I think this book is described best by the review on the back cover from actor, Alan Alda, "Her book is like the women herself: Intelligent, concerned, articulate, precise, and never without a sense of humor or balance." Basically that sums up everything. Way to go Hawkeye Pierce!!
To say that I am an admirer of Gloria Steinem is an understatement, which I'm sure will one day be an entry. My point is to explain just how much I've learned from this book when it comes to words. I have never been one to write or underline the contents of a book I'm reading. I figure I won't remember the significance of the underline or I won't read it again so why mark up a perfectly good book. Well, I guess I'm growing because I have not only underlined and pointed out paragraphs and anecdotes that are simplistically moving and revealing, but I have also begun to circle words I do not know. Oh, but I don't stop there. I have also included the definition in the blank space on the page. It's one of the first times while reading a book that I don't just want to guess what the word means, or look it up only to forget it in 5 seconds, but to instead write it down so I will always have it, literally, at my fingertips.
This is an entry devoted to words. Not mundane words. Not everyday words. Not bland words. But words with which we are unfamiliar, a relative statement if I've ever seen any. The words I know, recognize and use will be different from yours, as it should be. I bring this up because I love to read and I love to learn, both of which are happening at the same time, in full force, while reading this book by this amazing author/journalist/activist/feminist/former comedy writer.
----- Spelling Test Study Guide from Ms. Gloria Steinem -----
Itinerant: traveling from place to place
Bastion: upholding particular principles
Metier: occupation/activity a person is good at
Acerbic: sharp and forthright speech (I've been trying to use this in a sentence. Easier said wished than done.)
Subterfuge: deceit to achieve one's goal
Jettison: abandon or discard
Palliative: fixing a problem without addressing the cause
Empathy: understand feelings of another (I knew this but always need a reminder.)
Apathetic: feeling no interest or concern
Antithetical: directly opposed or contrasted; opposite
Quixotic: resembling or befitting Don Quixote - chivalrous
Appropriations: anything appropriated for a special purpose, especially money
Circumlocution: roundabout way of speaking - indirect (she uses this word to describe Nixon)
Bombast: speech too pompous for an occasion; pretentious
Condescension: voluntary assumption of equality with a person regarded as inferior
Obsequious: compliant, obedient, dutiful
Ideologue: a person who zealously advocates an ideology
Pragmatist: person oriented toward success or failure of a particular line of action; practical person
Manchurian Candidate: novel by Richard Condon about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed to be an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy. (Wikipedia)
Burghers: inhabitant of a middle class town
Inexorably: not to be persuaded
That's it so far and I'm only on page 105 out of 410. I also love that, just from this list of words, you can tell it mostly has to do with politics or at least the political arena thus far. It may be just the perfect time for me to be reading this book with elections looming around the corner. :)
A big thank you goes out to Gloria Steinem for improving my vocabulary! *Oh, and improving my life as a woman!*
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