Big Sister: How Extreme Feminism Has Betrayed the Fight for Sexual Equality

by Neil Boyd

Book Overview

Big Sister is an unsparing look at radical feminism and its effect on society's judicial system. In this provocative book, Neil Boyd argues that a small band of female extremists has been remarkably successful in reworking criminal and family law. Now that radical feminists have moved into positions of influence as lawyers, judges, politicians, and policy makers, their thinking can be seen in decisions across the legal landscape. He argues that there...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1553650018
• ISBN13: 9781553650010
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Greystone Books
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Read and Comprehend.

This is actually, despite its title, a very mainstream book. Boyd is not a conservative, and, at least three times by my recollection, he goes out of his way to point out all the ways in which feminism has benefited North America and how valuable it once was [sic]. Yet, despite its supposed past achievements in the areas of pornography, sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic violence, and societal outlook, feminism is bringing about a new dark age. It is an age where the opinions of women outweigh facts and where a woman is idolized as a bastion of power, yet also viewed, by the law, as a hothouse flower that wilts after hearing a dirty joke or reference. Boyd has written a thorough and meticulous book that documents the way in which emotion has triumphed over reason when it comes to feminist issues. The legal cases he presents are maddening and outrageous. Of course, the transcendence of Big Sister is most notable in the universities and the author does a thorough job in covering the state of affairs within our radical ivory petri dishes. Yes, of course, the book is particularly depressing if you happen to be a man but discovering the truth is always worth a few deflating moments. A side effect of reading this book is that, should anyone ever be foolish enough to consider moving to Canada, they will quickly reconsider after perusing some of the decisions of The Canadian Supreme Court regarding sexual harassment and the censorship of film. It's a wonder that this fine Northern people has not taken the time to notice that Andrea Dworkin and Catherine MacKinnon are taken more seriously by their government than the truth itself. Let's just hope that Hillary and Big Sisters are kept away from (absolute) power for as long as is possible United States.

The fruits of radical feminism

Two generations of "gender politics" have finally provoked some response - although it's been halting and somewhat erratic. The early efforts were in academia: Gross and Leavitt's "Higher Superstition" and Koertge and Patai's "House Built on Sand". Christina Hoff Sommers expanded the scope with "The War Against Boys". Neil Boyd has broadened the view to the general social scene with this work. His analysis of how radical feminism has twisted the law and justice is open, honest and fair. Not to mention devastating. The root of the Big Sister phenomenon lies in the false perception of men as inherently "guilty" - just of being male. "Big Sister" is derived from the Orwellian concept of Big Brother - the overweening force that changes language, redefines what is acceptable and what not in precise, simplistic terms. Values are established by a few strident voices, which become the sole authority on "good" and "bad". Justice readily falls victim to a new dictatorship of "women's rights" as due process is shelved. Boyd argues that laws have been and are being rewritten, often by judicial fiat. The image of Big Sister, then, is that of a restricting force relying on social division, deception and bad science to enforce an agenda. He surveys four social issues that have been the subject of various legislative actions: pornography, sexual harassment, sexual assault and domestic violence. His demons underlying much of these topics are the University of Michigan professor Catharine MacKinnon and "self-proclaimed radical activist" Andrea Dworkin. These, and other strident voices, are the apostles of a "radical - even poisonous" strain of feminism. Their claims of the "predatory nature" of men are regularly repeated in campus lectures, in lobbying for restrictive legislation and their concept of social conformity. Boyd accepts they have enjoyed a measure of success, partly because their vehemence convinces the innocent or overwhelms opposition. MacKinnon, nearly single-handedly, drove a significant change in the Canadian Criminal Code with the insertion of the phrase "degrading and dehumanising" in gender relations' legislation. Although the "age of consent" here is fourteen, MacKinnon's efforts made possession of visual material depicting merely nude figures a crime for anyone under eighteen. Boyd further counters their claims that pornography "breeds violence" or "promotes exploitation". Studies, ignored or rejected by the campaigners, show no such relationship, he declares. He argues that the type of censorship laws urged by Big Sister advocates is "hate propaganda" similar to anti-Semitic, racist or anti-Asian demagogues. In the realms of "sexual harassment" and "sexual assault", Boyd lists numerous cases of special pleadings, selective acceptance or use of evidence and twisted interpretations of "consent". "Harassment" has become a term of such broad definition as to be meaningless. Careers, home life and other social capaciti