by Lyz Lenz
First published 2024
Journalist Lyz Lenz examines the gender politics that make American marriage a losing game for women. After her own twelve-year marriage collapsed, Lenz investigates why nearly 70 percent of divorces are initiated by women who find themselves tired, fed up, and unhappy. She argues that divorce represents a practical solution for women to reclaim their power, not the personal failure society labels it. Lenz challenges the tired media portrayals of divorced women as desperate and lonely, instead positioning divorce as a rational response to relationships built on inequality. Through reportage, sociological research, literature, and personal stories, she builds a case that heterosexual marriage itself is the failing institution, not the women who leave it. The book weaves together cultural analysis with individual experiences to show how American power structures, justice systems, and gender dynamics create impossible conditions for women in marriage. Lenz calls for a complete reckoning with marriage as a cultural institution and offers readers a manifesto for female solidarity and collective refusal of unfair systems.
Genres: american-fiction, gender-studies, american, feminism, non-fiction, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: manifesto, rational-response
288 pages · Hardcover · Crown