The Princess at the Window: A New Gender Morality.

The Princess at the Window: A New Gender Morality. By. Donna Laframboise. Toronto, Ontario: Penguin Books, 1996, 370 pages. Paper, $19.99.

Reviewed by Edward S. Herold, Ph.D., The University of Guelph, Department of Family Studies, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.

This book will undoubtedly upset many radical feminists but be embraced by many liberal feminists. As noted by Naomi McCormick (1994), radical feminists focus on the dangers of sex, whereas liberal feminists focus on the pleasures of sex.

Donna Laframboise is a young feminist who graduated with top honours from the Women's Studies Department at the University of Toronto and who for the past few years has been a journalist. The book is targeted to the general public as well as the academic community. Laframboise wrote this book because she is deeply concerned about the direction mainstream feminism has taken. Feminist critiques have typically used American examples, and a significant contribution of this book is that it draws on examples from both Canada and the United States. This is important because the feminist movement has had considerably more influence on Canadian laws than on American laws.

This book is controversial and, given its focus, has been vilified by radical feminists who themselves are attacked throughout the book for their extremism and intolerance toward points of view other than their own. Using a frank, "no holds barred" approach, Laframboise clearly lays the blame for many of feminism's problems at the feet of radical feminists. She strongly believes that for feminism to survive it must be open to criticism and that critics of feminism should be viewed as friends who want to improve feminist philosophy rather than as enemies who are portrayed as contributing to the destruction of feminism.

The book has eight chapters. In the first chapter Laframboise refers to the "lunatic fringe" of feminism in critiquing the writings of Marilyn French and Catharine MacKinnon. She accuses these writers of perpetuating sexism against men in the form of male bashing. According to Laframboise, these writers are guilty of perpetuating extremist gender stereotypes (e.g., all men are exploitative of women, all men are guilty of committing crimes against women). In contrast, Laframboise is critical of feminists who portray women as being morally superior to men and incapable of committing violent acts unless they have been corrupted by men.

In Chapter 2, Laframboise acknowledges that violence against women and sexual abuse are serious problems. However, she is critical of the stereotype that women and children are always the victims of violence and/or sexual abuse and that men are never the victims. She is particularly concerned about feminists who state that false allegations of sexual violence such as .rape never occur. She points out that in other areas of criminal law, the accused is considered innocent until proven guilty, yet when it comes to allegations of sexual wrongdoing, the opposite occurs, with the accused immediately judged guilty.

In Chapter 3, Laframboise criticizes the feminist double standard, which minimizes any problems men may have. Behind this double standard is the belief that because of the patriarchal power structure, men, in comparison with women, really do not have any problems after all, they are the privileged ones. If this is the case, Laframboise wonders why about five times as many men as women commit suicide. Also, what about the fact that women, on average, live longer than men? Laframboise speculates that if the reverse were true and men outlived women, feminists would interpret this as another example of how women's lives are worse than men's. She also critiques the assumption that all acts of violence against women are part of the political agenda of men to suppress women. This assumption is totally against the fact that many men see themselves as being the protector of women and children. Many men suffer physical harm and in some cases death when trying to rescue women who are being threatened--yet these men are totally ignored in feminist analyses. Aren't men taught that in the lifeboat situation, they must be prepared to give up their seats to women and children, if so called upon? Feminist analysis is also critiqued for glossing over the statistic that in North America, more men than women are murdered. Here, Laframboise argues, is a typical example of how some feminists conveniently ignore any statistical data that are contrary to their feminist beliefs.

Chapter 4 deals with the issue of political correctness. According to Laframboise, many radical feminists are intolerant of those who disagree with them, and women who diverge from the "party line" are dismissed as not being true feminists. This aspect of intolerance of dissenting opinions concerns Laframboise the most. Using several examples, she illustrates how women who have tried to express any views that are not considered acceptable to radical feminists have been viciously attacked on a personal level and treated with contempt as the enemy. The author is especially upset with professors who engage in "indoctrination" as opposed to scholarly inquiry.

In Chapter 6 she discusses the men's movement and its implications for feminism. Here Laframboise discusses the problems men have to face because of how men's roles are stereotyped, and she encourages feminists to be more understanding of the problems dealt men. In Chapter 7 she states that feminists have used biased statistics in their analyses of male power. She asserts that, in reality, many men who are in low paying jobs, for example, lack the power attributed to all men by feminists. In fact, a relatively small group of men hold economic power over most men as well as most women. Men who are at the low end of the economic scale are also disadvantaged because many women consider them to be less desirable as potential partners. Furthermore, Laframboise argues that compared with men, many women have sexual power that can be used to their advantage and that male sexuality is devalued in comparison with female sexuality.

In Chapter 8 the author analyzes women's romance novels and concludes that most portray a model of the ideal man even in more restrictive terms than what is commonly portrayed in the media as the ideal woman--the ideal man must not only be good looking, strong, self-confident, and a good lover--he must above all be rich and powerful. Several examples from current romance novels are given to illustrate that many are very explicit sexually and often portray themes of dominance and submission. Laframboise argues that many women enjoy reading these kinds of novels, but the feminist movement has failed to recognize this because of the assumption that only men would find this kind of sexuality appealing. She then discusses how feminist thinking about what is "politically acceptable" sexuality has affected political and legal actions regarding the regulation of pornography, especially in Canada. In the final chapter Laframboise analyzes the effects that radical feminist thinking has had on sexual assault and sexual harassment. Here she believes that definitions of sexual harassment have become so broad that almost any activity involving a man and a woman could be at some point defined as making the woman uncomfortable and therefore an example of sexual harassment.

In her conclusion, Laframboise argues that we must work toward reducing the hostility between men and women rather than fanning the flames, which is the objective of radical feminists. Instead, she believes we need to replace hostility with compassion and tolerance.

In reading this book, a reviewer might easily gain the impression that the author is critical of all feminists; however, this is not the case. Although Laframboise does in several instances acknowledge many positive contributions of feminism, she critiques what she sees as the weaknesses of feminism. Her ultimate objective is to encourage feminists to move in the direction of improving relationships between men and women through reason and tolerance rather than to continue cold war hostilities. She believes that radical feminists have taken over the feminist movement and through intimidation have attempted to silence women who disagree with them. Laframboise clearly believes that this intimidation has been successful and that moderate feminists have been reluctant to challenge the extremists. Because of this, Laframboise concludes that many young women today no longer feel that feminist leaders speak for them, and thus an increasing number of young women refuse to refer to themselves as feminists.

Because this book is polemical, the author has not attempted to present a balanced point of view. Undoubtedly, many radical feminists and perhaps some liberal feminists as well will argue that their perspective has been misrepresented. Regardless of one's position on these issues, this is a book that is well worth reading if one wishes to understand why there is increasing dissension within the feminist movement. Laframboise has frankly and passionately addressed what she considers to be many weaknesses in current feminist thinking. The controversies she presents in this book will no doubt be at the forefront of feminist debates for many years to come.

Reference

McCormick, N. (1914). Sexual salvation: Affirming women's sexual rights and pleasures. Westport, CT: Praeger.