Womankind: Beyond the Stereotypes

Actualizing the architecture of this book, I set out to examine fixed positions related to a) stereotypes of role, and b) assumptions of thought. In this edition, I have added a section called "Interpenetrations," where I undertake to analyze, in terms of current metamorphosis, what has hap-pened in the private and in the public spheres. The chapter entitled, "Sex and Gender," deals with the characteristic interweaving of present im-peratives and past prototypes, in relation to biography. The chapter en-titled, "The Politics of Power," deals with the same characteristic inter-weaving, in relation to history. In a transitional period, transformation proceeds unevenly: old and new are a continuing part of contemporary reality. In sum, I have attempted to harmonize what is unprecedented with what is familiar, and to dissect meaningful strands from the tangle of paradoxical precepts. Embarking on such venturesome thought, I have been mindful of the caveat of Jacob Bronowski: "If today we want to find relief from the uncertainties of a changing world in some cozy arbitra