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'Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women' is a 1994 book about American feminism by Christina Hoff Sommers, a writer also known as a former philosophy professor for Clark University and for being a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. The book received both positive and negative reviews.

Overview
In general, Sommers declared, "American feminism is currently dominated by a group of women who seek to persuade the public that American women are not the free creatures we think we are". She asserts that such feminists have "alienated and silenced women and men alike." She writes, "These consciousness-raisers are driving out the scholars on many campuses."

Using the term "gender feminists" to describe those she sees as arguing based on false assumptions and ideology rather than belief in true equality, Sommers states that those activists "have proved very adroit in getting financial support from governmental and private sources" and "hold the keys to many bureaucratic fiefdoms". She also writes, "It is now virtually impossible to be appointed to high administrative office in any university system without having passed muster with the gender feminist".

Reception
Who Stole Feminism? was praised by literary scholar Camille Paglia, who called it a "landmark study... which uses ingenious detective work to unmask the shocking fraud and propaganda of establishment feminism and the servility of American media and academe to Machiavellian feminist manipulation." Melanie Kirkpatrick, writing in The Wall Street Journal, praised the book for its "lack of a political agenda. … Ms. Sommers simply lines up her facts and shoots one bullseye after another."

John M. Ellis, a scholar of German literature, called the book one of several critiques of the "intellectual deterioration" that has occurred within humanities courses in the United States due to the influence of feminists such as Catharine MacKinnon, and he suggested that, like the others, it was met with "bitter hostility" from campus feminists. According to Ellis, campus feminists made ineffective attempts to suppress the book. He notes that when Rebecca Sinkler, the editor of the New York Times Book Review, gave the book to her former teacher Nina Auerbach to review, the result was a "predictable trashing." Ellis wrote that Auerbach's review was so obviously malicious and dishonest that it provoked widespread protest, in which many newspaper columnists commented on what they saw as unethical behavior by Sinkler and Auerbach.

John Lauritsen, gay rights activist and author of A Freethinker's Primer of Male Love, writes that Sommers convincingly argues that women themselves are the main victims of the "gender feminists".

Several scholars and commentators have criticized Sommers. Her claims regarding the legal permissiveness of wife beating, in particular, have been criticized as inaccurate. In arguing that British law since the 1700s and American law since before the Revolution prohibits wife beating, Sommers quotes English legal historian William Blackstone as saying that the "husband was prohibited from using any violence to his wife..." Linda Hirshman and Laura Flanders separately argue that, in the 1994 issue of her book, Sommers left out the other half of Blackstone's sentence that says in Latin "other than that which lawfully and reasonably belongs to the husband for the due government and correction of his wife". Flanders said that Blackstone's "complete text says the exact opposite of Sommers' partial quotation". Sommers wrote a rebuttal column a week after Hirshman's Los Angeles Times piece that Hirshman "commits an interpretive whopper since she evidently reads the omitted Latin as giving Blackstone's opinion. Not so: Blackstone mentions the 'old law' only to point out that it had been superseded in his own 'politer' day (1768): 'A wife may now have security against her husband.' That is Blackstone's view."

Scholar Rhonda Hammer of UCLA writes that in claiming that "[n]o study shows that Super Bowl Sunday is in any way different from other days in the amount of domestic violence" Sommers ignores a variety of studies that showed increased domestic violence during the Super Bowl. Hammer states that the chapter "Noble Lies" in Who Stole Feminism? which purports to dispel feminist myths is itself based on falsehoods.

'Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women' is a 1994 non-fiction book about American feminism and its socio-economic implications by Christina Hoff Sommers, a writer also known as a former philosophy professor for Clark University and as for being a scholar in the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. The controversial book received both intense criticism and strong praise.

Background
Prior to the book's publication, Sommers was known as a classicist at Clark University. American news-magazine National Review ran part of the book under the title "Why Feminism's Vital Statistics Are Always Wrong" in June 1994.

Synopsis
In general, Sommers declared,"American feminism is currently dominated by a group of women who seek to persuade the public that American women are not the free creatures we think we are". She asserts that such feminists have "alienated and silenced women and men alike." She writes, "These consciousness-raisers are driving out the scholars on many campuses."

Using the term "gender feminists" to describe those she sees as arguing based on false assumptions and ideology rather than belief in true equality, Sommers states that those activists "have proved very adroit in getting financial support from governmental and private sources" and "hold the keys to many bureaucratic fiefdoms". She also writes, "It is now virtually impossible to be appointed to high administrative office in any university system without having passed muster with the gender feminist".

Media reviews
The book received mixed reviews given the controversial content. Who Stole Feminism? was praised by literary scholar Camille Paglia, who called it a "landmark study...which". She also stated that Sommers used "ingenious detective work to unmask the shocking fraud and propaganda of establishment feminism and the servility of American media and academe to Machiavellian feminist manipulation."

Men's rights activist Anthony Nazzaro, the membership director of the National Organization for Men, wrote an open letter to the New York Times in support of the book. He stated that "feminism cannot stand even constructive criticism" and "feminist leaders promoting fraudulent claims are exposed by the book".

Journalist Melanie Kirkpatrick of The Wall Street Journal remarked, "Ms. Sommers simply lines up her facts and shoots on bull's-eye after another." In contrast, University of Pennsylvania professor Nina Auerbach excoriated the work for The New York Times Book Review, asserting that Sommers was a "muddled writer". She also wrote, "Sommers is a wallflower at feminist conferences. In revenge, she attends them obsessively".

John M. Ellis, an author and scholar of German literature, called the book one of several critiques of the "intellectual deterioration" that has occurred within humanities courses in the United States, and he suggested that, like the others, it was met with "bitter hostility" from campus feminists. According to Ellis, campus feminists made ineffective attempts to suppress the book. He gives as an example the fact that Rebecca Sinkler, the editor of the New York Times Book Review, gave the book to her former teacher Nina Auerbach to review, resulting in a "predictable trashing." Ellis wrote that Auerbach's review was so obviously malicious and dishonest that "it provoked not just a storm of protest but a response almost without precedent."

John Lauritsen, LGBT rights activist and author of works such as A Freethinker's Primer of Male Love, said Sommers convincingly argues that women themselves are the main victims of the "gender feminists".

Media criticism group Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) criticized Who Stole Feminism? as relying on false insinuations and misleading statistics. Group activist and writer Laura Flanders blasted the book as filled with "error-filled anecdotes" and "folktales" such as misquoting 18th Century legal scholar William Blackstone as being against domestic violence when he had written in favor of "that which lawfully and reasonably belongs to the husband for the due government and correction of his wife". Flanders also labeled Sommers as an "anti-feminist" in disguise.

Scholarly evaluation
Several scholars and commentators have alleged errors in Sommers' work. Her claims regarding the legal permissiveness of wife beating, in particular, have been criticized as inaccurate. In arguing that British law since the 1700s and American since before the Revolution prohibits wife beating, Sommers quotes English legal historian William Blackstone as saying that the "husband was prohibited from using any violence to his wife..." Linda Hirshman and Laura Flanders separately argue that, in the 1994 issue of her book, Sommers left out the other half of Blackstone's sentence that says in Latin "other than that which lawfully and reasonably belongs to the husband for the due government and correction of his wife". According to Flanders, Blackstone's "complete text says the exact opposite of Sommers' partial quotation". Scholar Rhonda Hammer writes that in claiming that "[n]o study shows that Super Bowl Sunday is in any way different from other days in the amount of domestic violence" Sommers ignores a variety of studies that showed increased domestic violence during the Super Bowl. Hammer states that the chapter "Noble Lies" in Who Stole Feminism? which purports to dispel feminist myths is itself based on falsehoods.