Frank Schaeffer touches on a lot of subjects in this book: politics, culture, gender roles, etc. One thread that stands out to me through it all is how we treat women.

Frank Schaeffer writes,

“If you want to imagine a face that goes with the words ‘the most marginalized persecuted people on our planet,’ the face is that of a young girl. That face represents tens of millions of people.

"Whatever happens to her is the destiny of our species. So goes women’s rights, so goes the species. So goes women’s rights, so goes the well-being of us all.

"And it seems to me that all other justice issues, race issues, economic issues, and happiness issues come down to this: How do we treat women?”

Schaeffer also writes that laying down the burden of male supremacy was such a relief.

During the pandemic, Schaeffer and his wife Genie began taking care of their grandchildren while their children worked. And he found that “I was happy—in fact, insanely happy—at being stuck at home with my wife and three youngest grandchildren.” He left behind and began to heal from much of his domineering qualities that had been trained into him as a male.

“It is how we treat people that is our true legacy, not job title, money, or fame. It turns out that taking time to do something with my [grandchildren] was more important to the future of the world (as it were) than most of the ‘big important things' I was trying to do.”

Learning to treat each other well is the greatest calling for each of us. Including how we treat girls and women.

My thanks to NetGalley + HCI Books for the review copy of this book.

I really loved this book. It is thought provoking and enjoyable at the same time. The writer seems to have a quite interesting life so far with unique experiences to share. With the pandemic as a trigger, he wonders if we have really understood the real meaning of life so far. Is money and career important or not?