For its time, this is a fabulous book- breaking the boundaries and definitions that had held the women of the 1800s in thrall. However, as with much feminist literature, it tends to serve more as an attack on the masculine in society than a liberation for women. The pendulum is now turning to the other end, with more women in graduate studies than men, and the working mother taking over the workplace. Now is not the time or the place for feminist rhetoric, but appreciating the fact that it was seminal in the process of bringing women to the place they are now is valuable.