Double Bind: Women on Ambition

　　即使葛羅莉亞‧史坦能（Gloria Steinem）到碧昂絲這樣卓越成功的女性都擁抱女性主義，「野心」一詞對許多人來說，仍然充滿矛盾的。野心，是舊時代男性專屬的名詞，對女性而言只是一枚負面標籤。因此，女性天生的遠離它。她們不情願看到自己的侵略性，或因而必須忍受諸多閒言閒語。本書網羅各個深具洞察力、智慧、幽默與憤怒的各家論述，討論關於女性抱負的觀念。

　　面對如此悖論，本書編者Robin Romm集合了當代思想家中的精英，以坦率、私密與睿智探討她們與野心的關係。女性主義作家Roxane Gay討論種族是如何喚起並餵養她的野心。劇作家Theresa Rebeck在好萊塢的遭遇，使她極其渴望能克服性別歧視。小說家法蘭馨‧普羅斯(Francine Prose)探究恥辱的起源。身為穆斯林女性移民，為此處境拍片著書的Nadia Manzoor討論它的文化重量。從屠宰場到科技業，女性長期在受男性支配的職場工作，除了必須積極去打破這一直存在的玻璃帷幕，有時候破壞也會帶來的預期外的成本。

　　當女性再加上母親的身分，複雜的志向和認同問題就變得更加詭譎。當劇作家莎拉．茹爾(Sarah Ruhl) 試圖在母親無限的日常妥協中維護她的女權主義願景時，自由作家Allison Barrett Carter卻試圖在家中「挺身而進」。

　　本書將所有論述匯總，展現來自各個背景、生活與位於職涯各個階段中的女性，盡力克服渴望、失敗、成就、內疚與成功各深具含義的名詞。帶著自信與直率，Double Bind打破了漫長的沉默、終於從髒字表中取下「野心」這詞。

　　「在大膽、引人入勝、深具洞察力與智慧的文章中，Double Bind的作家們探究了在今日成為一個野心勃勃的女人意味何在的複雜現實。我完全迷上這本重要之作，並深受感動。我想把這本書放到每一個我認識的人手上，告訴他們：『讀吧！真相就在裡面。』」—《那時候，我只剩下勇敢》作者雪兒．史翠德(Cheryl Strayed)

　　(文/博客來編譯)

　　Breaking the last feminist taboo--once and for all.

　　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

　　“Robin Romm has assembled a terrific group of writers to explore an essential and durable topic. Double Bind is always engaging.” - Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings

　　“Daring, wonderfully readable, and packed with truth. Double Bind is a work of courage and ferocious honesty. A book to inspire us now and the generations of ambitious women to come.” - Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Life Without a Recipe: A Memoir and Crescent

　　“Daring, wonderfully readable, and packed with truth. Double Bind is a work of courage and ferocious honesty. A book to inspire us now and the generations of ambitious women to come.” - Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Life Without a Recipe: A Memoir and Crescent

　　“Wonderful, readable stories that are as complex and compelling as their authors. Double Bind raises as many questions as it provides answers, but they are questions that women and men with wives, sisters, and daughters should be pondering.” - Anne Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family

　　“Wonderful, readable stories that are as complex and compelling as their authors. Double Bind raises as many questions as it provides answers, but they are questions that women and men with wives, sisters, and daughters should be pondering.” - Anne Marie Slaughter, author of Unfinished Business: Women Men Work Family

　　“Women today have been told that they can ‘have it all,’ but novelist and essayist Romm presents a collection of essays that reveals that the reality is much more complex. . . . Raw, frank, and utterly relatable, this collection is a must-read.” - Kristine Huntley, Booklist (starred review)

　　“In essays that are bold, absorbing, insightful, and wise, the writers in Double Bind explore the complicated realities of what it means to be an ambitious woman today. I was enthralled by this important book, and moved too. I want to press it into the hands of everyone I know and say, Read it: the truth is inside.” - Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things

　　“In essays that are bold, absorbing, insightful, and wise, the writers in Double Bind explore the complicated realities of what it means to be an ambitious woman today. I was enthralled by this important book, and moved too. I want to press it into the hands of everyone I know and say, Read it: the truth is inside.” - Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things

　　“I read this book from cover to cover on two plane flights, and I instantly felt welcomed into my tribe of women struggling with ambition. Some of these women want ambition; some do not. Some are polite and demur in their expressions of ambition; others are ballsy (!) and forward. Some of the women feel supported in their pursuit of ambition; others struggle alone. Listening to the voices of all these women, I felt embraced and understood.” - Kara Cooney, author of The Woman Who Would Be King

　　“I read this book from cover to cover on two plane flights, and I instantly felt welcomed into my tribe of women struggling with ambition. Some of these women want ambition; some do not. Some are polite and demur in their expressions of ambition; others are ballsy (!) and forward. Some of the women feel supported in their pursuit of ambition; others struggle alone. Listening to the voices of all these women, I felt embraced and understood.” - Kara Cooney, author of The Woman Who Would Be King

　　“This vital book is full of the true, brave voices of women who’ve accomplished great things despite living in a culture that pays lip service to the notion of women’s full humanity but still does so much to hold us back—including, not incidentally, teaching us to hate and doubt ourselves. Now more than ever, these stories need to be read.” - Emily Gould, author of Friendship

　　“This vital book is full of the true, brave voices of women who’ve accomplished great things despite living in a culture that pays lip service to the notion of women’s full humanity but still does so much to hold us back—including, not incidentally, teaching us to hate and doubt ourselves. Now more than ever, these stories need to be read.” - Emily Gould, author of Friendship

　　“Illuminating . . . . 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.” - Publishers Weekly

　　“Illuminating . . . . 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.” - Publishers Weekly

　　“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.” - Kirkus Reviews

　　“Robin Romm has assembled a terrific group of writers to explore an essential and durable topic. Double Bind is always engaging.” - Meg Wolitzer, author of The Interestings