Chapter One

Great as our country is in her boundless acres, majestic forests, mighty lakes and rivers, and inexhaustible sources of wealth, she has hidden treasures in the undeveloped powers of her women, that if employed would add more wealth of the state, than all of our other resources together. -Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1875)

How dare I claim that American women need to wake up? Wake up from what? We seem to have it all. We are protected by the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. We are free to walk down any street wearing whatever we want without fear of being jailed or stoned or burned with acid. We are free to pursue any level and course of education we desire without limitations. We are free to travel, socialize, and discuss whatever subjects we choose, controversial or benign, without the threat of death or imprisonment. We are free to be single without the shame and intolerance experienced by women in other parts of the world. We are free to attend any church we want and to organize any meeting or protest. We have the right to vote. And we are surrounded by powerful female role models who have achieved excellence and success in every arena of public life—arenas that were off-limits to our female ancestors and still are to many of the world's women. In theory, we are unbridled in our experience of life and liberty, and in our pursuit of happiness.

So, given our privilege and freedom, why are so many tweens, teens and twenty- and thirty-something women only margi