We would gladly have have listened to her (they said) if only she had spoken like a lady. But they are liars and the truth is not in them.

Shrill… vituperative… no concern for the future of society… maunderings of antiquated feminism… selfish femlib… needs a good lay… this shapeless book… of course a calm and objective discussion is beyond… twisted, neurotic… some truth buried in a largely hysterical… of very limited interest, I should… another tract for the trash-can… burned her bra and thought that… no characterization, no plot… really important issues are neglected, while … hermetically sealed … women’s limited experience …another of the screaming sisterhood… a not very appealing aggressiveness… could have been done with wit if the author had… deflowering the pretentious male… a man would have given his right arm to… hardly girlish… a woman’s book…. another shrill polemic which the … a mere male like myself can hardly … a brilliant but basically confused study of feminine hysteria which … feminine lack of objectivity … this pretense at a novel… trying to shock… the tired tricks of the anti-novelists … how often must a poor critic have to … the usual boring obligatory references to lesbianism… denial of the profound sexual polarity which… an all too womanly refusal to face facts … pseudo-masculine brusqueness… the ladies’ magazine level… trivial topics like housework and the predictable screams of … those who cuddled up to ball-breaker Kate will… unfortunately sexless in its outlook … drivel… a warped clinical protest against …violently waspish attack … formidable self-pity which erodes any chance of … formless… the inability to accept the female role which … the predictable fury at anatomy displaced to … without the grace and compassion which we have the right to expect … anatomy is destiny … destiny is anatomy … sharp and funny but without real weight or anything beyond topical … just plain bad …. we “dear ladies”, whom Russ would do away with unfortunately just don’t feel … ephemeral trash, missiles of the sex war … a female lack of experience which …

Q.E.D. Quod erat demonstrandum. It has been proved.

– The Female Man, Joanna Russ

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