Pearl S. Buck has been a household name for decades, and with good reason. Her writing is exceptional. This book explores men and women from the perspective of a Chinese woman who came to the US during the 1930s and who studied the differences of men and women in America. As is expected, her writing is amazing, and her style is different from most. The book is short, only 200 pages, and definitely worth reading.

A really interesting (if rather dated) examination of male-female dynamics in the United States. What makes this book extra interesting is that Buck grew up outside of the States, despite being American herself, and therefore forged quite different ideas of interpersonal relationships. An interesting read.

I was looking forward to this book, but I find it hard to continue to read. Maybe reading Pearl S. Buck's other books this would have been more interesting, but I gave up after a few pages.

Less a gender debate and more of a lesson in two very different (and opposing) cultures.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC.

A woman who spent many years in China, on her return to the United States Pearl S. Buck found so many contrary characteristics amongst both men and women in their attitudes and in the cultural differences that existed that she wrote this short book of nine chapters with the idea of founding an idea of living in peace and harmony provided equality existed between the sexes.

One of our earliest women activists I would not agree on all of Ms. Buck's views especially today. Though a short book it covers a wide array of topics from polygamy to monogamy, women and war, women and family life which will hold anyone's interest as the subjects were so varied.

Quite philosophical, taken in a small doses like this one book, it was a good read. You did not necessarily have to agree with Ms. Buck at all.

Goodreads and Amazon reviews posted on 17/1/2018,

I have loved Pearl Buck as an author for years but felt like this non-fiction musing on the difference between men and women and Chinese versus American men and women missed the mark. Although this is a recent release, the ideas are dated.

Pearl Buck is best known for her novels, but here she turns her thoughts to the relationship between men and women, their respective roles in society, and gender and power in general. When she returned to the US in 1941 she was struck by the many differences between the roles of women in the two countries and decided to examine those cultural differences. Overall the book feels somewhat dated, and is really more of a literary curiosity than something that has much relevance to today’s women, but surprisingly some of what she observes and comments on does still resonate. It’s an easy but considered read, of definite historical interest and also an insight into her own philosophy of life. Still worth reading all these years later.

I received this ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

This book was originally published in 1941 with an afterward written by Buck in 1971, she spent most of her life in China and then moved to the U.S. Here, she is opining on the differences between men and women from China and the U.S. "Men and women can face anything, endure anything, if they are sure of each other's loyalty and liking."

This offers a good view into societies from vastly different cultures. It must have been quite a shock for Buck to adapt from one to the other.

3☆

This book was not only a comparison of cultures, but with it now being almost seventy years since it was published, a comparison of then and now. My less than stellar rating comes from the fact that this collection of essays does not, in my judgement, stand the test of time as so many of Buck's other works have. The ideas in the book about the feelings of the Chinese women, especially, were a bit too shallow and off hand for modern readers in general. I see it having a very small appreciative audience.

I loved 'The Good Earth' when I read it as a teenager, so was looking forward to reading 'Of Men and Women', but was left feeling slightly disappointed. I won't go into the detail, as other reviewers have already done so, but I feel that her comparisons between American and Chinese domestic life were superficial at best. Were Chinese women happy to have their feet bound and were they okay with not being given the opportunity to read and write? Buck suggests that they were, but I'm not convinced. She also seems to think American women in the1940's had everything going for them and were still dissatisfied. Which women is she referring to? As a woman of colour, I don't recognise the woman to which she refers.

She was a woman of her time and if you keep that in the forefront of your mind, the book has much to commend itself. I found the descriptions of Chinese family life quite interesting. Her conclusion that men and women can only live together happily if in an atmosphere of complete freedom sounds good to me. Buck's writing is impeccable as always, and the book gives a fascinating insight into her thoughts on gender and male-female relationships.

Pearl S. Buck was a phenomenal writer and contributed greatly to our understanding about peasant life in China. Her fiction novel The Good Earth is required reading for many students. In Of Men and Women, she attempts an epic feat within a non-fiction text when telling about relationships between men and women along the intersectional lines of American and Chinese culture.

While this is an updated release, it is important context to understand that this book was written in 1941. Otherwise, this can be a frustrating experience for readers, as many things have changed in terms of gender politics 70+ years. What is challenging and frustrating, however, are the myriad things that have not changed. Also fascinating, are the ways in which Chinese culture have allowed women some areas of progressive advancement. This may be interesting to some who enjoy historical perspectives, but it will likely be a miss for anyone looking for a contemporary analysis.

You can feel the years that have passed since Pearl Buck wrote this book, and even if the situation is different in China, but mostly in the U.S. also, some things haven't changed a lot in this last 50 years. But my opinion is not really on the subject of this book, it is mostly on the real good way in which she wrote that is timeless.

Si avverte chiaramente il passare degli anni, piú di 50 dalla prima pubblicazione di questo libro, quindi é chiaro che la situazione é diversa non solo in Cina, ma anche negli Stati uniti, anche se non tutto é cambiato. Il mo giudizio peró non verte tanto sull'argomento, quanto piuttosto sul suo modo bellissimo di scrivere che, invece, é senza tempo.

THANKS TO NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

I was halfway through when I realised this is a re-release of a rather old book. The outdated feeling I had while reading suddenly made sense. The sections on Chinese family and gender traditions are very interesting, but the descriptions of "Modern" American Woman made me cringe.

Easily one of the best books I have read in recent times. Thanks to Netgalley for introducing me to a new favorite author! While Buck's name was familar to me, this was the first book of hers that I read and I was blown away with the clarity and accuracy of her thoughts. 'Of Men and Women' is a collection of essays written at an early stage in Pearl S. Buck's career (with a more recent epilogue) that deal with the issues of gender inequality and its root causes (in the context of China and USA).

In an era where the definition of feminism is often confused and misinterpreted, it was refreshing to read a woman who could transcend cultural and gender boundaries. The analysis of the American woman apathy problem was bang on - and as an Indian who has lived in the USA, I have often reflected on the same things. I appreciated that the author called out both men and women for their injustices towards each other, and resolved a lot of complex problems (as relevant today as they were 30 or 60 years ago) with surprising simplicity.

This would be a great recommendation for American feminists today, if nothing else than to clarify what feminism originally meant and to reinforce the ideas of gender equality and not dominance of one gender over another. We have reached a stage where the West has a lot to learn from the East, and Pearl S. Buck was certainly in a unique position to talk about this.

I must admit, the beautiful book-cover first attracted me to this novel, and when I noticed the author of one of my favorite classics, The Good Earth wrote it, I was sold!

In OF MEN AND WOMEN, first published in 1941, Pearl S. Buck pens her feelings and opinions about relationships between men and women comparing life in America to what she experienced while living most of the first forty years of her life in China.

While a fascinating comparison between cultures, I cannot agree with all of Ms. Bucks views on the American woman and marriage in general. As a happily married working wife and mother myself for most of my life, I feel a woman can and has become anything she wants to be in our world of opportunity...although there probably is disparity in salary between men and women for doing like work.

One of the practices of the Chinese that has always bothered me was the binding of women's feet. Buck states that men worshiped their little feet which in turn gave them control over the men despite keeping the women from hobbling very far from their own gates, thereby also binding their minds. "Women as a rule were not allowed even the opportunity to read and write." But it seems women were generally happy with their responsibilities in the home.

There is so much information packed into this well-written relatively short read. As well as marriage and home life, Buck touches on monogamy, polygamy, women and war and women's liberation in our society.

Such an interesting life Ms. Buck lived, and so many thought-provoking personal views give the reader a real glimpse into the private life of a great author.

Recommend for readers of non-fiction who do not mind heavily philosophical viewpoints. (Nicely illustrated biography with old photos from the authors estate included.)

Pearl S. Buck - June 26, 1892 -- March 6, 1973

Many thanks to NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media for the ARC of this soon to be released ebook version in exchange for an honest review.

The Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973) is best known as the author of the novel ‘The Good Earth’ (1931), based on her experiences of growing up in China with a missionary family in the period from the Boxer Rebellion to then present day.

‘Of Women and Men. How to Be for Each Other’ was published by Buck in 1941, on her return to the United States, and was inspired by her observation of “the general discontent of our women and the marked lack of enjoyment between men and women.” She asked “Why, in a country such as ours, where woman is given every privilege and as much opportunity as she wants, should she be so often dissatisfied in herself and so restless in society? And why should man not like her better than he does?” In answering these questions Buck contrasted U.S. domesticity with the “old Chinese scheme of family life.”

To claim that American women in 1941 enjoyed “every privilege and as much opportunity as she wants” appears to be incredibly blinkered given that women did not then have affordable childcare, equal employment, pay or promotion opportunities or access to safe, reliable contraception, let alone a right to abortion. It was not, to take another example, until the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act that a woman could apply for credit in her own name. Thus analysing why women were ‘so restless in society’ should not really have taken Buck long.

The present volume contains an epilogue to the original essay dating from thirty years after the original’s appearance yet even this still manages to sound incredibly dated, as if Betty Friedan’s ‘Feminine Mystique’ had still not been published or the Pill not made its appearance. Thus the reader is told that although “Male eyes follow a pretty girl as unfailingly as ever … Brains are surprisingly often appreciated. Men enjoy being amused, diverted, stimulated to thought and consideration of new ideas, and once having had this new and surprising experience with a woman, they learn to demand it. This has, of course, an important effect on women, leading them to further self-development.” So the sum total of female liberation by the 1970s seems to be that women can learn to entertain men mentally as well as physically!

Pearl S. Buck was a noted champion of many progressive causes. Her heart may have been in the right place on gender issues as on so much else but ultimately ‘Of Women and Men’ is a literary curiosity which seems very shallow when contrasted with the second-wave feminism of Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘The Second Sex’.