The Privilege of Being a Woman Book

I'm sort of neutral towards the term feminism. I have feminism to thank for the vote and the option of college or a career should I choose it. Without feminism I wouldn't be able to be treated by female doctors, and for that I am eternally grateful. But there are also a lot of horrible things, chiefly abortion, that have been brought about in the name of equality for women. I'm reluctant to use the term "feminist" to refer to my belief that women should be treated with equal dignity and respect because I don't wish to be associated with the many women using this title and promoting evil and moral anarchy, instead of advocating for women who are truly oppressed.

So I expected to be pretty much on the same page with Alice von Hildebrand, and I was on certain points, but overall she holds to some negative extremes.

I wholeheartedly agree with the basic premise of the book, which is that Christianity, and specifically the Catholic Church, is pro-woman. But although I agree with her verdict on the attitude of the Church, I can hardly agree with her own antique opinion of the minds of women. Here is the question the author means to answer:
"How can it be a privilege for a woman to be called "the second sex"; to be considered less talented, less strong, less creative, less interesting, less intelligent, less artistic than her male counterpart? All great creations of mankind have been made by men: in architecture, in fine arts, in theology, in philosophy, in science, in technology." I thought her intent was to refute these claims, but as I read on I was surprised to realize that what she meant to expound on was why women should, in fact, consider themselves "privileged" despite the fact that they are "less intelligent" etc. According to her, women should feel blessed because they have many other wonderful qualities. Don't feel poorly if you aren't as smart as a man, she tells us, because earthly wisdom is foolishness in the eyes of God. And likewise don't feel bad if you aren't as creative, because society "overrates" creativity.
Now I'll be the first person to agree that it's a biological fact that men are physically stronger than women and I wish feminists would just GET OVER IT ALREADY. But less intelligent? Less interesting?? Less artistic???
The Church may be pro-woman, but I don't feel the author of this book is so much. Were I to agree with her here, I wouldn't be feeling too "privileged". In addition to the above mentioned, she also seems to be in agreement with the attitude that women are more morally culpable for sexual sin than men are. She laments the fact that Christian women do not dress as modestly as Hindu and Muslim women, which I thought a rather extreme standard to set although I certainly believe in modesty. (Another poor piece of advice she gives is that Christians should teach little girls about modesty from a very young age as well as the "great mystery" of virginity and the "consecration of the womb". I have a serious problem with this, but that's another issue.)

You're probably wondering why I gave this book 3 stars if I hated it so much, but there WERE some good things in here too. I especially liked the discussion of why the female tendency to be more emotional does not warrant the scorn that trait is often treated with, but is a trait which allows women to be more fully human and achieve greater holiness (or depravity as the case might be). She speaks highly of the influence of a woman on those around her and discusses the special ways in which God has chosen to bless women and work through them.

It IS a great privilege to be a woman, ladies! But I feel the case made here is not quite convincing.