Misogynies: Reflections on Myths and Malice

``A deep-seated hatred of women'' has many manifestations in our society, according to British novelist-journalist Smith in this collection of hard-hitting essays. Covering the case of the Yorkshire Ripper in the 1970s, she had her views on abuse of women validated. She follows the misogynistic trail in England in the public attitudes toward Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher, and in the U.S. in the depiction of women in films and in popular novels such as Sophie's Choice and Presumed Innocent. In articles that perceptively delineate male biases regarding the role of women going back to antiquity, Smith brings a fresh viewpoint; however, her comments about the Virgin Mary, ``a pretty hopeless role model for other women,'' are gratuitously offensive. (Jan.)