Synopses & Reviews
Slaying the Mermaid addresses the great numbers of women, of all ages, who find themselves constantly disregarding their own well-being to put the needs of others first--even against their will and contrary to their principles--because they cannot face the guilt they would feel if they didn't.
Mothers subordinate their smallest needs to their children's; daughters assume the burden of caring for elderly parents; wives sacrifice their careers for their husband's; in the office, women put in extra effort for their coworkers or the boss without making demands for themselves.
Despite the great changes over the past thirty years in our ideas about women's role in society and their potential for achievement, many continue to sabotage their own interests, stunt their emotional and intellectual growth, and deny themselves the full richness of life due to excessive self-sacrifice.
Drawing on conversations with experts and a diverse array of women, Stephanie Golden examines the dichotomy between selfhood and sacrifice. Using the image of Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid, the ultimate ideal of the self-sacrificing woman who gave up her voice and her life for an unrequited love, Golden offers a new paradigm for women: in order to run with the wolves, you must first slay the mermaid.
Golden helps women become conscious of self-defeating behavior that they may have been blind to or simply ignored. This book will help them reclaim their energy, creativity, and identity, while rediscovering the original, empowering meaning of sacrifice as an expansive and self-fulfilling act.
Synopsis
In Slaying the Mermaid, Stephanie Golden reveals with eye-opening clarity the historical, cultural, social, and even mythic reasons why women feel such an obligation to put the needs of others first -- even against their will and contrary to their principles -- because they cannot face the pain they would feel if they did not. Slaying the Mermaid will help women become conscious of the self-defeating behavior they've been blind to, and reclaim their energy, creativity, and identity.
Drawing on extensive research and interviews with experts and a diverse array of women, and united by the image of the Little Mermaid, the fabled ideal of the self-sacrificing woman, Slaying the Mermaid illuminates the unconscious motivations of mothers who subordinate their smallest needs to those of their children, daughters who assume the burden of caring for elderly parents, wives who sacrifice their careers for their husbands, and women in the workplace who let their extra efforts go uncompensated. Far from being an argument against self-sacrifice, however, Slaying the Mermaid rediscovers the original meaning of sacrifice, helping women reclaim the empowering concept as a good and ennobling trait.
"An ambitious, fascinating work, laced with much solid scholarship, that often transcends its subject to tackle issues of concern for all women". -- Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Stephanie Golden is an independent scholar and writer. She is the author of the acclaimed The Women Outside: Meanings and Myths of Homelessness, which was a finalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Award. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.