Choice 评论

Most of Steil's excellent book is devoted to a thorough review of the extensive literature from the last three decades on gender inequalities in the marriage relationship. Her reading of the empirical literature shows men gaining disproportionately from marriage in terms of psychological benefits and overall well-being. What intrigues Steil is the revelation that although wives in the `90s do at least twice the amount of domestic work as husbands, the majority of women, both employed and unemployed, perceive their domestic arrangement as fair. She seeks to explain why these overworked women do not feel entitled to demand equal contributions to household labor from their spouses. Claiming that current cultural beliefs regarding gender roles depress womens' sense of entitlement, Steil argues that this in turn leads women, when assessing the fairness of their situation, to use other equally aggrieved women as their comparison group rather than their overbenefited spouses. Advocating equal marriages as desirable and more satisfying in the long run for both husband and wife, this book is a call to arms, as well as a provocative analysis and substantial survey of the literature. All levels. K. M. McKinley; Cabrini College