Book Review: Feminine Appeal

Before Little Bit was born I read Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney, but didn't get a review written & since Little Bit's been born, I've been abit busy LOL. I have thing set up to be online easily while she nurses, but can't type as easily as I'd like.

So I'm taking a couple minutes while Little Bit's asleep, to work on this. I LOVE Carolyn Mahaney! I'm not sure how I first happened to find her online talks, but I've listened to most of them. There are a couple things I cringe at abit (she refers to being so relieved when her mother told her it's ok to let baby cry in the crib, apparently for HER babies, they'd fuss a few minutes and fall asleep, but she implies this is always the case and I can say w/ certainty that would NOT have worked for my big girls (for Little Bit, it depends, she DOES sometimes just want to sleep, and will just kind of "whine"/fuss a few minutes & fall asleep, other times, something else is bothering her, and laying her down just makes her scream louder)) so I don't 100% agree w/ her parenting tips, but overall, I've enjoyed it & learned alot.

I was excited to get, and read Feminine Appeal, since I'd seen it recommended several times and I love Carolyn Mahaney's talks so much. And it's a very good book, BUT, the book says essentially the same thing (sometimes word for word) as her To Teach What is Good mp3 series. So if you'd just as soon listen as read anyway, you can listen for free, and skip the book.

Ok now what's the book (and mp3 series) about? In a nutshell, she takes Titus 2:4, 5 and writes a chapter on each of the things we, as women, are to be doing.

Then [the older women] can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:4, 5 (NIV)

Carolyn takes this apart and writes a chapter on each of the following:

• loving our husbands
• loving our children
• being self-controlled
• being pure
• being busy at home
• being kind
• being subject to our husbands

I felt she did a good job of explaining what each of these entailed, an example of a "tricky" part of this verse that I felt she handled well is being busy at home. I've heard some people interpret this verse to mean that women should NEVER work outside the home, Carolyn makes the point that the home must be our priority. So, if I were looking at a possible job opportunity, I should first ask myself, how will this affect my husband, children and our home life? I think this is a good "measure" of whether employment (whether outside the home or a work-at-home job) is acceptable.

So, very good information, I highly recommend it (but don't bother reading the book if you've listened to the mp3 series).