WHAT OUR MOTHERS DIDN'T TELL US: Why Happiness Eludes the Modern Woman - Softcover

Crittenden, Danielle

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0684859599 ISBN 13: 9780684859590

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2000

Synopsis

Talk to women under forty today, and you will hear that in spite of the fact that they have achieved goals previous generations of women could only dream of, they nonetheless feel more confused and insecure than ever. What has gone wrong? What can be done to set it right?
These are the questions Danielle Crittenden answers in What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us. She examines the foremost issues in women's lives -- sex, marriage, motherhood, work, aging, and politics -- and argues that a generation of women has been misled: taught to blame men and pursue independence at all costs. Happiness is obtainable, Crittenden says, but only if women will free their minds from outdated feminist attitudes.
By drawing on her own experience and a decade of research and analysis of modern female life, Crittenden passionately and engagingly tackles the myths that keep women from realizing the happiness they deserve. And she introduces a new way of thinking about society's problems that may, at long last, help women achieve the lives they desire.

About this title

Review:

Young women are the unhappy victims of their mothers' generation's feminism, says Danielle Crittenden in What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us. Though they usually don't realize it, feminism has "seeped into their minds like intravenous saline into the arm of an unconscious patient." Crittenden says that feminism doesn't provide answers for the questions that distress young women, such as, "Is work really more important and fulfilling than raising my children?" and "Why does my boyfriend not want to get married as much as I do?" The modern dilemma, she says, is that the success of feminism has cut women off from those aspects of life that are distinctly female desires, such as being a wife and raising children. Crittenden wants us to take a step back from sexual freedom (which she says ends up harming the woman, who gets used and dumped), career (only a tiny minority have stimulating, gratifying jobs), and zealous personal autonomy (often an indication of being too fearful and weak to take on responsibilities), in favor of commitment, marriage, and child rearing. She argues that feminist fervor has failed modern women, and gives her suggestions for how women can recapture meaning, fulfillment, and happiness. --Joan Price

About the Author:

Danielle Crittenden has written for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Ladies' Home Journal, among other publications. She is the founder of The Women's Quarterly, published by the Independent Women's Forum. She has appeared on NBC's Today show and is a frequent commentator on many national television and radio programs. She lives with her husband and two children in Washington, D.C.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0684859599
• ISBN 13: 9780684859590
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208