Review of book book "Co-operation between the sexes" by Alfred Adler
Created | Updated Feb 10, 2003
The book "Co-operation between the sexes" is a collection of the writings of Alfred Adler written between sixty and eighty years ago, and deals with issues as they relate to interpersonal male/female relationships including father/daughter, mother/son, wife/husband, brother/sister, man/society, and woman/society. There are many sections which I feel are a bit off although this may be accounted for by the fact that the book is out of date and the fact that it was originally written in German and may have lost something in the translation and re-translation. That being said, there are still many valid points, and overall I feel this book is worth reading as it provides valuable insights into basic male/female barriers and introduces several new ideas into the field of psychoanalysis. After reading this book, several things in my life seemed to "click" into place, and were a bit more understandable.
The book is arranged into four main sections, the first dealing with women's problems as they pertain to relationships (myth of inferiority), the second with man's (male supremacy), the third with sexual relations between the two, and the fourth with love relations between the two. I believe there is a good, strong methodology behind the organization of the book; first identifying the separate components then showing how they interact. Although Adler himself did not arrange this book, it is still a tribute to his intelligence that the myriad of papers he wrote covered all the bases. The way the information is presented in the book varies, as different papers were intended for different audiences. So you have phrases like "antithetical apperception and dogmatization" (title of one of the papers) cropping up when he is writing to people with doctorates and titles like "the myth of women's inferiority" appearing when he is writing to a common-man based journal of science (Adler, Co-operation 43, 3). Regardless of how it is presented, Adler has a clear line of thought progressing through his papers as well as the theme of deproving stereotypes. In just the first few pages he describes how the "meek, unassuming" woman is not a natural progression of women being the weaker sex (which he also disagrees with), but rather as an effect of an upbringing where Father knew and did everything and Mother was merely an instrument and watchdog of Father (Father: "Go make me dinner", Mother: "You kids just wait till I tell your Father what you've done!") (Adler, Co-operation 9,10). He has done exhaustive research to support his ideas, including technical journals spanning over sixty-five years and interviewing many of his peers in the field. He also brings many new ideas to the table, even to the point of quantifying and examining philosophical issues. For instance the idea of masculine superiority, the whole attitude of "look how big and bad I am", demonstrates a suppression of the female traits. He states that a natural amount of "psychological hermaphroditism" is required or else neurosis will develop (Adler, Co-operation 148). This was a relatively new idea back then as males were required to me "manly-men" to the extreme and any sign of feminism, even an interest in cooking or art, was considered by most people to be a sign that the boy was "a wee bit lavender" as they used to say. This was one of the factors that led to common acceptance of a middle ground. Say, a man who could cry and not be thought weak or deficient in some way. In addition, he supplies evidence to back up his claims and to demonstrate his point. He believes people whether male or female can accept and use psychological traits of either male or female personalities, regardless of sexuality, depending on which serves them better. He then goes on to quote an experiment done by a teacher a few years before where the teacher asked a group of children numbering 6000, both male and female, which sex they would rather be. 100% of the boys were content with their sex, while an amazing 38% of girls would rather be boys, which actually surprised me quite a bit. I knew women could be discontented with their lot, but I didn't think such a large percentage would actually change to men if given the choice. Adler uses this experiment to point out the inherent negativity associated with female traits and the way our society is geared towards male dominance (Adler, Co-operation 141). Adler explored many new areas of thought and went in direct opposition to several of Freud's theories, (for the most part those that had to do with the human libido) although he agrees with Freudism in general, even though he prefers to separate biological and psychological factors. I.E. having a penis or a vagina does not determine what kind of person you will be except as to the extent that society shapes your role. Looking at the problems that have plagued relationships since the beginning of time from this perspective opens vast new vistas of consideration. "Father knows best", "Women are only good for housewifery", etc. become real aspects of society not because they are fundamentally true, but because society believes they are and accepts their roles.
Overall, this book is well written and logical. While the book itself is focused around male/female issues, it has given me many ideas about the psychoanalytic school of thought in general, like society values, as well as helping me understand some of the fundamental obstructions between the sexes and why they do the things they do. Adler quite liked Freud, and agreed with much that he had to say. However, Freud often referred to Adler's own writings as a sign of Adler's incompetence, but they merely serve to demonstrate the development of a new line of thought. It is somewhat difficult to critique this as a "book" since the collection of writings spans many years and each section is a complete work in and of itself, so I have thought of it as rather a journal, written in separate times over many years and showing a linear progression of thought, logic, and moods of Adler. In that sense, I find it to be quite satisfactory and informative.
The book is arranged into four main sections, the first dealing with women's problems as they pertain to relationships (myth of inferiority), the second with man's (male supremacy), the third with sexual relations between the two, and the fourth with love relations between the two. I believe there is a good, strong methodology behind the organization of the book; first identifying the separate components then showing how they interact. Although Adler himself did not arrange this book, it is still a tribute to his intelligence that the myriad of papers he wrote covered all the bases. The way the information is presented in the book varies, as different papers were intended for different audiences. So you have phrases like "antithetical apperception and dogmatization" (title of one of the papers) cropping up when he is writing to people with doctorates and titles like "the myth of women's inferiority" appearing when he is writing to a common-man based journal of science (Adler, Co-operation 43, 3). Regardless of how it is presented, Adler has a clear line of thought progressing through his papers as well as the theme of deproving stereotypes. In just the first few pages he describes how the "meek, unassuming" woman is not a natural progression of women being the weaker sex (which he also disagrees with), but rather as an effect of an upbringing where Father knew and did everything and Mother was merely an instrument and watchdog of Father (Father: "Go make me dinner", Mother: "You kids just wait till I tell your Father what you've done!") (Adler, Co-operation 9,10). He has done exhaustive research to support his ideas, including technical journals spanning over sixty-five years and interviewing many of his peers in the field. He also brings many new ideas to the table, even to the point of quantifying and examining philosophical issues. For instance the idea of masculine superiority, the whole attitude of "look how big and bad I am", demonstrates a suppression of the female traits. He states that a natural amount of "psychological hermaphroditism" is required or else neurosis will develop (Adler, Co-operation 148). This was a relatively new idea back then as males were required to me "manly-men" to the extreme and any sign of feminism, even an interest in cooking or art, was considered by most people to be a sign that the boy was "a wee bit lavender" as they used to say. This was one of the factors that led to common acceptance of a middle ground. Say, a man who could cry and not be thought weak or deficient in some way. In addition, he supplies evidence to back up his claims and to demonstrate his point. He believes people whether male or female can accept and use psychological traits of either male or female personalities, regardless of sexuality, depending on which serves them better. He then goes on to quote an experiment done by a teacher a few years before where the teacher asked a group of children numbering 6000, both male and female, which sex they would rather be. 100% of the boys were content with their sex, while an amazing 38% of girls would rather be boys, which actually surprised me quite a bit. I knew women could be discontented with their lot, but I didn't think such a large percentage would actually change to men if given the choice. Adler uses this experiment to point out the inherent negativity associated with female traits and the way our society is geared towards male dominance (Adler, Co-operation 141). Adler explored many new areas of thought and went in direct opposition to several of Freud's theories, (for the most part those that had to do with the human libido) although he agrees with Freudism in general, even though he prefers to separate biological and psychological factors. I.E. having a penis or a vagina does not determine what kind of person you will be except as to the extent that society shapes your role. Looking at the problems that have plagued relationships since the beginning of time from this perspective opens vast new vistas of consideration. "Father knows best", "Women are only good for housewifery", etc. become real aspects of society not because they are fundamentally true, but because society believes they are and accepts their roles.
Overall, this book is well written and logical. While the book itself is focused around male/female issues, it has given me many ideas about the psychoanalytic school of thought in general, like society values, as well as helping me understand some of the fundamental obstructions between the sexes and why they do the things they do. Adler quite liked Freud, and agreed with much that he had to say. However, Freud often referred to Adler's own writings as a sign of Adler's incompetence, but they merely serve to demonstrate the development of a new line of thought. It is somewhat difficult to critique this as a "book" since the collection of writings spans many years and each section is a complete work in and of itself, so I have thought of it as rather a journal, written in separate times over many years and showing a linear progression of thought, logic, and moods of Adler. In that sense, I find it to be quite satisfactory and informative.
