More sources come from classic literature: Amelia (the original domestic goddess) of William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, Agnes and Dora from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, and Deruchette from Victor Hugo's Toilers of the Sea.Īlthough the book was published in the early 1960s when second wave feminism became part of the American mainstream, Fascinating Womanhood 's traditional explication of happy marriage resonated in the minds and hearts of millions of women. One of the "real life" women, Mumtaz Mahal of Taj Mahal fame, is cited as one of the ideal women who possessed both an angelic and a human side. The book takes many of its sources from historical women and from examples provided in classic literature. The book serves as a touchstone for those of the anti-feminist persuasion. It has been translated into seven languages. The book's self-published edition sold over 400,000 copies, and since being published by Random House, the book has sold more than 2 million copies. According to Time magazine, Andelin wrote Fascinating Womanhood when "she felt her own marriage wasn't the romantic love affair she had dreamed of."
" A man just cannot bear to have his fragile and sensitive pride belittled or ridiculed by his wife, or any other woman"Īs women we are said to sometimes deliberately hurt our partners' pride with a sharp tongue and angry tone but more often we do it in jest.Derived from a set of booklets published in the 1920s and 1930s by the Psychological Press, the book seeks to help traditionally-minded women to make their marriages "a lifelong love affair". A woman's greatest need is to be loved which is different for a man. This is said to be a man's greatest need. I personally don't want to be in a relationship with someone who keeps drawing attention to my weaknesses but why we as women find no harm in doing it to our partners is beyond me. The book tells us to learn to look at his good side and appreciate that otherwise one will find themself eselala enguZ alone in this cold winter but perhaps we're lucky there's electric blankets these days which were not there when this book was written lol. "He knows his weakenesses but he needs you to admire his strengths and not draw attention to his weaknesses" And why should you not try and change your partner because by trying to change and improve them we are telling them that we are not satisfied with them as they are and their sensitive male pride is wounded in the process. You accept him as another human being, part good, part bad, just like yourself"īut alas most of us women make the biggest mistake of trying to change our partners but the reality is they don't change. "Accepting him as he is means that you accept all hi habits, his weaknesses, his dreams or lack of them and his beliefs. Love is awakened by wholesome feminine qualities (the likes mentioned above) which are said to stir and soften a man's heart.Īccept him as he is. Sexuality in a woman is said to stimulate lust but it does not arouse love in a man. Vivaciousness also enhances those qualities". The more tender, feminine, pure and trusting she appears to be, the more attractive she's said to become to them. " Men are impressed with sympathy, cheerfulness, childlike innocence and charm in a woman. Their needs are totally different from ours.Īgreed people cant be boxed into categories like you are the type that impresses men and you aren't but there are certain qualities that are believed to impress men. I think most of us women have been puzzled as to what a man sees in a certain woman, a woman that to your eyes seems to have no appeal at all ' a skank' as I even refer to some but the truth is as the book puts it that men do not see and think as women do. They try and answer some questions that women are often puzzled with about their relationships in what they call the '10 secrets' so here goes: These women mentioned in the book were not psychologists or anything of that sort but just wanted to share some 'ancient truths' about love based on their experiences and the things they have learnt from the experiences of others. As stated in the introduction the book is written for women inspired by Christianity but anyone can use it. Unlock all the love and tenderness in your manīut before you also immediately dismiss the book I'll summarise what I found interesting about it and then you can decide. I'm sure some of you like me are probably rolling their eyes at the introduction of the book which reads: ' Secrets of Fascinating Womanhood.' Don't get me wrong I'm not saying I believe in this book but it did give me some good insights that I thought had some truth in it. I generally do not like 'self help' type of books because I believe they are just a load of hogwash however, I recently came across a book titled