Catfight

Many women, this book observes, sometimes undermine one another through indirect, sly, and fiercely competitive tactics. Catfight examines the rivalry, hostility, and drive to get ahead that run through American women's lives. Leora Tanenbaum grounds her account in concrete cases from everyday life and in major research from psychology, the study of human aggression, psychoanalytic theory, and the history of social movements. Her goal is to identify the pressures that lead women to see one another as opponents rather than allies.

Tanenbaum's central idea is that women generally prize approval and friendship from other women, yet that same bond can give rise to quietly competitive behavior. Ordinary scenes show how this plays out. A woman who has left her career to raise her children criticizes a working mother as careless about her kids, even though she misses her old job and paycheck herself. At a party, a woman who wanders over to chat with a man is met with a partner's closer attention and a hostile stare from his companion. A coworker mislays a colleague's files and neglects to mention an upcoming meeting.

The book asks what sisterhood looks like today and how much real progress women have made in changing these patterns.