Gender War, Gender Peace: The Quest for Love and Justice Between Women and Men

Kipnis and Herron, co-directors of the Santa Barbara Institute for Gender Studies, put theory into practice in the narration of this joint volume: both tell the story of a group wilderness trip they led, but the narration alternates between them, with only the context revealing the author of the moment. Their book is less interesting for the philosophizing, psychologizing and sociologizing about the problems of the men's and women's movements, much of which is familiar material with much mythology added, than for the changes wrought in the participants. The reader gets to know them well, to feel their pain and to share their joy as they acquire new insights. The authors' message is self-evident: men and women are very different, but it is wrong to see their interaction as either/or rather than as both/and. (Feb.)