I found Radical Feminism to be an interesting read, to say the least. At first, I thought Atkinson's approach was a bit extreme, and as I continued, it only got more shocking.
In the beginning points, I thought Atkinson had a reasonable point of view. Specifically, when she said that the "Women's Movement" invited backlash from men, I had to agree to an extent. I see that men see this movement as threatening and offensive to them, so they react negatively. I would not call it a backlash, per se, but there is definitely an anti-movement sentiment. Another point I thought was a very good one was about the battle of the sexes. Atkinson says, "a 'battle' implies some balance of powers." Obviously there is not a balance between men and women, because otherwise there would be no need for a movement.
On the other hand, I took issue with a lot of Atkinson's points. The further I read, the more bizarre her words became. When she started going off about "metaphysical cannibalism," I was beyond speechless. I sat there thinking, This woman is clinically insane. Usually, I can understand a person's point of view, toy with the idea in my head, and appreciate where their idea comes from, but this??? What was I reading??? I couldn't even process the ideas that Atkinson was discussing. She came out of nowhere with her statements about men being insecure and frustrated, then ran with it like it was the Olympic torch. However, her ideas were baseless, as far as I can see. It just seemed like Atkinson was writing about something about which she knew nothing. It was as if she was writing about an alien culture.
At the end of Radical Feminism, I had a clear understanding of why people think of feminists as angry, lonely, man-hating women. That reason is Ti-Grace Atkinson. She really takes away any merit that has been earned by feminists because of her psycho babble.
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