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Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism
Nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, this brilliant, insightful, controversial, and courageous book contains the best of Pollitt's pieces, which have galvanized readers of The Nation, The New Yorker and The New York Times, on subjects that range from abortion and breast implants to date-rape, marriage, the media, and violence.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
Katha Pollitt
23 books88 followersKatha Pollitt is well known for her wit and her keen sense of both the ridiculous and the sublime. Her Subject to Debate column, which debuted in 1995 and which the Washington Post called “the best place to go for original thinking on the left,” appears every other week in the Nation; it is frequently reprinted in newspapers across the country. In 2003, Subject to Debate won the National Magazine Award for Columns and Commentary. Katha is also a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.
Many of Katha’s contributions to the Nation are compiled in three books: Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism (Knopf); Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture (Modern Library); and Virginity or Death! And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time (Random House). In 2007, Random House published her collection of personal essays, Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories.
Katha has also written essays and book reviews for the New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New Republic, Harper’s, Ms., Glamour, Mother Jones, the New York Times, and the London Review of Books. She has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air and All Things Considered, Charlie Rose, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, Dateline NBC, and the BBC. Her work has been republished in many anthologies and is taught in many university classes.
Katha has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship for her poetry. Her 1982 book Antarctic Traveller won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her poems have been published in many magazines and are reprinted in many anthologies, most recently The Oxford Book of American Poetry (2006). Her second collection, The Mind-Body Problem, was published by Random House in 2009.
Born in New York City, Katha was educated at Harvard and the Columbia University School of the Arts. She has lectured at dozens of colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brooklyn College, UCLA, the University of Mississippi, and Cornell. She has taught poetry at Princeton, Barnard, and the 92nd Street Y, and women’s studies at the New School University.
Many of Katha’s contributions to the Nation are compiled in three books: Reasonable Creatures: Essays on Women and Feminism (Knopf); Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture (Modern Library); and Virginity or Death! And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time (Random House). In 2007, Random House published her collection of personal essays, Learning to Drive: And Other Life Stories.
Katha has also written essays and book reviews for the New Yorker, the Atlantic, the New Republic, Harper’s, Ms., Glamour, Mother Jones, the New York Times, and the London Review of Books. She has appeared on NPR’s Fresh Air and All Things Considered, Charlie Rose, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, Dateline NBC, and the BBC. Her work has been republished in many anthologies and is taught in many university classes.
Katha has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship for her poetry. Her 1982 book Antarctic Traveller won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her poems have been published in many magazines and are reprinted in many anthologies, most recently The Oxford Book of American Poetry (2006). Her second collection, The Mind-Body Problem, was published by Random House in 2009.
Born in New York City, Katha was educated at Harvard and the Columbia University School of the Arts. She has lectured at dozens of colleges and universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brooklyn College, UCLA, the University of Mississippi, and Cornell. She has taught poetry at Princeton, Barnard, and the 92nd Street Y, and women’s studies at the New School University.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 11, 2019
It's not that Katha Pollitt is a bad writer, or even that she's wrong about most of the issues. What makes her writing so hard to take is the sense of entitlement -- the rich white college girl who has all the answers.
Read the essay on Lorena Bobbitt. (Remember her? The girl who chopped off her husband's Johnson with a knife?) Katha Pollitt quotes a gal pal of hers saying of Lorena something like, "oh, well, she's borderline retarded." Actually no, she was just a working class woman who wasn't fortunate enough to be handed an Ivy League education by wealthy and adoring parents!
But to Katha Pollitt, you're either "reasonable" i.e. affluent and college educated, or else you're "borderline retarded." And even when the proles get out of line she takes it as some kind of joke. Writing about Lorena Bobbitt's knife attack, she gloats "the privates are more radical than the generals." Well, yeah. But who made you a general exactly? Is the feminist movement only for the top 1 percent of women college graduates?
It was the same thing back when Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan was running for Congress, and Katha wrote a column for the NATION which basically said "working class women are to be seen and not heard. We welcome them as figure heads, but not as leaders."
Is there any such thing as a working class feminist? And if not, where has the movement failed?
In the Civil Rights movement, you had Martin Luther King, a graduate of Morehouse College, and you had Malcolm X, a seventh grade dropout and ex-con. These two leaders disagreed on almost everything, and yet Martin Luther King never tried to "pull rank" on the basis of his college education.
Katha Pollitt pulls rank every time she opens her mouth.
Read the essay on Lorena Bobbitt. (Remember her? The girl who chopped off her husband's Johnson with a knife?) Katha Pollitt quotes a gal pal of hers saying of Lorena something like, "oh, well, she's borderline retarded." Actually no, she was just a working class woman who wasn't fortunate enough to be handed an Ivy League education by wealthy and adoring parents!
But to Katha Pollitt, you're either "reasonable" i.e. affluent and college educated, or else you're "borderline retarded." And even when the proles get out of line she takes it as some kind of joke. Writing about Lorena Bobbitt's knife attack, she gloats "the privates are more radical than the generals." Well, yeah. But who made you a general exactly? Is the feminist movement only for the top 1 percent of women college graduates?
It was the same thing back when Gold Star Mother Cindy Sheehan was running for Congress, and Katha wrote a column for the NATION which basically said "working class women are to be seen and not heard. We welcome them as figure heads, but not as leaders."
Is there any such thing as a working class feminist? And if not, where has the movement failed?
In the Civil Rights movement, you had Martin Luther King, a graduate of Morehouse College, and you had Malcolm X, a seventh grade dropout and ex-con. These two leaders disagreed on almost everything, and yet Martin Luther King never tried to "pull rank" on the basis of his college education.
Katha Pollitt pulls rank every time she opens her mouth.
August 13, 2008
Katha Pollitt is one of the most amazing feminist writers on the planet. And this is easily her best collection ever. It's a bit dated as these are all from the late 80s and early 90s, but it was helpful for me to understand the important things that happened when I was too young to know about them (or know anyone's opinion other than that of the conservatives in my house.) And many of the events of those years still affect the world of today.
October 20, 2018
This compilation of weekly column articles smacks of blog-like narcissism. Pollitt is the self-appointed expert on everything and everyone. Beware her left-wing feminism as it will obliterate any opposing point of view. Though sometimes thoughtful, she is too often thoughtless with her sharp-tongued rhetoric. This is a walk down memory lane—a you-had-to-be-there kinda read. Wishing we’d have moved on in our discourse but know better.
December 3, 2008
I'm only giving it four stars because I wish I'd known to read it ten years ago. Why, oh why, wasn't this required reading for intro to women's studies?? This book would have done me so much good back then! Pollitt tackles all the hardest issues surrounding American women today, and tackles them with wit and wisdom and common sense. I really love her work.
February 17, 2010
I'm certainly entrenched in the "preaching to the choir" camp of Pollitt's audience, but nevertheless, had a wonderful time reading this collection of short essays, most originally published between the mid-eighties and mid-nineties.
Not only is Pollitt a witty, eminently quotable, and warm writer, she also does not shy from controversy. I think what I admired the most was her strong emphasis on social justice and addressing the root issues of many "women's issues" the media chooses to focus its blathering, inaccurate chorus on from time to time. Namely, she is not afraid to call poverty what it is, and point out the social forces that uniquely disadvantage women within systems of race and class oppression.
I was especially compelled by Pollitt's arguments regarding surrogacy and fetal rights. I don't think I'd ever thought through the issue completely before, but her incisive writing pared away the tangle of conflicting rhetoric on the subject to point out that the more we separate mother and baby when we consider pregnancy, the more we treat a woman like a vessel, and the child carried therein as a mere temporary passenger. This was an eye-opener for me.
At the end of the day, it comes down to treating women as people, 100% of the time, with rights that are sacrosanct. Would that society could find this simple in practice...
Not only is Pollitt a witty, eminently quotable, and warm writer, she also does not shy from controversy. I think what I admired the most was her strong emphasis on social justice and addressing the root issues of many "women's issues" the media chooses to focus its blathering, inaccurate chorus on from time to time. Namely, she is not afraid to call poverty what it is, and point out the social forces that uniquely disadvantage women within systems of race and class oppression.
I was especially compelled by Pollitt's arguments regarding surrogacy and fetal rights. I don't think I'd ever thought through the issue completely before, but her incisive writing pared away the tangle of conflicting rhetoric on the subject to point out that the more we separate mother and baby when we consider pregnancy, the more we treat a woman like a vessel, and the child carried therein as a mere temporary passenger. This was an eye-opener for me.
At the end of the day, it comes down to treating women as people, 100% of the time, with rights that are sacrosanct. Would that society could find this simple in practice...
May 29, 2018
It's both interesting and disheartening to see just how little some things have changed since this book was published 23 years ago. We're still having the same arguments about access to abortion and the right of a woman to bodily autonomy and ownership of her own body, women are still struggling with body issues and the pressure to remain ever youthful lest they are consigned to the scrapheap.
Yes, we have made some progress but there is still much to be done. I didn't agree with the author on all issues but I thought they were tackled in a thought-provoking way - the chapter on Germaine Greer and her book on ageing was eye-opening. Worth reading but bear in mind when it was written.
Yes, we have made some progress but there is still much to be done. I didn't agree with the author on all issues but I thought they were tackled in a thought-provoking way - the chapter on Germaine Greer and her book on ageing was eye-opening. Worth reading but bear in mind when it was written.
Want to read
January 5, 20211994
Seems to be very controversial among goodreaders.
There are other collections of her essays.
Rickie Solinger in WRB April 1995 review calls her
"the most brilliantly accessible and keenly perceptive feminist writer around to break into mass culture in this country"
Pollitt has written essays for NYTimes, New Yorker, the Nation
Seems to be very controversial among goodreaders.
There are other collections of her essays.
Rickie Solinger in WRB April 1995 review calls her
"the most brilliantly accessible and keenly perceptive feminist writer around to break into mass culture in this country"
Pollitt has written essays for NYTimes, New Yorker, the Nation
March 15, 2019
These essays were written in the timeframe of 1985-1995 and they are finally being discussed today in the me too movement the depth of bias against women is so deep so entitled. There has been progress but we have far to go still
August 1, 2019
Well written and pretty relevant to today. I was a bit surprised by how present intersectional feminism was in this, but disappointed by how much was about motherhood and babies (I skipped those bits).
March 22, 2011
"Beneath her portrayal of domesticity as a satisfying and enjoyable pastime is what one Amazon.com reader calls 'a relentless paean to obsessive practices.' Menelson wants us to sanitize our sponges and disinfect our dish towels after every use, change the kitty litter ever other day, put on fresh pillowcases twice a week, vacuum our mattress pads wheneer we change the sheets and unplug and wash the refrigerator once a week! Taken seriously, this is domesticity as paranoia-oh, no, a germ! Takes in small doses, it's housekeeping as a hobby for busy professionals, like gourmet cooking, or (more likely) a fantasy: one more self-improvement project that lasts a week and makes you feel guility forever... Put Eve Engesser's story [almost lost her sons for a missed workfare appointment] story togher with Cheryl Mendelson, and what you have is domesticity and motherhood as class priviledges. For poor women, take a "job" or lose your shelter and your kids. For the well-off, running the house becomes a holy task, than which nothing of which the human spirit is capable could possibly be more important."Katha Pollitt
You know, I like a clean house as much as the next person. I'm usually also willing to work to get it that way. However, I am always intensely annoyed by the need to clean up messes created by others, especially if they aren't guests. I have, at times, actually cleaned my fridge out weekly - giving it a wiping down while figuring out what my grocery list should entail just seemed smart. I usually clean once a week - though I may dust or mop my floor a bit less often. I've been known to let the bathroom go for a bit and I have to admit that my dishes aren't always washed within 24 hours.
Cleaning seems much more satisfying when I'm doing it all for myself than I ever recall it being when I lived with roommates or my ex.
You know, I like a clean house as much as the next person. I'm usually also willing to work to get it that way. However, I am always intensely annoyed by the need to clean up messes created by others, especially if they aren't guests. I have, at times, actually cleaned my fridge out weekly - giving it a wiping down while figuring out what my grocery list should entail just seemed smart. I usually clean once a week - though I may dust or mop my floor a bit less often. I've been known to let the bathroom go for a bit and I have to admit that my dishes aren't always washed within 24 hours.
Cleaning seems much more satisfying when I'm doing it all for myself than I ever recall it being when I lived with roommates or my ex.
November 1, 2011
This is the best book I have read in a while. I imagine I sound like this when I blog and passionately debate in bars, but secretly i know I am not this on it. EVERYONE should read the "family values" essay if nothing else. but, not nothing else, because, really, all the others must be read too. She even changed my mind on one issue.
January 1, 2010
I could not put this down! Pollitt is a wonderful writer, and a humorful feminist (yes, apparently they do exist...). It is sad how little has changed since she wrote these essays in the late 80's and early 90's.
June 10, 2023
This book blew my mind and opened my eyes, during a pivotal period in my life. You might say it was my first introduction to feminism. Grateful to know this brilliant woman is still out there, doing the work.
February 22, 2008
Katha Pollitt, how I love thee.
June 2, 2009
Incisive, witty essays that point out gender-related double standards. Great and accessible starting place (IMO) for feminist thought and criticism.
August 10, 2011
I have a shelf of books that I insist my daughters read throughout their lives this sits on that shelf.
March 3, 2012
Made me alternately angry and inspired about being a girl.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews