Chick for a Day: What Would You Do If You Were One?

by John Vanderslice and Xio Axelrod

Book Overview

The editor of the acclaimed "Dick for a Day" turns the tables and queries: What would you do if you were a woman for just one day? She gets a range of thought-provoking answers in these stories, poems, and one-liners by celebrated male writers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684855178
• ISBN13: 9780684855172
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

social experiment or literature

If you read all the 'reviews' above as well as the 'reveiws' from the two literary review publishers at the top, you will see that no one really has an easy time with this book. I found it on the whole to be a kind of literary bordello since most of the writers couldn't resist including a lot of sex. But the real merit of this book may be not on a literary level. It weighs heavier really as a kind of social experiement -asking males in a male-dominated world to take on a female identity. One mark of how seemingly universally awkward it was is that perhaps the author with the biggest reputation in the collection ends up having a dog perform sex on 'herself'. Confusion or wild creativity? Art over editorial directive? Or wanting to one up the idea of a male taking on a female identity by exercizing the authorial consternation of trying to be even more outre? The majority of the offerings do reflect however that the authors were putting a lot of serious thought in to how to carry off the assignment well, with a high level of craft, and to deliver something satisfying. But this isn't a book that is going to meet with an easy acceptance, not in the societies we currently occupy. The editor professes to see a largely comic bent to the writings. Kirkus review pompously says there is no profundity -like who bequeathed masterful profundidty perception to Kirkus review? By playing the sex and joke cards more often than not, the authors reveal that they are more interested in pandering to what they percieve as the market for this kind of material, so I guess my biggest criticism would be that its weakness is mostly that the authors err on the side of wanting to be entertaining which does not by any means equal out to being good storytellers. Maybe the book can be said to fail on literary merits but it succeeds without much parallel in exposing an uneasiness that is all-pervasive about gender -who controls it, who gets to establish its valuations, who has a right to represent it and in what ways. So the stories may really be more like exercizes in literary discomfort, both on the parts of the authors and certainly the majority of the readers. If you are looking for insightful philosphy about gender this book is, for the most part, the wrong place, there is a torrent of that from academia. And it is that large and continuous output of theory, research, philosphy and social study without which this book most probably would not have been possible. So if you want to read this book do so to find out where we as a society can not quite seem to be comfortably. As both the controllers of our consumption of gender and as those who have to live gender out amongst ourselves. It is profound on that level. And the why of it is left as enough mystery to make this book art. It is out of print. That is just as much proof.

It teaches

Despite what some other reviewers have written, this book does deal with the subject matter (the perspectives of male writers on the gender identity of women)-- and in most cases, it does so with a great deal of respect.Upon receiving this book, I immediately threw out the cover art. ^_^ I was ready to read something a bit more thoughtful than the cover art implies, and I found the art to be a distraction. With that out of the way, I was able to enjoy some fascinating short stories and essays written by authors I have never encountered before.I read this book over the course of several mornings, so I was able to muse upon the points raised in the more thoughtful stories. At the same time, I read Jack Chalker's "The Identity Matrix", which I discovered added depth to Ms. Giles' collection. Taken as a whole, I find that my experiences with these two books have expanded my awareness of the issues women must deal with in Western society. I believe that I learned some valuable lessons, particularly from the Brain Bouldrey story "Monster" and Rick Moody's offering. I name those two because they stand out in recent memory-- but almost all of the stories raised points worth pondering.Of course, there were a few "brain candy" stories, too-- the ones that seemed to deal mostly with wish-fulfillment and sensual pleasures. But these stories only served to illustrate the points made by other writers in the book. ^_^ It became really obvious which writers were comfortable with exploring the concept of the feminine-- and which ones were more interested in women as objects. As the author notes in her foreword, the majority of the writers were very respectful and thoughtful in regard to feminine identity-- and, I would add, *without* disrespecting their own gender. That was one thing that made this book most enjoyable-- the writers really seemed to think before they wrote.Overall, I would recommend this book as an enjoyable read and a good starting point for discussions of gender identity. I try to limit my collection of books (makes moving easier), but this is one book that I plan to keep for a while longer, as a source of "food for thought". For those who complained that it objectifies or disrespects women, I respectfully reply, "You get out of it what you put into it."

Real Title Should Be: "How the Weaker Sex Lives"

This book features chapters written by men who primarily see women as pushovers who cry alot. Even the cover depicts a man holding jugs to his chest. It is obvious that this book sends a message out to women and men that women are somewhere below dogs on the food chain. How do you suppose women who work menial jobs would feel after reading this book? As for the male contibutors, they obviously don't have the capacity to see past themselves, let alone apologize. In order to do that, you have to care about people. For their information, most women are not weeping doormats (or pickups). Ms. Giles, thank you for the wake up call. You asked men what they really thought it would be like to be a "chick" and they told you. Silly me, I thought men respected women.

Funny, thought provoking

A few of these stories are out there, but then, given the subject matter.... Actually, some of the funniest ones provoked a great deal of thought. I especially liked Bill Bozzone's short story. Parent's advisory for a few of these, though...

Hilarious and wise

While there are a few misfires, on the whole this book hits the mark with excellent stories and vignettes that reveal as well as entertain. The best pieces -- like Bill Bozzone's "Breast Men," for example -- provide insight into the male psyche and human nature, as well as gender differences. Definitely a must read.