---
product_id: 11083527
title: "Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society"
price: "KSh4455"
currency: KES
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reviews_count: 11
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---

# Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society

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- **What is this?** Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society
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desertcart.com: Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society: 9780802829962: Sayers, Dorothy L.: Books

Review: Why Didn't I Think of That? - Being a fan of Sayers' Lord Peter stories for many years, I decided to try her essays too. "Are Women Human?" consists of two essays--the title essay and another called "Human Not-Quite-Human." Both are well-written, and more importantly, well-reasoned. Reading her I found myself smacking my head more than once and thinking "Why did I never think of that? It makes such sense!" Sayers' arguments are both to the point and made with humor. She makes her points from history and from the Bible, and her warnings against generalizing are excellent. Not all men are the same. How can all women be? This is an easy, fun read from which one can take away a lot of excellent ideas.
Review: Written before 1957 but very appropriate for today - This is a great book. It is two essays, ‘astute and witty essays on the role of women in society.’ They need to be read today. They are logical answers to questions on feminism. The Introduction by Mary McDermott Shideler is as good as the two essays. As Mary says, “...she espoused...a way of life that she practiced on the premises that male and female are adjectives qualifying the noun ‘human being’, and that the substantive governs the modifier.” And her essays expand on this concept. Very, very interesting.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #98,018 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #67 in Gender & Sexuality in Religious Studies (Books) #158 in General Gender Studies #306 in Essays (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars (194) |
| Dimensions  | 5.25 x 0.24 x 7.5 inches |
| Edition  | New edition |
| ISBN-10  | 0802829961 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0802829962 |
| Item Weight  | 3.21 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 75 pages |
| Publication date  | August 6, 2005 |
| Publisher  | Eerdmans |

## Images

![Are Women Human? Penetrating, Sensible, and Witty Essays on the Role of Women in Society - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81072BTtjHL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Why Didn't I Think of That?
*by M***S on January 24, 2013*

Being a fan of Sayers' Lord Peter stories for many years, I decided to try her essays too. "Are Women Human?" consists of two essays--the title essay and another called "Human Not-Quite-Human." Both are well-written, and more importantly, well-reasoned. Reading her I found myself smacking my head more than once and thinking "Why did I never think of that? It makes such sense!" Sayers' arguments are both to the point and made with humor. She makes her points from history and from the Bible, and her warnings against generalizing are excellent. Not all men are the same. How can all women be? This is an easy, fun read from which one can take away a lot of excellent ideas.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Written before 1957 but very appropriate for today
*by C***R on February 10, 2020*

This is a great book. It is two essays, ‘astute and witty essays on the role of women in society.’ They need to be read today. They are logical answers to questions on feminism. The Introduction by Mary McDermott Shideler is as good as the two essays. As Mary says, “...she espoused...a way of life that she practiced on the premises that male and female are adjectives qualifying the noun ‘human being’, and that the substantive governs the modifier.” And her essays expand on this concept. Very, very interesting.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Feminism? No, Humanism.
*by K***T on October 5, 2009*

I first came to this book after reading a stirring review of it in philosopher Susan Haack's book Putting Philosophy to Work: Inquiry and Its Place in Culture . Haack, like Sayers, is a believer that equality of the sexes means that the sexes are to be treated the same when justified and differently when justified (the former being more justified than the latter). In other words, Sayers is a breath of fresh air, particularly in this ironic age where feminism leads as often to "women's ways of knowing" as to any equalitarian sentiment. In the lead-off title essay, Sayers starts by telling us that she does not wish to be defined as a modern feminist (writing in the '60's) and that she believes modern feminism often does more damage than good. Why? Becuase feminists both play identity politics and the imitation game. Feminists play identity politics when they talk about women's rights, women's points of view, etc., instead of human rights, human points of view, etc. How do women play the immitation game? By dressing like and acting like men FOR NO OTHER REASON than a misguided sense that equality can only mean "to be the same as," when it can also mean "to have the same value as." (Sayers sees nothing wrong with dressing like, or acting like, men so long as it is done out of desire to dress or act that way rather than a desire to immitate in order to achieve equality.) Sayers's greatest point in this essay deserves a good paraphrase: Sayers is confused when people ask her why a woman would want to study Aristotle. What could they hope to gain. Sayer's reply is simple: not many women want to study Aristotle just as not many men do. The point is not that women should study Aristotle but that women should have the same opportunity as men to study Aristotle or not study him. This is similar to Sayer's reply when she is asked what women's point of view is on issue x. She sarcastically tells us to ask A WOMAN for HER point of view if we want to know it (and reminds us that no one asks what mens' point of view is on issue x). In other words, women do not need x rights because they are women, but because they are human. Since men and women are human first and sexes after, any question about why we should treat women equally is probably better phrased, "why should we treat humans equally." The second of these essays says much of the same thing as the first, but one never gets tired of hearing it in all the new and creative ways Sayers has of saying it. Her paragraphs of satire depicting what it would be like for men to be in women's shoes (reading articles questioning their ability to do work outside the factory and reading advice about how their most important role is to maintain their wives' affections) is hilarioius and biting at the same time. On a personal note, I read Sayers book becuase I am growing rather sick of hearing phrases like "women's ways of knowing," and "feminist political theory," (I heard the word "womanist" the other day used to describe someone's views). In my view, Sayers and those like her need to be heard now more than ever to remind us that phrases like these do more harm than good in their very shallow differentiation from women to men (don't women think like men do? don't they and men experience politics as people first and women later?). Sayers's more common-sensical approach which seems women as people and political/social equiry as a human, rather than a sex-driven, issue, will hopefully serve as the antidote to current feminist (or womanist?) excesses.

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*Last updated: 2026-02-28*