Description: The early goals of feminism, says Benjamin DeMott in this lively and controversial book, embodied the ideal of a more compassionate and nurturing society for both women and men. Today, many women believe that empowerment lies in "becoming men" -- and men are seen as tough and brutally competitive. This gender denial obscures irreducible differences fixed by nature as well as the healthy flexibility that would free both sexes from rigid gender positions. The other side of this coin is the new hard-nosed ethos in corporate America and in our public policy.

We can no longer think straight about gender and power, DeMott argues, because we are inundated daily by a flood of gender-denying material embodying the killer woman and her values. This material is pervasive in our culture -- in films, sitcoms, popular and literary fiction, cartoons, and commercials. It leads us to believe that the sexes have nothing to teach each other except ever harsher modes of selfishness and cruelty, both at work and at home. DeMott has gathered a wealth of fascinating and highly entertaining material to support his thesis. Nicole Kidman, Courtney Love, Walt Whitman, Maureen Dowd, and Teddy Roosevelt are present, along with Ally McBeal, Sex and the City, The New Yorker, Talk, and Salon, among many others.

Concluding with a passionate plea for a return to feminism's original large-spirited vision of human variousness, this will surely be one of the year's most discussed books.

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