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Ten Stupid Things Women Do To Mess Up Their Lives - Dr. Laura Schlessinger

10stupidthigns I don’t usually read self-help books. But this was highly recommended to me by a close friend. Because the topic of feminism is still so subjective I have to talk about it in relation to my own experiences as a female, so apologies to all those who don’t fall in this category.

It was written by Dr Laura C. Schlessinger in 1994 and we are going to ignore Oprah’s kudos and focus on why this is such a great book for all young women to read.

Yes it’s painfully honest, almost insulting to our intelligence even, and, being guilty of double-standards and anti-feminism, I felt like a small child being yelled at for drawing on the wall. (I’ll show her I can have casual sex and maintain my integrity! Well, maybe not.)

The book describes different stupid things as being: Stupid Attachment, Stupid Courtship, Stupid Devotion, Stupid Passion, Stupid Cohabitation, Stupid Expectations, Stupid Conception, Stupid Subjugation, Stupid Helplessness, and Stupid Forgiving. Basically, Dr. Laura tells us that women by nature may be predisposed to acting a particular way (staying with an abusive partner who is hurting your children, falling pregnant in order to trap a man into commmitmnet, etc) but we need to be more assertive and independent. I found more life advice in this book rather than relationship advice, as much of what is said can be applied to the workforce.

While Dr. Laura holds some beliefs which we may see as old-fashioned I found myself agreeing with a lot of it thanks to her clever articulation and use of transcripts from her radio program. However one of the first things mentioned in the book I found helpful in taking a positive step away from an awful break up some time ago.

According to the Doc, while men in a relationship maintain an identity independent of this relationship, women entangle their own identity into the relationship and therefore when it ends, find it harder to “find themselves” again and during the relationship are probably going to do the stupid things mentioned in later chapters.

Some of the problems callers talked about were so unbelievable, we catch ourselves thinking “I would never let myself get into such a position” but think back a bit, maybe you have been before? It’s quite nervewracking.

I knew I was sexist against women but this book has opened my eyes. Some sections could do with an update as a lot has changed in the last 14-15 years but it is worthwhile.

No matter where you are on the feminism scale, I would really like to hear any thoughts other readers have had, especially if you are male.

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March 7th, 2009ReviewsRead More >No Comments