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Susan Brownmiller
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Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape Kindle Edition

by Susan Brownmiller (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 144 ratings
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Susan Brownmiller’s groundbreaking bestseller uncovers the culture of violence against women with a devastating exploration of the history of rape—now with a new preface by the author exposing the undercurrents of rape still present today
Rape, as author Susan Brownmiller proves in her startling and important book, is not about sex but about power, fear, and subjugation. For thousands of years, it has been viewed as an acceptable “spoil of war,” used as a weapon by invading armies to crush the will of the conquered. The act of rape against women has long been cloaked in lies and false justifications.
It is ignored, tolerated, even encouraged by governments and military leaders, misunderstood by police and security organizations, freely employed by domineering husbands and lovers, downplayed by medical and legal professionals more inclined to “blame the victim,” and, perhaps most shockingly, accepted in supposedly civilized societies worldwide, including the United States.
Against Our Will is a classic work that has been widely credited with changing prevailing attitudes about violence against women by awakening the public to the true and continuing tragedy of rape around the globe and throughout the ages.
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as an Outstanding Book of the Year and included among the New York Public Library’s Books of the Century, Against Our Will remains an essential work of sociological and historical importance.
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  1. Print length
    649 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    Not Enabled
  4. Publisher
    Open Road Media
  5. Publication date
    September 24, 2013
  6. File size
    1942 KB
  7. Page Flip
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Chilling and monumental. . . . Deserves a place on the shelf next to those rare books . . . which force us to make connections we have too long evaded, and change the way we feel about what we know.” —The New York Times Book Review
“May significantly change the terms of the dialogue between and about men and women.” —Time
“A book certain to change the way we think, not just about the act of rape but, more fundamentally, about the relationships between men and women. . . . Brilliant and convincingly argued. . . . A landmark work.” —Houston Chronicle
“A major work of history, a classic. . . . No one who reads it will come away untouched.” —The Village Voice
“A monumental work and a thoroughly chilling eye opener.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The most comprehensive study of rape ever offered to the public . . . It forces readers to take a fresh look at their own attitudes toward this devastating crime.” —Newsweek

From the Inside Flap

st comrpehensive study of rape ever offered to the public...It forces readers to take a fresh look at their own attitudes toward this devastating crime."
NEWSWEEK
As powerful and timely now as when it was first published, AGAINST OUR WILL stands as a unique document of the history of politics, the sociology of rape and the inherent and ingrained inequality of men and women under the law. In lucid, persuasive prose, Brownmiller has created a definitive, devastating work of lasting social importance.
Chosen by THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW as
One of the Outstanding Books of the Year

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00EZEX69Y
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media (September 24, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 24, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1942 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 649 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 144 ratings

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Susan Brownmiller

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
144 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

T. McNamara
5.0 out of 5 stars What Brownmiller really said . . .
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2000
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I was at this site to buy a new copy of this - one of my fave books and found all this about Susan Brownmiller and Pres. Clinton in the reviews so I figured I'd find out what was really said by Ms. Brownmiller in the now infamous article: "Now, I part company with someone like -- who is that right-wing woman on MSNBC? Laura Ingraham -- who is saying, "Monster rapist in the White House!" If you read "Against Our Will," you know I don't call men monsters for raping. I think Bill Clinton at that time was probably unaware that he was being anything more than assertive."
"We're in a period where there is no forward motion in feminism, no desire on the part of people to organize for social change, so people are saying, "Yes, but he appointed some women, he did this." And I keep saying, "Hey, wait a minute. This is the movement's job. You're not supposed to be grateful to the president. "
"But I'll tell you, this whole thing over the last two years has been such a circus, it's hard to view this story as any different from any of the others. A lot of people want to move on..."
4 people found this helpful
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Susan Hayward
5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading for women
Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2013
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Rape has a long history in the world, in all civilizations. This book has been making me angry for 30 years - with reason. It explains, in factual detail, the history of laws, customs and conventions that have been created to restrain and control women - efforts which are ongoing now, and are described in the news every day. Example: some of the earliest laws against rape were essentially property laws, intended to protect male ownership. Ms. Brownmiller explains clearly how this has come about, suggesting why women's rights are seen as threatening . It's not an easy read, but an important one.
13 people found this helpful
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R. Kahl
4.0 out of 5 stars exhausting 1975 book seems like such common sense today that it is easy to ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2018
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Much of what is said in this long, exhausting 1975 book seems like such common sense today that it is easy to forget how radical it was in its time. The extra degree of stridency of many of her points, rhetorically necessary then to break through the myths about rape, now sounds sometimes dated. But it is wrong to hold this against the book just because intense first-generation feminism is now out of fashion. Most of the improvements in societal attitudes and law enforcement concerning rape accrued since the 70’s we owe to this manifesto and the momentum it created.
A very long string of chapters is devoted to review of rape in many key historical eras, particularly in war and U.S. slavery. It’s a seemingly endless, painful slog through repetitious detail, with numerous first-hand accounts of victims, each unique yet all nearly identical. The cumulative impact is to prove like nothing else can the consistent patterns of rape as an exercise of domination throughout human history. Chapters reviewing rape in disparate contemporary settings (by police, in prison, U.S. crime statistics) as well as throughout various mythlogies, make the ubiquity of the pattern almost overwhelming.
The long, thoughtful discussion about the intersection of rape and violence against blacks may be controversial for some, but shouldn’t be if read objectively. She makes the point that the male mind-set of women being tools whose bodies are for mens’ use is so entrenched in all of society that some black liberation leaders of her time, like Eldredge Cleaver, fought back against white oppression by vowing to rape as many white women as possible. This has led some to criticize Brownmiller for placing female liberation above black liberation, but this is manifestly unfair. Pointing out that Cleaver and his ilk planned on “practicing” first on black women, she is highlighting that all women suffer from rape’s oppression, and emphasizing that black women get a double whammy. (Cleaver later recanted this strategy.)
The final section discusses her prescriptions for fixing the problem. The best recommendations, changing what are acceptable attitudes for men and police and a fairness overhaul of the legal treatment of rape, are pretty much what have been applied over the intervening decades, though not completely enough; to me this history just underscores the importance of this work. Her cursory recommendation that women bone up on self-defense, on the other hand, sadly seems to have been translated into arming all crime victims with more guns, if heeded at all.
19 people found this helpful
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Daniel D Sullivan
5.0 out of 5 stars How Men Hate Women and Why
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2014
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What an eye-opening, stomach-turning behavioral opus! I will never again look at violence against women or read right-wing political rhetoric without framing it using the powerful facts Brownmiller uses to explain the use of sex as both hammer against anvil and velvet glove. This is not a summer-read through which one should breeze, even if that were possible with any person with a social conscience. This is a timeless, stunning work that should be required reading for every person who has any authority over others.
6 people found this helpful
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Saumika Mulluri
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2021
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Dated, but still a classic.
One person found this helpful
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CaH
5.0 out of 5 stars Five stars
Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2014
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Susan Brownmiller is a go to for scholars of GBV and genocide. I have read the works of scholars in the field and inevitably this book is mentioned. This is a must have for researchers in the field. I recommend this book and the seller. Great. 5 stars.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A classic and just as relevant today
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2017
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Learn the history behind our Western world rape culture; Everyone should read it! I reread after more than 30 years and find it totally apropo​s today.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Research Study--Rape
Reviewed in the United States on April 1, 2019
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This is a good book. Even though it is old, it brings information about rapists and rape to the reader. It helps to bring the attitudes of men and how rape is defOjtined by them. It is an important and informativ book for women
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

SPT
5.0 out of 5 stars Harrowing, Detailed and A Persuasive Call For Change
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 27, 2020
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This is an outstanding piece of work that is carefully researched, thought provoking and harrowing. Brownmiller meticulously documents the prevalence of rape throughout history, and the patriarchal efforts to deny and conceal it, while remaining critically analytical and even handed. As a man, there were many times when I wanted to take a break from the relentless accounts of sexual violence but persevered when reminded by the author that what might be shocking for some men is the lived experience of many women since the dawn of time. Doubtless like many other men I view myself as someone incapable of rape but Brownmiller highlights how all men share a responsibility for changing a culture that eroticises objectification and violence. The price paid by women is to live in a state of constant terror. Perhaps it is not true that all men are capable of rape, although her research suggests that, at the very least, most are capable of collusion. However, it remains the case that every man can legitimately be viewed as a potential rapist by women until all men accept responsibility for bringing about a massive cultural shift. For anyone sceptical of her claims, there is an easy piece of verification. Against Our Will was published in 1975, the same year as Peter Sutcliffe began his murder spree. A recent Netflix documentary The Yorkshire Ripper outlines the police investigation of Sutcliffe and demonstrates the many failings that arose from a lack of concern and understanding of sex crime, leading to women unnecessarily living in fear for years. 45 years later we still have a long way to go. An when I say we, I mean all men.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for understanding gender equality
Reviewed in Canada on January 17, 2019
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A book everyone interested in gender equality and the progression of feminist thought
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Angel S
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 7, 2017
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As Shown
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Colleensbiz
5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous. Important
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2016
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Everyone should read this book. It should be on the GCSE syllabus. It should have succeeded by now. Read it.
One person found this helpful
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TRC
4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful and eye-opening
Reviewed in Germany on February 5, 2023
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I came upon this book during some research about toxic masculinity and ended up using some of it. It is well used in any papers you may write about this topic.
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