Good Will Toward Men: Women Talk Candidly about the Balance of Power Between the Sexes

Journalist and radio talk-show host Kammer here conducts 22 interviews with prominent women about how the battle of the sexes affects men and how rabid feminism, when used as a weapon against men, ultimately hurts everyone--including women. Kammer's questions are probing; the responses from women, among them writers, attorneys and academics, are more likely to stir greater controversy than to inspire a truce in the gender wars. ``What do you think of the idea that Playboy magazine degrades women?'' Kammer asks Barbara Dorrity, a leading anti-censorship feminist and occasional Playboy contributor, who answers, ``I think it's ridiculous.'' Other topics discussed include male-bashing, reverse sexism, exclusion of men from the domestic front, husband abuse and the traditional male role as ``success object.'' Kammer does not plead for a return to traditional sex roles but asks that women try to understand men as fellow human beings rather than enemies. Kammer and his interviewees, offering a valuable, undeniably slanted take on an ages-old topic, are not persuasive enough to change the mindset of many readers. (Feb.)