Double bind : women on ambition / edited by Robin Romm.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Even as toweringly successful women from Gloria Steinem to Beyoncé embrace the word "feminism," the word "ambition," for many, remains loaded with ambivalence. Women who are naturally driven and goal-oriented shy away from it. They're loath to see themselves--or be seen by others--as aggressive or, worst of all, as a bitch. Double Bind could not come at a more urgent time, a necessary collection that explodes this conflict, examining the concept of female ambition from every angle in essays full of insight, wisdom, humor, and rage.

Perceptively identifying a paradox at the very heart of feminism, editor Robin Romm has marshaled a stunning constellation of thinkers to examine their relationships with ambition with candor, intimacy, and wit. Roxane Gay discusses how race informs and feeds her ambition. Theresa Rebeck takes on Hollywood and confronts her own unquenchable thirst to overcome its sexism. Francine Prose considers the origins of the stigma; Nadia Manzoor discusses its cultural weight. Women who work in fields long-dominated by men--from butchery to tech to dogsledding--weigh in on what it takes to crack that ever-present glass ceiling, and the sometimes unexpected costs of shattering it. The eternally complex questions of aspiration and identity can be made even more treacherous at the dawn of motherhood; Allison Barrett Carter attempts leaning in at home, while Sarah Ruhl tries to uphold her feminist vision within motherhood's infinite daily compromises.

Taken together, these essays show women from a range of backgrounds and at all stages of their lives and careers grappling with aspiration, failure, achievement, guilt, and, yes, success. Forthright and empowering, Double Bind breaks a long silence, reclaiming "ambition" from the roster of dirty words at last.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Developed and curated by Romm (The Mercy Papers), this book of 24 commissioned essays ponders many ways successful women struggle with ambition, both conceptually and in their own lived experiences. An array of notable contributors including novelists Roxane Gay and Francine Prose, actress Molly Ringwald, food writer Camas Davis, dogsled racer Blair Braverman, and playwright Sarah Ruhl offer incisive, sometimes visceral takes on this fraught topic. Many point to the conundrum of aspiring to succeed in work and social cultures that remain sexist and racist. Others speak of a deeply felt ambivalence born of family realities, external expectations, and personal hopes, especially the incompatible needs, desires, and skills of professional or artistic success and of motherhood. Several contributors build on or critique Sheryl Sandberg's influential book, Lean In. The career of Hillary Clinton is another touchstone (the essays were written before the 2016 presidential election). VERDICT Collectively, the high-achieving contributors seem uneasy with the concept and reality of ambition, revealing a sweeping range of responses including rage, distaste, resilience, courage, and hard-won (and perhaps still vulnerable) triumph. This book is certain to provoke reflection and discussion. [See Prepub Alert, 10/10/16.]-Janet Ingraham Dwyer, State Lib. of Ohio, Columbus © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this illuminating collection of essays, editor Romm (The Mercy Papers) brings together the voices of successful professional women, including writers, actors, CEOs, and even a dogsled racer to discuss what it means to be an ambitious woman. Novelist Claire Vaye Watkins touchingly relates a bittersweet return to her hometown of Pahrump, Nev., where she encounters a younger version of herself, "a chronic overachiever... seventeen-year-old college senior... stalking a Fulbright," in other words a small fish desperate for a bigger pond. Cultural critic Roxane Gay writes about the "whispers of affirmative action" that have followed her through her many achievements. Playwright Sarah Ruhl pens a pair of eloquent and heartfelt epistles, one to her mother and one to her daughters, that explore the difference between having "ambition" and having "a mission." There are some fairly provocative arguments as well. One woman insists on a biological determinism that makes women nurturers, claiming that feminism's striving toward political equality is misguided. Another declares that ambition is fundamentally "patriarchal." A psychologist argues that a woman's emotions, far from being a detriment in the workplace, actually provide a "vital feedback system that the corporate world needs." While not an advice book in the traditional form, the experiences recounted and lessons learned seep as if by osmosis, and Romm's thoughtful aggregation has provided a diversity of voices, including many women of color, first-generation immigrants, and women pursuing careers in male-dominated fields. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Women today have been told that they can have it all, but essayist Romm (The Mercy Papers, 2009) presents a collection of essays that reveals that the reality is much more complex. The various contributors, including a dogsledder, a butcher, actor, writer, producer Nadia Manzoor, and writer Francine Prose tackle the nature of female ambition as well as the challenges and opposition ambitious women face. After combating sexism in numerous television writing rooms, Theresa Rebeck was handpicked by Steven Spielberg to create the show Smash, only to be fired after a successful first season and replaced by a male show runner. Writer Roxane Gay had to work twice as hard, as a black woman, to have her talent recognized, and with her success, she now feels the weight and pressure of the expectations of those who look up to her. Romm herself struggles with landing a great job that coincides with the birth of the child she worked so hard to conceive. The struggle of motherhood versus career looms large in these pages, as does Sheryl Sandberg's seminal book Lean In (2013), which so many of the essayists reference in their own attempts to reconcile and own their ambitions. Raw, frank, and utterly relatable, this collection is a must-read.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2017 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Romm (MFA Program/Warren Wilson Coll.; The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks, 2009, etc.) gathers essays by successful women about the meaning of ambition in their lives.In this collection, women from professions as varied as teaching, writing, acting, butchering, and dog sledding discuss "the double bind" of female ambition. While many among them have desired success, ambition has been accompanied by ambivalence regarding "impulses and actionsthat felt less pretty or tidy than the faade they wanted to project." Clinical psychologist and professor Yael Chatav Schonbrun, for example, focuses on the sacrifices she made to be a researcher and mother. "The concepts of ambitious' and part time' seem to be a schematic mismatch," she writes, an idea political science professor Elizabeth Corey echoes in her essay, "No Happy Harmony." For her, the work/life double bind for women gives rise to a "conflict in the soul [that] does not go away." Writer Ayana Mathis discusses how, as a black woman, being ambitious is not just a matter of "leaning in." It is about learning how to navigate success that is not a given because of her social and ethnic identity. Actress Molly Ringwald reveals how outspokenness about her desire for stardom garnered criticism to "know [her] place." Hollywood ageism ultimately limited her acting ambitions but also freed her to pursue other interests. By contrast, former magazine editor Camas Davis learned butchery out of a need to reinvent herself after job loss. The fact that "no one had ever bothered toassess [her] skills," however, made Davis feel like an imposter who could not fully embrace her eventual notoriety. Musher Blair Braverman's relationship to ambition came as a surprise. She writes that although she started out as a dog handler, a desire to win races in a male-dominated sport invigorated her. Romm's collection, which also includes contributions from Roxane Gay, Francine Prose, and others, is a welcome addition to the discourse on a topic that rarely receives the kind of honest and wide-ranging consideration these essays offer. A thoughtfully provocative anthology. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Robin Romm is the author of The Mother Garden and The Mercy Papers. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, O, The Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches at Warren Wilson College and lives in Portland, Oregon.