Review of The Male Factor

I recently joined the WaterBrook Multnomah blogging for books program. By recently, I mean a couple months ago. If you want more information about that, let me know.

My first review for the aforementioned program is about the book The Male Factor by Shaunti Feldhahn.

I would like to preface by mentioning that the book is targeted at women, and I am a man (for those of you who didn't know). I hope I am able to give a helpful perspective, but you must realize that some of my perceptions of the book may be very different from the perceptions of those who belong to the target demographic, namely females. Furthermore, it is about the workplace. While I have worked at several places both alongside and as a subordinate to women, I wasn't really able to relate my work experiences to those written about in the book. I think this may be at least partly due to my ignorance to the issues brought up in the book. While these things may have affected me, I did not really think about them. This gives support for the purpose of this book, to educate and raise awareness about issues for women in the workplace.

Now, I want to express my appreciation for certain topics covered in the book. Some specific sections I could relate to especially or think are important for women to read about include the section on emotions, the "Give Me the Conclusion Up Front" section and the section about dress. It was helpful for me, as a man, to understand some differences between men and women. I think it would be helpful for my wife and other married couples or anybody in any male/female relationship to understand certain differences. Shaunti offers some great insight based on much research and experience.

I think many of the topics are good for both men and women to be aware of, and that changes made by women using this information would be helpful both to them and to the men around them.

One thing that is interesting about reading this book as a man is that I was able to realize som of the things that women don't generally realize about men. In other words, as a man, I assume that women think like I think or have a common understanding about things that might not necessarily be true. It is important for me to try to understand their perspective and to help them understand mine rather than making assumptions.

One thing negative I have to say about this book is that in my opinion it is too long. I especially think the beginning part was too long. It seemed like I was reading a formal research document or something. While I think it important for the reader to understand the authority and credibility of the author and information in the book, I think that section could be cut down or at least formatted differently to make it more palatable.
Similarly, I think some of the content areas could be cut down somewhat. However, it may have seemed to me like certain sections had too much explanation because I am a man and already have an understanding of certain things about men that women might need more explanation about.

I also think some of the information that is boring is necessary. For example, I think the author does a good job of explaining herself in a way that is inoffensive to both men and women while much of the content could otherwise be perceived as mean or judgmental.

Finally, I appreciated the Christian reminders at the end of the book which point the focus toward pleasing God rather than ourselves or others.

Overall, I think much of the information is very important and helpful. However, the book itself was difficult for me to get through. I would highly suggest certain sections for various people, but unless a person likes to read textbooks, it might be hard to get through the whole book.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to let me know. If you would like to purchase the book you can go to randomhouse.com (http://www.randomhouse.com/).

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.