On Our Best Behaviour: The Price Women Pay to Be Good

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Since being codified by the Christian church in the fourth century, the Seven Deadly Sins--pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth--have exerted insidious power. Even today, in our largely secular, patriarchal society, they continue to circumscribe women's behavior. For example, seeing sloth as sinful leads women to deny themselves rest; a fear of gluttony drives them to ignore their appetites; and an aversion to greed prevents them from negotiating for themselves and contributes to the 55 percent gender wealth gap. Loehnen reveals how women have been programmed to obey the rules represented by these sins and how doing so qualifies them as "good." The golden thread of the 7 deadly sins was a really interesting take on this topic and Elise Loehnen makes incredibly clear and rational arguments to support her hypothesis. In the greed chapter, she encourages women to “lean in” and gives advice for how to succeed in the existing patriarchal structure (if you’re college-educated and middle class).In other sections, she talks about the evils of capitalism and how we need to stop trying to fit into the patriarchal structure but teach men to be more like us. It also allowed me to examine a part of my life that I have been struggling with giving up and what that says about me. She on many levels opened my eyes and has given me the ability to evaluate myself on a deeper level without shame.

La forma en la que la religion ha moldeado lo que son los pecados capitales me voló la mente, el contexto histórico, los estereotipos generacionales, las culpas, los temores todo lo que la autora confronta es muy interesante. The text is full of contradictions.She oscillates between referencing evidence-based scientific research and nonsensical woo-woo such as astrologers and mediums who channel both her deceased brother and Jesus himself. También hay que ver el lado cultural que influye en esta doctrina que se nos ha plantado (en mi caso) desde pequeños. ¿Quien hizo la medida con la que se determina si mi descanso es una necesidad física o si es mera pereza y por qué esta tan mal vista? ¿En que se basa la línea que divide mi hambre o mi gula y quien determina que se me deba castigar por mis necesidades alimenticias? o ¿en que momento mis metas se vuelven avaricia? Provocative and bold , On Our Best Behaviour is a probing analysis of history and contemporary culture that explains how women have internalised the patriarchy, and how they unwittingly reinforce it. By sharing her own story and the spiritual wisdom of other traditions, Elise Loehnen shows how we can break free and discover a path toward a more balanced, fulfilled way to live. Creo que ha sido una lectura que hace conexión con muchas otras que he leído este año, ha sido una gran influencia en cómo he visto mi vida en estas últimas semanas y si bien ya hace años que no practico ninguna religión creo que este libro dio por cerrada mi relación con esos dogmas.

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In the insightful and captivating book, On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good, author Elise Loehnen takes a unique and thought-provoking approach to examining the societal pressures that women face. Through the lens of the traditional Seven Deadly Sins, Loehnen explores how these age-old vices manifest in the lives of modern women, revealing the high cost they pay for trying to meet impossible standards. This book is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the complexities of being a woman in today's world and looking for a refreshing perspective on the challenges they face. This book is a great idea. The chapter titles alone offer fantastic food for thought. However, in this author’s hands, this topic is better suited to a magazine article. There is no there there. What if women finally found freedom—because we gave it to ourselves? Elise Loehnen brilliantly reframes our toxic cultural programming and helps us to see that what we thought were our sins are actually our greatest virtues. This book is the gift we have all been waiting for.” —Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Ughhhh this book. I had such high hopes but it just wasn't what I was expecting. I really wanted the author to draw a direct line from these sins being codified to how people (especially women, trans, and BIPOC) are shoved in a box based on these expectations. It's not that, and that's fine! But this didn't hit the mark for me. These so-called 'deadly sins' have been used by the patriarchy to control women throughout our history. For instance, a fear of gluttony drives us to ignore our appetites and an aversion to greed prevents us from negotiating a better salary at work. Este libro es sumamente informativo. Puede llegar a ser muy interesante viéndolo desde una perspectiva feminista pero razonablemente creo que es un libro que habla de un tema humano en general.In the chapter on sloth, she laments the overwhelming busyness of modern life and in the next paragraph goes on a long tangent about how women need to step up and save the world. Since being codified by the Christian church in the fourth century, the Seven Deadly Sins—pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth—have exerted insidious power. Even today, in our largely secular, patriarchal society, they continue to circumscribe women’s behavior. For example, seeing sloth as sinful leads women to deny themselves rest; a fear of gluttony drives them to ignore their appetites; and an aversion to greed prevents them from negotiating for themselves and contributes to the 55 percent gender wealth gap.

Having a daughter who is about to embark on her own life and going to college. I have always worried whether I have prepared her enough for her future years and the choices that I have made. On some levels I can say I am almost ashamed of some of the things that I have may portrayed and how they could be damaging to this culture of not supporting other women and isolating ourselves. I plan to remedy that before she leaves on her own life adventure.After finding out who Elise Loehnen is, the previous Chief Content officer for Goop, made me a little uncomfortable as Goop is a questionable company, as is its owner. I won't hold her accountable for the shittiness of said company, and owner, but I can choose to not read something by someone that worked so closely with such methods of thought.