "Yes" on my Amazon.com review page.

[Tobi ﾄﾋﾞ · Rating 1 out of 5]

i feel ill

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing book that looks into how abolishing male and female and searching for total equality is hurting women. I learned a lot. First, your sex is biological and depends upon what parts you have. Your gender is more of an emotional state of being that ranges from feminine to masculine.

I was interested in this topic as my 9 year old girl played basketball this year at the rec center in the girls division, yet there were 2 boy players on other teams. The transgender movement is here. Author McGuire argues that the Title IX rule that allowed girls equal access to sports is now being used against girls to allow boy to compete with girls. The rules created to help women are now being used against women and it is harmful. She discusses hot topics such as paternity leave (don't need it men don't have babies) and co-ed dorms (now a backlash after many sexual assaults). I wanted her to say God made the sexes different, but complementary. This is not that book.

"But the social science makes clear that women bring out the best in men, that the inherent differences between the sexes help make the work a more just place."

[Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

When one goes from the reasonable understanding that men and women are equal in value and dignity to the view that equality means treating both sexes as if they are the same, then absurdities ensue. This book exposes how our culture is degraded and women harmed by an ideology-driven willful blindness to the realities of nature.

[Dave Rosenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it. It made me laugh at how woke the world is

[Carolyn Kost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used to regard the bathroom issue as absurd discrimination until I read McGuire's litany drawn from newspapers of men dressed as women who use female locker rooms for titillation (and videorecord!), especially the men who choose to go while the girls' swim team is practicing, well within their rights under the law, since they can select the facility of their choice. I checked those reports; they're factual. Now I'm a fierce opponent of Choose Your Own Bathroom We need our own spaces for safety.

I'm a former Women's Studies prof, so most of this was not new to me, but the material that was new made it well worth the read.

"When we talk about a 'gender neutral' society and make such a society our cultural ideal, we wind up defaulting to a world where the male stereotype becomes the baseline for measuring equality and rights.

For example, women are only equal with men in the military if they can serve in combat roles, which assumes that macho strength is what makes a good solider. Women are not equal with men unless they can eradicate their fertility through contraception and abortion, which assumes the womb-less male body as the paradigm. We even have a pill now, female Viagra, to help women perform sexually more like a man. Rather than force society to recognize and adjust to what makes women unique, we just tip the needle more in the male direction."

In the 1990s, I taught the separation of gender from sex, but it's now being used against us to harm women. Title IX was supposed to ensure equity for females in sports but now it is undermined by enabling physical males with greater body mass (See article by Sell, Pound and Hone, 2012) and strength to claim female "gender" and triumph handily over females in athletic competitions, often the basis for scholarships. This is a gross misapplication and misunderstanding of the difference between sex and gender. STOP it!

XX or XY chromosomes are in every cell of the body. Those differences are increasingly recognized in the medical profession as affecting biochemical differences like metabolic rates and reaction to drugs, prevalence of disease, etc. The irony of society promoting the notion that there are no differences between the sexes as the same time medicine is finding greater difference is astonishing (and inconvenient to prevailing ideology). We are different! Why is this construed as a negative, politically incorrect statement? It's a scientific fact.

McGuire discusses the issues arising out of this equation and their relation to women in combat and other physical roles. Reports indicate that between 1 and 6 and 1 in 3 women in the US military is sexually assaulted--by colleague soldiers. And when the physical ability bar is lowered for combat troops, people die. And get hurt--when LAFD lowered the bar, workers comp claims skyrocketed because women did not have the physical strength to do what was needed.

We women cannot compete physically with strong men. The more interesting question is why do we desire to believe that we can? We can do things men cannot do like give birth and have evolved other differences. Look at primates to see the foundational sex differences exhibited in behavior. This is factual. This should not be one of the battlefields for the war on science.

At an all girls Catholic high school in Seattle recently, a girl's father told me he did not want his daughter to be exposed to my comment that girls must not assume they can become intoxicated, dress scantily, and be safe at a frat party. We don't live on Wonder Woman's island. This is the real world and that is a message we DO need to convey, like it or not. I've seen the results of willful ignorance of the facts on campuses and they are tragic. We need to protect ourselves and not imagine that the world is fair and safe.

That being said, it's no wonder so many girls are claiming to be non-binary (ridiculous since we all correspond more or less to masculine/feminine pure types and are somewhere along the spectrum but non-binary establishes a claim in opposition to that spectrum that is narcissistic and attention seeking to be more interesting and complex than the reality). Who wants to be oppressed or a victim? They see males as strong leaders and therefore renounce their femaleness. Employers share society's perception of males as better leaders, better businesspeople and fundraisers, which explains why males are disproportionately hired for leadership, even in all-girls schools, a depressing departure from the adage "If they can see it, they can be it". We need to value femaleness and femininity.

McGuire is a bit strident at times and indulges in occasional deliberate spin and exaggeration, but for many, this will clarify the issues in ways that challenge leftist orthodoxy.

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far more emotional and 'ripped from the headlines' than I was expecting - I was looking for a philosophico-rational analysis and refutation of the 'gender identity' hoax, if not gender studies with an eye to critical theory more widely. This book is more about practical consequences of 'sex is a spectrum' [sic: gender is for grammar, sex for animals], 'you must accept and affirm and approbate what I say I feel' thinking.

Instead I get a book by a feminist lamenting how the 'gender identity' hoax strips women of their enormous privilege as a 'designated victim group', but with many good points presented piecemeal about the masculization of women under the tutelage of 'sex-positive "feminism"' (real feminism is couverture!) and its deleterious effects.

The author is still a committed egalitarian, sharing this axiom with her enemies, and thus weakens her own position from which to argue for meaningful differences between the sexes.

[Rachel Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, and worth reading to understand the different perspective on gender theory and gender equity. It has many good points and concerns, but for me, fails quite a bit on the topic of prostitution and its general lack of concern for men. The author acknowledges that she focuses primarily on the wellbeing of women due to being a woman, but I think she often goes a bit far in her belief in women's need of protection. Still, a very interesting read.

[Јас Лично · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bra vo!

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do think this is an important book, as it does focus on a topic that is becoming increasingly taboo - that is, how women's protections and safeguards are being stripped away under the guise of 'inclusion'. Some things, in particular sports, bathrooms and change rooms, health services, and shelters, are inherently exclusionary. If anyone could compete in the Olympics, it would cease to be about elite athletics. If anyone can self-identify into being a woman, women's safe havens will cease to be safe. For that, I commend McGuire for raising awareness.

However, McGuire is a conservative Christian woman, and that comes across clearly in her writing. Despite writing about the numerous ways in which men have, and continue to, harm women, McGuire absolves men of nearly all of the blame for their actions, instead choosing to blame second-wave feminists for their role in fighting for 'gender neutrality'. While I also question the effectiveness of gender neutrality, in which it is clear that masculine and male continue to be the default, McGuire overshoots that, continuously stating that feminists wanted to be 'treated like men', when in fact all they wanted was to be treated like free, autonomous people. I found that socialization and larger discussions surrounding patriarchy and the expectations set on women were not discussed enough, and that proponents of 'choice' feminism, while problematic, were simply written off instead of exploring why they may be complicit in these systems.

The sections on chivalry are particular guilty of this. Although chivalry is apparently the only thing keeping men from acting out their basest impulses and becoming terrible people, McGuire decided to focus on the feminists who 'got rid of' chivalry instead of, I don't know, holding men to a higher standard and expecting them to be decent people on their own? The continuous glossing over of male behavior ranging from annoying to violent (an especially low point was the discussion of sexual harassment and assault in the Navy, which managed to place more blame on policymakers for overlooking that making submarines mixed-sex would result in higher rates of violence than the men who were actually responsible for the abuse. While policymakers clearly failed woman in a fundamental way, and continue to do so as evidenced by the astronomical rates of sexual assault in the military, it's difficult to argue that men are simultaneously the 'protectors' of woman and incapable of not raping their coworkers) had a very 'boys will be boys' feel to it.

While McGuire raises good points on the dangers of the sex-positive movement, prostitution, and the inclusion of male-bodied people in women's sports and spaces, her arguments against the Pill, abortion, and no-fault divorce, and her emphasis on women 'being able to' retain their femininity are decidedly unfeminist and are clearly approached from a conservative viewpoint. Sex can matter in a material way without falling back on arguments of biological essentialism, and that is where this book, and McGuire, fall short.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female by Ashley McGuire presents a well thought out and logically constructed analysis of the current progressive argument that there is no difference between female and male members of the human race. This idea, if accepted, leads then to many of the changes currently being pushed in society such as commonly shared restrooms and locker rooms, sports for men or women being open to either sex, all careers open to everyone including those like firefighters that require carrying victims to safety. The author discusses the issues of biological sex versus what is known as gender identities that cannot just be ignored and must be dealt with. She presents her analysis filled with many practical and appropriate examples, interviews, as well as inconvenient facts that everyone should consider in understanding this topic. The author states her opinion that what results from the idea of gender neutrality is generally negative with respect to today's women who are having to compete in women's sports with transgender women who are taking the top spots in competitions and forcing women out of consideration for some scholarships. The author also makes an argument that many of these changes to gender neutrality make women more vulnerable to violence and that the changes generally are detrimental to women; something we should all be concerned about. I found this book to be very interesting, logically organized, thought-provoking, and timely. Highly recommend.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

denial of sex, conversation terrorist, gender behaviors vs reality, nothing new as Gnosticism, bonding after sex, culture changes reality does not, Tufts U and PP affiliate encourage abuse of women Vcup cakes, womens studies degrade women, ‘good for you’ vs reality as at Harvard, coed and binge drinking and hookup, no prosecution of deplorable behavior aboard the USS Wyoming, combat readiness is degraded when coed fails because more are dead, equal opportunity to serve but not equal opportunity to survive, 4.5% firefighters only after lower standards such as 3 to 35’ ladder, there is benefit to women in police less excessive force, sex selective abortion is eugenics which is outlawed in the world after Hitler, minimal women in film and music industry, women as object now vs peak of chivalry when Titanic, cervical cancer by STD’s, declining female happiness more depression drugs, peeping toms at Target, I think therefore I am, 27-30m in sex traffic slavery, UN amnesty Intl and progressives desire to legalize prostitution and promote sugar daddy PP also, change back to single sex schools gyms clinics.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea behind this book, that we should embrace ourselves as the women we are. That we should celebrate the fact that we can bear children and that we get emotionally invested and that we care about other people. That there are significant biological differences between the sexes and it is not all about social constructs. Why are female traits considered lesser than? Maybe if we weren't trying to be more like men and instead embraced what makes us unique, we could live in unequal equality, where we all appreciate what the other brings to the table.
This book was often a confusing contradiction of how women should be equal but also they should be offered special protections, it seems to embody the confusion that is the feminist movement right now. Where everyone is a feminist and can do anything that she considers empowering, but maybe not that thing or that one either, because those aren't empowering, they are weak and cater to the patriarchy. Though hell if I can figure out what is acceptable or what the patriarchy is for that matter.

[Abidha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I’d enjoy this book because I thought the author would simply regurgitate everything we (most of us) know to be true. However, I was taken by surprise by the amount of ground that was covered, from the impact of hookup culture to the rise in single sex education in America.

There’s a saying that goes, when America sneezes the world catches a cold and it’s interesting because, the trends that America tends to adopt or legislation it passes, it slowly starts to seep through into other countries. So if this book is anything to go by then there’s interesting times ahead.

I do wonder though, how many of these movements would have come into fruition had there not been a decline in Christianity in America or Europe. I think this because, I could not help but wonder how Islam answers a lot of the questions asked in this book from prohibiting hookup culture, alcohol and prostitution to promoting marriage.

Last thoughts, something my teacher had said “the existence of fringe opinions do not impact the consensus of the majority”.

[Wayker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought the book because the cover seemed promising; however, it turned out to be a feminist book. The author does have enough common sense to recognize that the whole alphabet mafia issue is a societal madness, and in that sense, her observations of the problem are spot-on. The flaw lies in diagnosing the causes, attributing it to anything but feminism itself, which is the root cause addressed by the book. However, it doesn't even mention feminism as a plausible cause and instead focuses on the same victim mentality. It's like reading about a child having a tantrum meanwhile experiencing jealousy over a younger sibling, but lacking sufficient introspection.

[Seth Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of the book is good: the differences between the sexes are complementary and should not be eliminated. The reason the book takes that approach though is because she feels it isn’t fair that women are now held to the same standards as men. In summary: feminist promotes feminism while complaining about the consequences of feminism. Or: woman complains that women deserve equality in every way with men, except when it is inconvenient to women. She makes it very clear that she has a double standard, because she insists that drafting men is fine, but drafting women is a crime against human rights. She claims women deserve exclusive gyms and similar spaces, but men should not be allowed such.

[Mark Lickliter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be read by all. Ashley obviously hails from the Department of Common Sense, which is currently not a popular place in our culture. It's nice to have some sanity in an age of delusion. Read this book and remember the good old days when a man was a man and a women was a woman, and you didn't have to apologize for believing in reality.

[John Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I am living in some alternate universe when I look around me and see the schizophrenic policies and thought processes that have been thrust on society today. I am SO glad that this book is available for the world to read! The courage it took to write it is not missed by me, and I am very thankful for it. This should be required reading!

[Blythe Drilling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this in 2025 was slightly weird since it was published in 2017. I can see how this might seem outdated, but I believe it is still a great resource and more concise argument for not erasing the differences between male and female. I would definitely recommend this book to someone trying to examine the ins and outs of the gender debates.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on audiobook at work and absolutely loved it. It brought up points that I didn't even think about that is a result of trying to get rid of "male" and "female." Such as that by reducing the genders, we are actually getting rid of what makes a woman, a woman.

[Jon Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought provoking about actual often negative effect of gender equity on women's rights, privacy and when good and obvious differences of the sexes can be an advantage to women and men. recommended.