The Manipulated Man

by Esther Vilar Abelard-Schuman, ?1.50

The story goes that a social scientist who was asked by an acqaintance 'How's your wife?' replied 'Com-

pared with what?' This book is

ostensibly about husbands and is in the same vein. Men are stronger and more intelligent than women

but, strangely, it is the fate of each man to become the willing slave of some woman, without knowing how this takes place. The book is full of generaliza-

tions, most of them inaccurate. Feminine and masculine roles are

sharply divided. Long hair, colourful clothes, toilet aids, and artistic

interests are presented as a denial of masculinity: the feminine mind is unable to encompass such subjects as physics, chemistry or biology. Men are fooled into believing that

this feminine lack is compensated for by the special gift of 'intuition'. Many of the statements are reac-

tionary in the sense that they are a reaction to Women's Lib. The author

parades her femininity, giving some sympathy, rather lightly disguised as admiration to the few women 'who are not venal, and to all those for- tunate enough to have lost their market value because they are too old, too ugly or too ill'. The book has become a best

seller, perhaps by reason of a subtle flattery to all those who treat sexual relationships as a game. J. H. Kahn