Online Book Club

Want to be a part of NeW, but don’t have a NeW chapter near you? Then, join the NeW Online Book Club. During the spring 2013 school semester, Elizabeth Hebeler and Marian Hoff are leading a discussion and review of Taking Sex Differences Seriously by Steven Rhoads. Join the discussion by commenting on the posts found below.

Liberty is No War on Women – Weekly Reading Schedule

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Next week we start reading Liberty is No War on Women by Carrie Lukas and Sabrina Schaeffer. We hope you will read along with us, and add your comments and thoughts each week. To follow along, we are posting the weekly reading schedule (though if you read ahead, we won’t blame you!):   May 29 – [...]

May 22, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Next Online Book Club: Liberty is No War on Women

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Each semester and summer, NeW likes to host reviews and discussions about the books our chapters read in our Online Book Club. In the past we’ve done Manning Up, Who Stole Feminism, A Return to Modesty, and most recently Taking Sex Differences Seriously. I am pleased to announce that our Online Book Club returns in 2 weeks, [...]

May 15, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Author Interview with Steven Rhoads

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Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Steven Rhoads, author of Taking Sex Differences Seriously. Although a busy professor at University of Virginia, he accommodatingly made time to answer questions and give a bit of personal advice to our generation. What initially prompted you to research and write about sex differences? When researching [...]

May 1, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously: Conclusion

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Over the course of this book, we have learned a lot about the discussion of masculinity, femininity, sex differences, fatherless families, the sexual revolution, the nature of men and the nature of women. Through Dr. Steven E. Rhoad’s research and observations, we have been able to expand our knowledge base of this topic. In his [...]

April 24, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 9

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In Chapter 9, Rhoads sifts through the idea that effective childcare can be provided equally by anyone – mother, father, nanny, or daycares. Structuring his argument around common objections, Rhoads first addresses the claim that children in daycare get sick more often, agreeing that Daycare providers pressure mothers to use antibiotics, and mothers, stressed by [...]

April 17, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously- Chapter 8 (pages 190-204)

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Rhoads opens Chapter 8 with several questions about motherhood: What happened when women have few or no children? And for those who do have children, is motherhood the burden it is perceived to be? This is a tender issue. Women on both sides can be fiercely possessive of their opinions. However, Rhoads makes much of [...]

April 3, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 7 (Pages 173-187)

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In the continuation of Chapter 7, Rhoads explains the benefits of sports to women. It provides medical benefits, self-esteem benefits and helps with confidence leading to success in careers. The discussion of Title IX in all of this brings up the question, is something being forced on women or is it providing opportunities? Team sports [...]

March 27, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 7 (pages 159-173)

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As Elizabeth observed in last week’s blog post, aggression – when channeled productively – can be a powerful, positive force. A great example of this is the male tendency to excel in athletics. Rhoads notes that for most of history, far fewer women than men have participated in sports; but, the modern claim that men [...]

March 20, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 6

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Chapter 6 is titled, “Aggression, Dominance and Competition”. If you had to link each of these words to male or female, what would you choose? Rhoads explains that in this chapter that men in all societies are more highly linked to these words than women. Rhoads explains there are more murders committed by men and [...]

March 13, 2013 2 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 5 (pages 113-131)

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Wrapping up his survey of the sexual revolution and its conflicted messages in Taking Sex Differences Seriously, Rhoads declares unabashedly that: The idea that women can transform men for the better is out of fashion, but… it is undeniably true. (117) He notes that marrying can also benefit women, particularly if they marry earlier in [...]

March 6, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

Taking Sex Differences Seriously – Chapter 5 (Pages 96-113)

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Chapter 5 outlines the Sexual Revolution which occurred in the 1960s.  Three major components made up one of the least talked about but most highly influential revolutions: 1) the invention of the birth control pill, 2) a shift of ideology, and 3) the rise of radical feminism. From sex being pro-creative to recreational, from a serious of [...]

February 27, 2013 1 comment CONTINUE READING THIS POST →

50th Anniversary of The Feminine Mystique and Women in the Workplace

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This week marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. It is an important book to read to better understand second wave feminism in America.  A number of our NeW chapters have read it and also our Online Book Club read it. A New York Times article, Criticisms of a [...]

February 20, 2013 0 comments CONTINUE READING THIS POST →