Regiment of Women: Difference between revisions
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'''''Regiment of Women''''' is a 1973 novel by [[Thomas Berger]]. It is an attempted satire of a feminist matriarchy, and is rife with sexism and homophobia. | '''''Regiment of Women''''' is a 1973 novel by [[Thomas Berger]]. It is an attempted satire of a feminist matriarchy, and is rife with sexism and homophobia. Portraying a [[gender role reversal society]], men are subject to rape and many of the social ills that women under patriarchy are. However, sexist stereotypes of feminists and women are used to create the dystopian matriarchy: dissolution of families, sex, and so forth. A central theme is the unnatural matriarchal sex, in which women penetrate men using dildos; the protagonist revels in and relishes a return to "natural" heterosexual sex, in which penile penetration of vaginas is normative. Homosexuality is erased. This preoccupation with the unnaturalness of woman-on-man sex is probably the most obvious feature of the book. | ||
==Conflicting reviews== | ==Conflicting reviews== | ||
* The ''[[New York Times Book Review]]'' said: "Once again, Thomas Berger brings a satiric and irreverent perspective to the human experience, evoking a world that most dare not even imagine and effectively dismantling all existing definitions of sex and gender. "Imagined with such ferocity and glee that we assent to it almost in spite of ourselves . . . a brilliant accomplishment by one of out best novelists."--New York Times Book Review." It's difficult to see how the novel "dismantl[ed] all existing definitions of sex and gender" since it tended, rather, to reify definitions popular throughout the early 20th century. | * The ''[[New York Times Book Review]]'' said: "Once again, Thomas Berger brings a satiric and irreverent perspective to the human experience, evoking a world that most dare not even imagine and effectively dismantling all existing definitions of sex and gender. "Imagined with such ferocity and glee that we assent to it almost in spite of ourselves . . . a brilliant accomplishment by one of out best novelists."--New York Times Book Review." | ||
:: [[User:Lquilter|Lquilter]]: It's difficult to see how the novel "dismantl[ed] all existing definitions of sex and gender" since it tended, rather, to reify definitions popular throughout the early 20th century. | |||
* NoSoupForYou "Doc", Amazon reviewer: "Some people see Berger's "Regiment of Women" as an anti-feminist diatribe. I've always seen it as a pro-feminist book, with Berger essentially satirizing the extreme exaggerations of those who said women's lib would make women "masculine". "<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LBDZVPC8R2L1/ref=cm_cr_dp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0671214926&nodeID=283155&tag=&linkCode= amazon.com review]</ref> | * NoSoupForYou "Doc", Amazon reviewer: "Some people see Berger's "Regiment of Women" as an anti-feminist diatribe. I've always seen it as a pro-feminist book, with Berger essentially satirizing the extreme exaggerations of those who said women's lib would make women "masculine". "<ref>[http://www.amazon.com/review/R2LBDZVPC8R2L1/ref=cm_cr_dp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0671214926&nodeID=283155&tag=&linkCode= amazon.com review]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 14:20, 28 January 2011
Regiment of Women is a 1973 novel by Thomas Berger. It is an attempted satire of a feminist matriarchy, and is rife with sexism and homophobia. Portraying a gender role reversal society, men are subject to rape and many of the social ills that women under patriarchy are. However, sexist stereotypes of feminists and women are used to create the dystopian matriarchy: dissolution of families, sex, and so forth. A central theme is the unnatural matriarchal sex, in which women penetrate men using dildos; the protagonist revels in and relishes a return to "natural" heterosexual sex, in which penile penetration of vaginas is normative. Homosexuality is erased. This preoccupation with the unnaturalness of woman-on-man sex is probably the most obvious feature of the book.
Conflicting reviews
- The New York Times Book Review said: "Once again, Thomas Berger brings a satiric and irreverent perspective to the human experience, evoking a world that most dare not even imagine and effectively dismantling all existing definitions of sex and gender. "Imagined with such ferocity and glee that we assent to it almost in spite of ourselves . . . a brilliant accomplishment by one of out best novelists."--New York Times Book Review."
- Lquilter: It's difficult to see how the novel "dismantl[ed] all existing definitions of sex and gender" since it tended, rather, to reify definitions popular throughout the early 20th century.
- NoSoupForYou "Doc", Amazon reviewer: "Some people see Berger's "Regiment of Women" as an anti-feminist diatribe. I've always seen it as a pro-feminist book, with Berger essentially satirizing the extreme exaggerations of those who said women's lib would make women "masculine". "[1]