The Manipulated Man
- Author:
Esther Vilar
Abelard-Schuman, ?1.50
The story goes that a social scientist who was asked by an acqaintance ‘How’s your wife?’ replied ‘Compared with what?’ This book is ostensibly about husbands and is in the same vein. Men are stronger and more intelligent than women but, strangely, it is the fate of each man to become the willing slave of some woman, without knowing how this takes place.
The book is full of generalizations, most of them inaccurate. Feminine and masculine roles are sharply divided. Long hair, colourful clothes, toilet aids, and artistic interests are presented as a denial of masculinity: the feminine mind is unable to encompass such subjects as physics, chemistry or biology. Men are fooled into believing that this feminine lack is compensated for by the special gift of ‘intuition’. Many of the statements are reactionary in the sense that they are a reaction to Women’s Lib. The author parades her femininity, giving some sympathy, rather lightly disguised as admiration to the few women ‘who are not venal, and to all those fortunate enough to have lost their market value because they are too old, too ugly or too ill’. The book has become a best seller, perhaps by reason of a subtle flattery to all those who treat sexual relationships as a game.
Kahn
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