The Lipstick Proviso

In a book sure to be controversial, Lehrman, a former editor at the New Republic, argues that the time has come for women to update feminist issues and transfer the liberation debate from the political to the personal, even if this means doing away with the idea of a monolithic women's movement. She stresses that it is no longer necessary for feminists to rely on the collective action of an ""artificial sisterhood"" or to look to government to solve their problems. Instead, they should concentrate on ""a feminism based on women's individuality,"" meaning that they ought to make their own choices, including deciding not to feel guilty for doing whatever is necessary to be physically attractive--the ""lipstick proviso."" In chapters devoted to beauty, sex, love, power and female friendship, she examines ways feminists can free themselves from the stereotypes associated with the women's liberation movement. Hard-line feminists may think Lehrman reactionary, but women turned off by the more radical, anti-male aspects of the movement will find her thesis that ""women don't have to be sexless to be equal"" liberating. (May)