Books and Cooks West
October 2000
The Gender Knot by Allan G. Johnson
The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy by
Allan G Johnson
October 7, 2000, 5:30 PM
Vicki and Kevin's place
Menu: Cajun shrimp, lemon chicken with vegetables, chocolate chip cookies, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, red wine
Our rating: 3.75 cups of tea!
Kimberly J Allen
Allan Johnson writes with rare clarity about gender issues.
Here at last is a book about gender relations that both men and women can feel connected to. Johnson
validates women's feminist work, holding it up as an example of both moral and intellectual achievement. In
fact, he takes feminism absolutely seriously, which made me realize just how rare that is. And yet, he's not a
guilt-ridden "sensitive 90's guy" who is merely kow-towing to anything female because of the long
history of
our mistreatment at the hands of his gender. Instead, Johnson takes a far more responsible role than passive
guilt. He is actively working to understand patriarchy from a male perspective in order that he can be part of a
large-scale, societal (not individual-level) solution to the gender problems we are mired in. Men will not
feel personally attacked by his stance on patriarchy, and yet, women will feel validated.
This is a very important book.
