Entitled

How Male Privilege Hurts Women

By: Kate Manne

Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell

An urgent exploration of men’s entitlement and how it serves to police and punish women, from the acclaimed author of Down Girl.

“Kate Manne is a thrilling and provocative feminist thinker. Her work is indispensable.” (Rebecca Traister)

Named one of the best books of the year by The Atlantic

In this bold and stylish critique, Cornell philosopher Kate Manne offers a radical new framework for understanding misogyny. Ranging widely across the culture, from Harvey Weinstein and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings to “Cat Person” and the political misfortunes of Elizabeth Warren, Manne’s book shows how privileged men’s sense of entitlement - to sex, yes, but more insidiously to admiration, care, bodily autonomy, knowledge, and power - is a pervasive social problem with often devastating consequences.

In clear, lucid prose, Manne argues that male entitlement can explain a wide array of phenomena, from mansplaining and the undertreatment of women’s pain to mass shootings by incels and the seemingly intractable notion that women are “unelectable”. Moreover, Manne implicates each of us in toxic masculinity: It’s not just a product of a few bad actors; it’s something we all perpetuate, conditioned as we are by the social and cultural mores of our time. The only way to combat it, she says, is to expose the flaws in our default modes of thought while enabling women to take up space, say their piece, and muster resistance to the entitled attitudes of the men around them.

With wit and intellectual fierceness, Manne sheds new light on gender and power and offers a vision of a world in which women are just as entitled as men to our collective care and concern.

©2020 Kate Manne (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the qualities that makes Manne’s writing bracing and even thrilling to read is her refusal to ingratiate herself by softening the edges of her resolve.... She’s like a pathologist wielding a scalpel, methodically dissecting various specimens of muddled argument to reveal the diseased tissue inside.” (The New York Times­)

"Manne’s concept of entitlement is versatile and useful; like the theory of gravity, it has equal power in explaining phenomena both big and small.” (The New Yorker)

“With perspicacity and clear, jargon-free language, Manne keeps elevating the discussion to show how male privilege isn’t just about securing and hoarding spoils from women, but an entire moral framework." (The Guardian)

Solid Read, Essential Learning

The audio reader is solid and conveys a level of healthy and necessary disdain seemingly prompted by the written word. The temperature of the book is cool and a bit difficult to endure as a male, but it is appropriate and really helps drive home this important message with no fuss. I would have liked to hear more solutions.

Brilliant Book, Powerfully Narrated

The insights are compelling and overwhelming, as are the carefully curated examples. The overall impact of the narrative is reinforced by an equally brilliant narration.

Brilliant

Best book I’ve read since Simone de Beauvoir. Takes feminist concepts to a whole new level. Bravo!

A much needed perspective

This book is eye opening and brilliant. It’s also sad and infuriating. A must read for anyone. Everyone. Especially us men.

Great Listen

This was very approachable and well researched. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the betterment of our society.

Should be a must read for everyone.

Should be a must read for everyone. Very insightful into the current world women live in. Beautifully written. Great anecdotes and quotes. Also refers to other authors and pieces that I can’t wait to read.

Important read for our time

Thank you. Thank you for giving voice to the culture of misogyny, patriarchy and white body supremacy. My voice feels empowered and I know I’m not alone.

Telling how few have read or reviewed this

I found the paltry number of downloads and reviews of this excellent examination of entitlement to be rather telling. Entitlement to comfort and an expectation that those so entitled will not be challenged is as alive as it ever was. But if such entitled persons understood the cost to themselves and their loved ones, perhaps they would let go a bit and in so doing, grow. Risk the ruffled feathers and listen!

Four stars for content because I didn’t appreciate the reliance on movies to describe behavior in one chapter, although our movies and popular culture are tools to perpetuate the status quo. Four stars for the narration because, while expressive, engaging, and precise, the narrator continued to sound exasperated and unbelieving throughout the book that this entitlement still goes on today.

Those with power don’t give it up easily. Believe it. They’re hurting themselves and everyone else and everything else by holding onto it. Letting it go wouldn’t hurt, it would equalize power and end so much hurt. But if only they’d risk reading and looking inwards…. The numbers show us their unwillingness.

New to the subject

this was a subject that I did not know how I would react and I did my best to listen from an unbiased point if you sensed this is a heated topic. I believe overall the book was good, but did not offer solutions to the problems that she said.

can be listened to several times to really unpack

Very well done and thought provoking. The author cites pertinent cases. It is good for book club discussions.