"In an effort to quell his anxiety, he tries to gain control over his partner by destroying her self-confidence, so that she can never leave him and he will be safe."

"There is never enough love, enough caring, or enough support to suit the misogynist. He is an insatiable bottomless pit; he cannot be filled up. It is a fantasy to believe that you can ever reassure him sufficiently or make him feel truly secure."

This book is so eerily relatable. It describes several of my relationships with controlling, abusive men and why they are so hard to leave. The true stories used in this book are completely heartbreaking and brutal. It's hard to believe that some men can be so cruel.

I've had to "dial-down" my personality several times, stop seeing certain friends or wearing certain things because it just wasn't worth the aggro. In reading books like this I'm hoping I won't ever find myself in a similar situation again.

The advice at the end on dealing with misogynists and regaining your confidence and rediscovering what you love in life is really good.

This psychological book is not meant as a novel. Yet i read it with an eye-opening interest about why women can stay with wife-beaters, control-freaks, manipulating creeps and husbands who slowy sufficate the women who love them so much. It pushed me into the direction of wanting to help people and start counceling, which brought me to where i am today.

As always, Dr. Susan Forward writes a terrific book.

At first, I thought it was just about women in relationships with Cluster B men but it's more than that. It is truly not necessary for someone to have a Cluster B personality disorder in order to be an abuser. Trauma and toxic upbringing are enough to do the trick.

I know so many women who stay in relationships with abusive, neglecting, sub-standard men and they treat it as being normal. It is not normal. It's a horrible injustice.

Men too can find themselves in abusive relationships with women or other men. There can also be abuse in lesbian couples. In the end, gender doesn't matter that much and it isn't an indicator of who can be an abuser. But history has shown that abusers are typically male and victims typically female - this scenario has been reinforced over and over by centuries of toxic culture and beliefs and I don't think I'll get to see this cycle end in my lifetime. It makes me so angry.

Why does normality have to be such a rare thing?

With fullest compassion and lots of experience..
This is the Self help book which you can use through the darkest times ,
that will help you identify the real problem ( if you have one), will give you a lot of examples from a real persons and feel that probably you are not alone, and you are not going crazy, and that, no matter how bad is your situation, you can think it through, modify your behavior, change it if needed, and also, and possibly the most important - that YOU have the POWER in ( seemingly powerless) situation with your misogynist ( or narcissist) partner, and that YOU can and SHOULD be the one, to take responsibility for the change of this situation.

O carte foarte bună și utilă despre relații toxice cu așa-numiții misogini și despre tipologia lor cât și a femeilor care sunt atrase de ei.

Mi-a plăcut mult abordarea autoarei care este psihoterapeut specializat în relațiile de cuplu și adicții. Foarte multe lucruri practice am întâlnit în cartea ei, fapt care pentru mine a diferențiat stilul de tot ce am mai citit până în prezent și a făcut-o foarte apreciată. Pe lângă terapie, Susan Forward te învață chiar cum să faci față situațiilor tensionate prin tehnici simple: practicarea unui sport pentru exprimarea furiei de exemplu sau întocmirea de liste pro și contra.

O carte pentru femei, chit că fac sau nu parte din relații nepotrivite!

I would honestly recommend this book to anybody. In fact, I'm thinking of buying these in bulk and just handing them out on Halloween like candy. SO INSIGHTFUL, and I truly feel like it can apply to a lot of the women in my life. Misogynistic relationships are incredibly common, and part of the reason they're so dangerous is because nobody wants to admit that they exist. People think that the only abusive relationship is one that gets physical, but that is NOT TRUE.

Read this book. Soak in the truth. I even gained some pretty good coping strategies from it, despite not being in a misogynistic relationship.

This book is for women who believe they're in a relationship with a misogynist. The author helps readers recognize the signs by using clear examples. A must read for anyone who is looking for answers.

The book is strongly aimed at female "victims" I found a lot of beneficial information regarding female childhood experiences that lead to adult-misogynistic relationships.

She offered a fair amount of solutions towards the end of the book, perhaps most poignantly the "Bill of Rights" to emotions/feelings and key catch phrases in heated moments.

I think the word "hatred" was strong and that the element of the male past/history is ignored, the book seems more "entertainment" than fact in a lot of ways.

Nonetheless I saw tremendous value in the read, especially for the layperson or woman who is feeling no self-worth. For many women it will be an eye opener and a way to get their relationships back on track if they are not in a drastically abusive relationship.

99% excellent!

I disagree that most men hate women because their moms. Some do, of course. But most hate women because
A. It’s accepted, expected, and modeled by their dads, in society, porn, books, songs, and movies.
B. They get something out of it (not having to do the dishes if they yell and scare their wife too much for her to ask, getting to spend all their money on their own toys if they guilt you, Weaponized incompetence so they never have to help childcare, etc.)

So yes! Some men hate+brutalize women because of their moms. But not most. And blaming women for men hating+brutalizing women coddles and infantilizes abusive men while blaming women.

this book makes a good point, though it's a bit too redundant. we all have daddy issues. this will pinpoint pretty much all of them. after 150 pages you will really get the point. :P

Very good book, practical, relevant for those working in the DV field AND also women who are OR have been in abusive or controlling relationships.

Blame should not rest on the victim, but the perpetrator.

I enjoyed this book and I am ordering extra copies to loan to clients.

Very good book for women who keep choosing the wrong man. It may have to do with the fact that your own father was a woman hater!

Many insights are possible through this book & the writer's suggestions!