A Brief History of Misogyny, by the late Jack Holland

[wordsgood]

A Brief History of Misogyny - The World's Oldest Prejudice, by the late Jack Holland

 

This is NOT a patronizing or feminist rant book....and is written by, are you ready for this...A MAN! Okay, the name kind of gave it away, but still!

 

The author, who sadly passed away a couple a years ago from a rare cancer shortly before publication, is Jack Holland, author of several books, both fiction and non-fiction, and a journalist known for his commentary about Northern Irish politics. He was leaves behind a wife and their daughter, who wrote the forward for his last book, Misogyny.

 

Holland, a history buff, did extensive research for the manuscript. Using everything from the bible, to historical research, to Plato's works, to modern headlines, he creates an accurate, compelling argument showing that misogyny has always, and continues to be, a major human rights abuse. Below is an excerpt from the forward written by his daughter, which explains the concept of this book far better than I could:

 

We now live in an age that is relatively enlightened, when finally the phenomenon of misogyny has been identified not only as a source of oppression and injustice, but also as an obstacle to human development, and to social and economic progress. Yet on the whole women continue to be paid less than their male counterparts, and in the United States reproductive rights won decades ago are being eroded. True sexual equality still eludes us. And in many parts of the world, where issues of gender are compounded by poverty, ignorance, fundamentalism and disease, women's lot has scarcely improved over the centuries.

 

Jack Holland, my father, was acutely aware that such problems could not be solved by a single book, or indeed by many. But this book, his last, shall stand as an important tool in the struggle against the world's oldest prejudice.

 

Below his a link to the website created by his family in Holland's honour.

 

http://www.jackholland.net/bio.php

 

I hope some of you pick up this book and enjoy it as much as I did. It makes you think, that's for sure. At times, when reading it, I am out-raged at the things he draws attention to, at others I am just plain sad, and sometimes I can't stop laughing at the absurdity of some of history's "greatest" characters!

 

Cheers.