Women of all cultures, of every color, should be proud to be a woman. They should thank the courage, the ferocious determination of many women before them who fought to give each woman of today a future, and the women of tomorrow a status better than the subservient one they had to suffer a few decades back.

Female students would find the novel “Necessary Dreams: Ambition in Women’s Changing Lives” by Anna Fels, thought-provoking.

The book tackles the idea of how women are still being ridiculed for having ambitions outside the domestic environment.

Fels does decent work building basic information that the readers would need in order to understand where she is coming from when stating her thesis.

Knowing readers could be confused with the word “ambition,” because there are a variety of ways to describe the word, Fels clearly lets the readers know the definition of ambition.

“Creating relationships in areas where we have some control, where the recognition is based on a talent or skill or hard work-rather than on appearance, sexual availability, pure social skills, or subservience-is the essence of ambition,” Fels writes.

Readers cannot complain about not knowing this author’s view.

Fels tells readers straight out in the first few sections of the book what her intention is, unlike some authors who write in circles explaining their stand on controversial subjects.

Fels states in the second chapter, “Distorted Ambitions,” that women still have a hard time receiving attention for their accomplishments, even with access to educational and work environments that were previously reserved for men only.

Although women’s societal status has progressed compared to their status in the 1950s and more people nowadays would think that women have come a long way, readers would be surprised by some of the results found in research done by Fels.

Many women of today, either consciously or subconsciously, still have preconceived notions of how they should act and what is expected of them, as females.

Women admire men with ambition, but do not like associating the word with themselves.

“If ambition was, by definition, self-serving and egotistical, why was it not only acceptable but desirable for men?”, Fels said.

“Whenever women ask for or gain access to resources previously reserved for men-and most particularly sources of social recognition; their sexual identity is publicly attacked,” Fels said.

“Necessary Dreams,” is not only thought provoking but also brings awareness to reevaluate the preconceived notions and gender roles of what men and women should be.

On the Shelf

What: “Necessary Dreams,” Published earlier this year, this 320-paged book focuses on how women have developed from being domestic wives to a working mothers.

Publisher: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group

Bottom Line: Provides fresh research and a new perspective on the lives of women in recent decades.