Emotional intelligence expert and motivational speaker Vermeulen (EQ: Emotional Intelligence for Everyone
) won't help revitalize feminism with this stereotyping polemic against what she sees as women's terminal self-sacrifice. Touching on issues like body image, mother-daughter relationships and societal constraints, Vermeulen offers not a self-help seminar for unhappy women, but a one-sided lecture telling them why they're depressed (men have suppressed them) and how to gain power over their lives (find their life work and their inner bitch). Vermeulen uses feminist fairy tales to make her point. In “Jane and the Brainstalk,” for instance, Jack pumps iron while sister Jane draws water, harvests the fields and caters to her lazy, conniving brother. The message? Men are exploitative, violent pigs, and women should rightfully take power. Vermeulen seems to be living in her own fairy tale world ruled by good (women) and evil (men). While tearing apart female stereotypes, she typecasts men. Although the author touches on important truths about persisting gender inequality, she doesn't add to our understanding of them. If Vermeulen is going to connect with a postfeminist generation, she's going to have to find a more balanced approach. (Oct.)
