false 534125 1401303064 9781401303068 287 118 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175604713m/534125.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/534125.The_Feminine_Mistake_Are_We_Giving_Up_Too_Much_ 295119 Leslie Bennetts 288 120 3 0 false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 30 03:53:32 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 12 07:49:55 -0700 2008
But the book tends to be very heavy-handed about how giving up your career at any point will always eventually bite you in the butt -- hard. I'm a working mom, and while this book did a lot to assuage the guilt I occasionally feel, even I found Bennetts laying it on pretty thick at times. Chapter after self-congratulatory chapter is basically about how all of these stay-at-home moms in Upstate NY or WASP-y Connecticut were eventually left by their husbands with nothing. "How ignorant and naive of them!" Bennetts seems to say each time.

I was also put off by the author's narrow view of what actually counted as continuing to work. Careers are not always linear these days, and not everyone wants to claw their way into the corner office. Many moms leave their careers to start their own businesses or freelance from home and don't regret it one bit. As difficult as it may be, there is such a thing as striking a good work-life balance, but Bennetts seems to graze right over it.

The thing is, I think Bennetts has really valid points here and I really do agree with her, for the most part. And I do get why she's so frustrated -- because the media portrayal that really highly educated moms giving up their careers for their families as an upward trend is really damaging for working moms and mothers' rights in the workplace. But I think the book would've made a much bigger impact if it weren't so scolding and stressful to read.

Working moms may feel validated by the information presented in the book, but I doubt stay-at-home moms will get anything from it besides a hot head.]]>