My mother’s generation was the first to have it all. They were the first generation to go to college with the intent of earning real college degrees and not just the MRS degrees that their mothers earned. They were the first generation to have real longevity in their careers and not just work until they married. They had it all, the job, the husband, the kids and everything that goes with that life.
That’s the life I knew growing up. I had two working parents. It’s life I hope to lead one day if I should ever marry and have children.
According to author and Barnard College President Debora Spar, in her book Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection, we cannot have it all. Something has to give along the way. Referencing classic second wave feminists texts such as Fear Of Flying, Sex and The Single Girl and The Feminine Mystique while interviewing a variety of women, Ms. Spar comes to an interesting conclusion.
This is one of the best new feminist books that I have read in a very long time. While giving deference and respect where both are naturally due, Ms. Spar examines the life of the modern woman and how it has changed from the life that her grandmother might have lived fifty or sixty years ago. We have come incredibly far in only two generations, but we still have a long ways to go.
I highly recommend this book.
Writergurlny 