In the opening paragraphs of Entitled, Kate Manne tells the story of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, fifty-one years old, and a case of sexual assault that he committed against Dr. Christine Blasey Ford when they were both in high school. Kavanaugh is described as furious and uncooperative during the questioning. He is incredulous that such an investigation is even taking place. To his mind (and to that of his supporters), it is unbelievable that someone of his stature has to respond to such allegations.

Ultimately, his nomination to the Supreme Court was eventually confirmed. In Kate Manne’s words, “America did not pass the test.” It sets the tone for the rest of the book.

Entitled is an examination of how societal beliefs (and in some cases, dysfunctions) can contribute to making life worse than it could possibly be for women. Over the course of ten chapters, the author presents different cases that illustrate how this happens.

The book begins with stories of sexual assault and violence against women, and looks at the backgrounds and experiences of its perpetrators. The perceived entitlement of men over women in a sexual manner is expected in a work such as this, although it doesn’t make the acts themselves any less shocking or inexcusable.

However, the book proceeds to explore territory that might not be as often discussed in the middle to late chapters: how women are subjected to substandard medical care, how they are expected to defer to more “knowledgeable” male experts regardless of their own expertise, and how public perception can create unreasonable expectations for women in positions of power. These discussions are highly interesting, and the stories presented do a good job of highlighting the problems that the author wishes to bring to light.

Although a majority of the book is well-researched with extensive footnotes, there is a section in the chapter examining male entitlement to consent that falls short in comparison with the rest of it. In order to illustrate how women can sometimes consent to sex against their will because of some sense of obligation or expectation, the author extensively refers to fictional works: scenes from HBO’s Girls and J.M. Coetzee’s novel Disgrace. At best, the value of examining a persons’ motivations and behavior is greatly diminished when they aren’t real people. This clashes with the stories in the rest of the chapters and weakens the insights presented in this one.

Readers’ mileage may also vary with the use of newly-created words like “himpathy” and “herasure”—sexually-charged terms that may or may not have a justifiable reason for existing. The concept of “mansplaining” is also examined extensively, although this word has generally been accepted into the English lexicon—the progressive lexicon, at the very least.

Entitled is a good read that takes a fair and comprehensive look at male entitlement, how it exists, and why it persists. The opening and closing chapters bookend the whole idea, with the beginning describing Kavanaugh’s case (what do men believe they are entitled to?), and the end enumerating the author’s hopes for her newborn daughter (what should women be entitled to?). In this final chapter, she writes about how she sees her daughter’s life might be like: the rights and privileges she will enjoy, and the responsibilities she will shoulder. It is optimistic, but it is also unflinching regarding the challenges that she will face.

This is probably the most that anyone can look forward to with certainty in the future. The book does not purport to present definite solutions to the problem of inequality in gender or race or otherwise, but it does paint the problem in a very clear light. Perhaps, for now, that is enough.