The title "For Women Only" invokes an almost secretive air, like its pages might contain some hidden knowledge that men shouldn't be made aware of. However, the intent of the book is actually quite the opposite. For a heterosexual male like me, it was actually quite a boring read because it's filled with things that I would think most every man already knows. I was anticipating having a guarded response, and I was waiting to take issue with some profound or ground breaking statem... (show more)

The title "For Women Only" invokes an almost secretive air, like its pages might contain some hidden knowledge that men shouldn't be made aware of. However, the intent of the book is actually quite the opposite. For a heterosexual male like me, it was actually quite a boring read because it's filled with things that I would think most every man already knows. I was anticipating having a guarded response, and I was waiting to take issue with some profound or ground breaking statement, but there was little that I felt was controversial here; little to find fault or argue with. I don't find any of these ruffling in the slightest (and indeed almost all could be applied right back at women, and thus, all of humanity):

1) Men like respect, often more than affection
2) Men often feel insecure about themselves and need reassurance
3) Men like to provide
4) Men like sex. A lot.
5) Men like looking at sexy women
6) Men are generally less than graceful at being romantic
7) Men don't like their women looking like crap (see #4 and #5)

And as "For Women Only" strikes me as a book filled with very obvious realizations about the inner lives of men, perhaps that illustrates perfectly the very need for such a book. If women truly aren't already aware of these simple concepts that I believe really do apply to most men, than this book is extremely useful. Still, I almost can't believe that such things are indeed a mystery. Although, perhaps I will have the opposite reaction when I eventually read "For Men Only" and find myself on the other end saying, "Is THAT really important to them? I had no idea!" That, however, is yet to be determined.

Perhaps because it was so un-revealing to me, I felt like Feldhahn was reiterating a lot. Short as the book was, most of its bulk was taken up with restating the painfully obvious from multiple angles. But I do commend her for backing up her statements with statistics and data rather than simply on notions collected from the experiences of her own life.

My only complaint about the book would be Feldhahn's gestures of advice, as I felt that many of her suggestions to solve problems caused by misunderstandings between couples were too "one-size-fits-all." I also noticed a trend leaning towards talking about men mostly as white-collar businessmen and women as child-rearing home-makers. The advice she gives is similarly very broad, lacking in profundity, and nothing one hasn't seen before in any Focus on the Family publication put out in the past decade. But I think one can hardly blame her. In addressing all men and women in American heterosexual relationships (and I assume, primarily married ones) one can only talk in generalities, lest the book be many times longer (and probably a lot more boring). And the target audience for this material is clearly white conservative Christians, so it's no surprise that the language follows accordingly.

If women are truly ignorant of the 7 revelations about men in this 180 page text, then by all means they should pick it up and educate themselves. Most men need not bother though: this definitely is For Women Only. (show less)