The Female Man

by Joanna Russ

We would gladly have listened to her (they said) if only she had spoken like a lady. But they are liars and the truth is not in them. Shrill … vituperative … no concern for the future of society … maunderings of antiquated feminism … selfish femlib … needs a good lay … this shapeless book … of course a calm and objective discussion is beyond … twisted, neurotic … some truth buried in a largely hysterical … of very limited interest, I should … another tract for the trash-can … burned her bra and thought that … no characterization, no plot … really important issues are neglected while … hermetically sealed … women’s limited experience … another of the screaming sisterhood … a not very appealing aggressiveness … could have been done with wit if the author had … deflowering the pretentious male … a man would have given his right arm to … hardly girlish … a woman’s book … another shrill polemic which the … a mere male like myself can hardly … a brilliant but basically confused study of feminine hysteria which … feminine lack of objectivity … this pretense at a novel … trying to shock … the tired tricks of the anti-novelists … how often must a poor critic have to … the usual boring obligatory references to Lesbianism … denial of the profound sexual polarity which … an all too womanly refusal to face facts … pseudo-masculine brusqueness … the ladies’-magazine level … trivial topics like housework and the predictable screams of … those who cuddled up to ball-breaker Kate will … un...