"Other Women" by Francine Prose Analysis

".... I found out that my husband had, so to speak, worked his way through the group.... In fact, this was not how it happened. In fact, I'm pretty sure that my husband only slept with two of the women in the group.... Obviously, saying all the women in the group makes a better story than saying two of the women in the group." (Prose 240)
Cartoon credit to Mark Anderson, found on www.andertoons.com

Women in the early 1970s were being swallowed up by the feminist revolution, by calls to get jobs and not rush into marriage and to stand up to the patriarchy and all men who willfully upheld it. In 1972, Francine Prose, now a published author and president of the literacy-promoting PEN American Center, is unhappily married and has all but dropped out of a PhD program. Wondering if her womanhood was the reason for her miserable situation (as sexism seemed to be the cause of all problems in those days), she joins a "feminist conscious-raising group" near campus. A few months later, Prose leaves her husband. A year afterward, he tells her that he slept with a few women in the group before Prose had even left him. This seems to her a horrible wrong to commit another woman and completely changes her view of feminism.
Initially, Prose's reason for writing "Other Women" could be unclear to reader; she could easily be a so-called "radfem" raging about the unreliability of men. Fortunately, one can soon determine that Prose is trying to convey a completely different idea, that no gender is better than any other. The clincher comes towards the end when she writes, "I can thank my Cambridge women's group.... for having cured me of the notion that women are no more or less likely to than men to treat people well or badly...." (Prose 241). As the entire essay is one long first-person narration of Prose's experiences, the reader is able to experience her troubles as if they are their own, and can effortlessly connect to Prose and agree with her opinions. Prose describes her husband revealing the truth and her revelation that followed as a cause-and-effect analysis, making the road map of the essay easier for the reader to follow. 
In the minds of many, the feminist tone of the essay would for women only, and admittedly it seems that it is targeted towards women, specifically those who consider themselves feminists. However, its valuable lesson about the disconnection between gender and interpersonal behavior is one that men, as well as people of other genders or of no gender, would benefit from learning. Regardless of the original ambiguity, Prose uses second half of "Other Women" to deliver and elaborate upon her message in such a clear and concise way that it seems even more important than her husband cheating on her. She does well in achieving her purpose.