cover image Women Who Make the World Worse: And How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports

Women Who Make the World Worse: And How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports

Kate O'Beirne. Sentinel, $24.95 (230pp) ISBN 978-1-59523-009-6

The satirical cartoon cover of O'Beirne's book-not to mention the title-is an accurate reflection of the content within: O'Beirne, Washington editor of National Review magazine and a former vice president of the Heritage Foundation, has jumped on the bandwagon of highly politicized books (from both ends of the spectrum) leveling an all-out attack on the American feminist movement. O'Beirne tackles a wide range of issues, from childcare to sports to women in the military, claiming: ""Only the French looked to a teenage girl to lead them into battle."" She has a tendency to link strong arguments (children born into single-family homes are more likely to live in poverty) with her nebulous central thesis-feminists are responsible for the world's ills-without providing sufficient evidence to reinforce these claims. But are feminists really chiefly responsible for the demise of the American family? O'Beirne does bring up some worthy points, such as the fact that women's salaries are essentially equal to men's when accounting for time/job experience lost while raising children, but she tarnishes even her fact-based arguments with slavish adherence to the book's central focus: smearing powerful, left-wing women. The clever chapter titles and argumentative, lively writing style make this book, even for those not inclined to agree with O'Beirne's politics, readable, but O'Beirne's primary readership will undoubtedly enjoy her rousing take on gender politics.