The Modern Maiden's Handbook [antikvár]

FOREWORDIII recent years, there has been an outbreak of shameless sucking-up to the sad old ways oi' sexism, which has taken the shape of women who have benefited from all the blessings feminism has wrestled from the hands of the patriarchy - divorce, abortion, equal pay, education -whining for the return of 'traditional roles'. As ludicrous and tragic as black people demanding the return of slavery on the grounds that at least they were 'looked after' then, such slugs are obviously neurotic, unorgasmic cretins woefully unable to deal with freedom, and thus should all be shipped back to the nineteen-fifties forthwith, where they could enjoy traditional roles to their sexless little hearts' content.Moaning minnies duly dispatched, the rest of us can cosy up with a copy of the excellent wit and wisdom of Nina de la Mer's The Modern Maidens Handbook, which, in the sparkiest, sparkliest prose possible, posits the notion that the only thing wrong with modern life is too little feminism rather than too much. Refreshingly. Ms de la Mer understands that looking on the briglit side of life is not simple-minded, that a smile costs less than a frown and that being a misanthropic niiseiy bucket doesn't make you a sensitive genius, but rather a highly avoidable bore. This book is the antithesis of the Daily Mail worldview. seeing the delight as well as the danger inherent in everything from reckless sex to binge-drinking, and emphasising the importance of taknig liberties as well as precautions in all areas of life from work to play. Although modern to a T, this book has lots of time for the old rules