Mary Eberstadt is an American author, essayist, and cultural critic known for her work on issues related to religion, family, and contemporary social trends.
An observant Roman Catholic, she has written extensively about the impact of the sexual revolution of the 1960s, secularization, and the decline of traditional family structures on society.
Some of her notable books include How the West Really Lost God and Primal Screams, where she explores the consequences of cultural shifts on individual identity and societal well-being.
[2] She is also a former Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and served as a speechwriter to Secretary of State George Schultz and special assistant to Ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick at the United Nations during the Reagan administration.
[3] Her writing has appeared in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, National Review, First Things, The Weekly Standard, Quillette, TIME, and other venues.
Her maternal grandfather was boxing legend Steve Hamas, one-time leading contender for the world heavyweight crown and a famous American football player.
The simultaneous declines of family and religious life are deemed to be causes driving newly atomized people into substitute communities of identity politics.
[9] Leon R. Kass, professor emeritus at the Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago, called Primal Screams “an indispensable book for understanding our time.” Mary Ann Glendon, Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard University, endorsed it as a “deeply thought-provoking reflection on human nature and the fate of our republic.” The book includes commentaries on Eberstadt’s argument by Rod Dreher, Mark Lilla, and Peter Thiel.
"[10] In its review of the book, Publishers Weekly both praised the volume and took issue with what its reviewer perceived as limitations: "Casting believers almost entirely as innocent victims without any political or cultural power causes the work to lose some nuance.... For traditional Christians, Eberstadt provides a language to defend their position, a comforting sense that their persecution is real, and a view of the irony of progressives curtailing freedom....[T]he final chapter's call to attend to rhetoric and avoid generalization powerfully makes the case for more civility in the midst of intense disagreement.
"[11] Writing in the Weekly Standard, Jonathan V. Last called the book "brilliant" and a "tour de force, essential reading for anyone wondering how our civilization can survive the current moment.
The book examines how the sexual revolution has produced widespread discontent among men and women, and has harmed the weakest members of society.
Eberstadt explores the portrayal of post-1960s norms in pop culture voices, pinpointing "a wildly contradictory mix of chatter about how wonderful it is that women are now all liberated for sexual fun--and how mysteriously impossible it has become to find a good, steady, committed boyfriend at the same time.
"[16] A review in the Washington Times stated that "in this concise, elegantly written book, Eberstadt marries brilliant analytical power with wry wit" and called it "an enormous contribution to understanding both modern moral culture and the significance of current political debate.
The book also connected these problems to popular culture, particularly as reflected in adolescent music (including the award-winning chapter, "Eminem is Right").
R. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called it "a book that should be read by every concerned parent, pastor, and policy maker.
[20][21] In addition to her commencement addresses, media appearances, and annual lectures at the Tertio Millennio Seminar in Kraków, Poland,[22] Eberstadt has given widely attended public speeches inside and outside the United States.
[25] The speeches from that tour were collected into a booklet entitled, “Politics, identity and religion,” published by the PM Glynn Institute of Australian Catholic University.
According to Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review, "The timing of this adaptation by playwright Jeffrey Fiske may just be an opportunity to catch millennial "nones" with an invitation.
[46] The choice of Eberstadt as the school's commencement speaker brought dissent from some faculty members, who objected that her values were not consistent with those of the university.