Independent Women

by Debra Sands Miller

Profiling over seventy women of all ages, Debra Sands Miller takes a look at what independence means to women today. She explores commonly held perceptions about the independent woman and investigates the questions women ask themselves to bring to light the transformative power of the spirited women who believe in their own authenticity and act on their own vision.

Genres: Nonfiction

321 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This work was more of a discussion piece than something that could be used as a real reference to Women Studies. It is mostly composed of stories (or case studies) of women in different aspects of life (relationships, work, spirituality, etc.). While it was intriguing to hear these perspectives it didn't provide much insight on how to pave your own way. There was a large focus on spirituality and reference to being called by something higher or following your "women's intuition". Not a ton of guidance on how independence can be accomplished (but maybe that's a little hypocritical... guidance on becoming independent). I wasn't expecting the book to touch on what it is like for elderly women and that kind of surprised me. I didn't realize how hard old single ladies have it in finance and relationships. It should be noted this book was written in 1998, so it was a very different time for women's rights. In that respect it was interesting to see how far we've come in some areas and how there is still much work to do in others. I was afraid this book was going to be too "self-helpy", but then when it wasn't I was mildly disappointed. This book did have a lot of interesting thoughts that would be a great jumping-off point for a discussion.

[Cherylyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this empowering book