Wonder Women Sex Power & the Quest for Perfection

Debora L. Spar spent most of her life avoiding feminism. Raised after the tumult of the 60s, she presumed that the gender war was over; she swore to young women that yes, they could have it all. “We thought we could glide into the new era with babies, board seats, and husbands in tow,” she writes. “We were wrong.”

     Spar should know. One of the first women professors at Harvard Business School, she went on to have three children and became the chair of her department. Now shes the president of Barnard College, arguably the most important all-women school in the country, an institution firmly committed to feminism.

     Wonder Women is Spars story and the cultures. Armed with reams of new research, she examines how womens lives have—and have not—changed over the past forty years. The challenges confronting women are more complex than ever. They stem from breast pumps and Manolo pumps; from men whose eyes linger on a womans rear and men who rush that same rear out the door. Theyre problems that come inherently and inevitably from being female. Yet theyre falling on generations of women who grew up believing that none of these things are supposed to matter now.

     Wonder Women gives us an important voice in an increasingly heated debate. In this wise, often funny, always human, and smartly conceived book, Spar asks: How far have women really come? And what will it take to get true equality for good?

“Spar uses her experiences of the feminist revolution of the 1960s as a scaffold for evaluating the situation of young women today . . . Spar addresses many issues facing working women—e.g., maintaining a fashionable appearance, sexual identity and aging in a world of shifting mores. For younger women who have accepted their entitlement to full equality with men, the conflicting demands of the roles expected of them, and their own ‘quest for perfection, can be devastating. A wise, worthy companion to Sheryl Sandbergs Lean In.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Debora L. Spar tackles—and dispels—the myth of perfection with intelligence and humor. Wonder Women is a terrific read.” —Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and author of the bestselling Lean In

“Debora L. Spar has written the right book at the right time. We need to make all womens lives less stressful and more rewarding. This brave, well-written book points the way. Spar reveals her most intimate history, yet stands back to see her whole generation—and mine—in perspective. Wonder Women will make many women feel deeply understood. And many men. Its a warm, humorous, and lusty book, and I think many readers will be grateful for it. I certainly am.” —Erica Jong, author of Fear of Flying

“Debora L. Spar has written a wonderful and wise meditation on women that draws on her own life experience and her deep intelligence as a scholar. She is a lively companion on an essential subject.” —Fareed Zakaria, author of The Post-American World

“Debora L. Spar has done the impossible: written a fresh, thoughtful, and engaging book on the role of women in todays society. In telling her own story she tells us where weve come from and where we must go next. A must-read for every woman on the move in life.” —Tina Brown, founder and editor in chief of the Newsweek Daily Beast Company

“Wonder Women is the book Id give my daughter as a guide to navigating the challenges of being a woman in twenty-first-century America. Debora L. Spars is a wise, calm, eloquent voice; she offers essential caution against the idea that anybody can live a life without trade-offs and imperfections, but she does this without ever losing hold of the righteous passion of the feminist movement.” —Nicholas Lemann, author of Redemption

“Wonder Women is a refreshing and engaging reevaluation of the challenges facing women and feminism in contemporary America. With wit and historical insight, Debora L. Spar takes us through the female life cycle, exploding myths about ‘having it all through personal stories, social science studies, and critiques of popular culture. A compelling read, this book should be required for young women, their parents, and their future employers.” —Estelle B. Freedman, author of No Turning Back

Fifty years after the Equal Pay Act, why are women still living in a man's world?

Debora L. Spar never thought of herself as a feminist. Raised after the tumult of the 1960s, she presumed the gender war was over. As one of the youngest female professors to be tenured at Harvard Business School and a mother of three, she swore to young women that they could have it all. "We thought we could just glide into the new era of equality, with babies, board seats, and husbands in tow," she writes. "We were wrong."

Now she is the president of Barnard College, arguably the most important all-women's college in the United States. And in Wonder Women: Sex, Power, and the Quest for Perfection--a fresh, wise, original book-- she asks why, a half century after the publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, do women still feel stuck.

In this groundbreaking and compulsively readable book, Spar explores how American women's lives have--and have not--changed over the past fifty years. Armed with reams of new research, she details how women struggled for power and instead got stuck in an endless quest for perfection. The challenges confronting women are more complex than ever, and they are challenges that come inherently and inevitably from being female. Spar is acutely aware that it's time to change course.

Both deeply personal and statistically rich, Wonder Women is Spar's story and the story of our culture. It is cultural history at its best, and a road map for the future.

Spar should know. One of the first women professors at Harvard Business School, she went on to have three children and became the chair of her department. Now, shes the president of Barnard College, arguably the most important womens college in the country, and an institution firmly committed to feminism. Wonder Women is Spars story, but it is also the cultures. Armed with reams of new research, she examines how womens lives have, and have not, changed over the past fifty years—and how it is that the struggle for power has become a quest for perfection. Wise, often funny, and always human, Wonder Women asks: How far have women really come? And what will it take to get true equality for good?