Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women's Changing LivesIn this groundbreaking book about how women perceive, are prepared for, and cope with ambition and achievement, psychiatrist Anna Fels examines ambition at the deepest psychological level. Cutting to the core of what ambition can provide-- the essential elements of a fulfilling life-- Fels describes why, for women but not for men, ambition still remains fraught with often painful conflict. Fels draws on case studies, research, interviews, and autobiographies of accomplished and celebrated women past and present-- writers, artists, architects, politicians, actors-- to explore the ways in which women are brought up to avoid recognition and visibility in favor of traditional feminine values and why they often choose to nurture and defer to rather than compete with men. She poses invaluable questions: What is the nature of ambition and how important is it in a woman' s life? What are the forces that promote or impede its development? To what extent does ambition go against a woman' s very nature? And she challenges currently held theories about the state of mind and the needs of men. Incisive and highly readable, Necessary Dreams is a unique exploration of the options and obstacles women face in the pursuit of their goals. It is a book that every woman will want-- and need-- to read. |
Contents
What Is Ambition? | 3 |
Distorted Ambitions | 19 |
PART TWO Recognition and Ambition in Womens Lives | 33 |
Copyright | |
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accomplishments achievement adolescent adult affirmation Albert Bandura American Androgyny attention become behavior believe boys career Carol Gilligan child choices colleagues cultural described despite divorce early efforts emotional Eve Ensler Excerpts expected experience fact factors father feel female feminine gender gender roles girls and women goals husband Ibid identity impact interviewed John Lahr learning less look male peers Marie Souvestre marital marriage married masculine mastery Maya Lin men's ment mentor middle-class motherhood mothers motivation Natalie Angier neurotransmitters one's parents percent political position powerful profession professional Psychology pursue Rachel Cusk receive relationships response rewards role sense serotonin sexual skills social status successful teachers tion traditional USA Today Virginia Woolf virtually weddings wife wives woman women's ambitions women's lives workplace writing York York Times Co young women