Pietro, the professor Elena marries, uses his power passive-aggressively: he is simply unable to find his wife’s mind interesting unless it mirrors his own. “No one knew better than I did what it meant to make your own head masculine so that it would be accepted by the culture of men,” Elena writes.

Der er mange grunde til at hade denne artikel fra marts. Illustrationen er idiotisk, og omtalen af "Elena" og "Karl Ove" og det som angiveligt er årets to flavors i New York, og dermed resten af verden, er så smug at det gør ondt. Skrevet og publiceret fra verdens selvsagte centrum. Rothman er så fornøjet med sig selv at han i sidste sætning igen må understrege sit eget überelegante greb. Mere Ferrante her. Det minder mig om et citat en veninde sendte mig for nyligt, fra slutningen af Susan Sontags roman The Volcano Lover (1992): "I was afraid my anger would offend others, and they would destroy me. For all my certitude, I feared I would never be strong enough to understand what would allow me to protect myself. Sometimes I had to forget that I was a woman to accomplish the best of which I was capable. Or I would lie to myself about how complicated it is to be a woman, including the author of this book. But I cannot forgive those who did not care about more than their own glory or well-being. They thought they were civilized. They were despicable. Damn them all."