BOOK IN REVIEW

Women's Reality by Ann Wilson Schaef, Winston Press, $8.70, Minneapolis, 1981.

Reviewed by Maureen Jennings

I enjoyed Ann Wilson's book very much but when I had destroyed the third draft of my review, I realized that it is a very difficult book to pin down. First of all, the rambling discursive nature of the book is more conversational than literary, and secondly it is an observational study rather than an analytical one. As she herself says, "When engaged in this type of study, one begins to see and hear the same information from many different people in many different situations. One begins to draw generalizations. The generalizations start coming together to give birth to concepts. The concepts cluster and evolve into theories."

What this seems to mean, is that she enters into the vast arenas of theology, sociology and psychology, as everyone has a right to do, but I believe she is at her best when she is speaking from the centre of her own experience as a psychotherapist.

In fact, the book seems to have emerged from her concern about the quality of therapy that most women receive. She feels that what is missing is "...an understanding and awareness of what I have chosen to call the White Male System. It is crucial to be able to define this the system and deal with it simply because it surrounds us and permeates our lives. Its myths, beliefs, rituals, procedures and outcomes affect everything we think, feel, and do. The book then develops her concept of this White male System, and what she calls the Female System which is emerging. Women are constantly struggling to adapt and exist in a system which by its very nature is inimical to us.

The White Male System has four major myths. First, that the WMS is the only thing that exists. "Because of this, the beliefs and perceptions of other systems-especially the Female System- are seen as sick, bad, crazy, stupid, ugly, and incompetent."

The second myth is that the WMS is innately superior. Third, that the WMS knows and understands everything. And fourth, that it is possible to totally logical, rational and objective.

A major reason that women historically have so much trouble challenging this system, is what Wilson calls the Original Sin of Being Born Female, a Judeao-Christian in-heartiness that has deeply conditioned women to feel not only inferior to men, but also, that we are "bad". Women do many things to overcome this innate feeling of worthlessness: being fair, undertaking all of the many coping strategies, including "attaching" to a male. However, " we continue to struggle with intense feelings of worthlessness." The emptiness that many of us experience, "...is related to our Original Sin of Being Born Female, and our need to look outside ourselves for validation and approval. She adds, "when we begin to determine who we are from inside, our cavern begins to get smaller." and, "A woman's cavern is where she houses her Original Sin of Being Born Female".