The feminine mistake cover

The feminine mistake

by Leslie Bennetts

Women are often told that it's too difficult to balance work and family, so if they don't really "have to" work, it's better for their families if they stay home. Not only is this untrue, journalist Bennetts says, but the arguments in favor of stay-at-home motherhood fail to consider the surprising benefits of work and the unexpected toll of giving it up. Combining work and family really is the best choice for most women, and it's eminently doable. Earning money and being successful make women feel great, and when women sacrifice their financial autonomy by quitting their jobs, they become vulnerable to divorce as well as the potential illness, death, or unemployment of their breadwinner husbands. But women who stop working sacrifice far more than financial security--Bennetts' research documents the steep toll when women forfeit the intellectual, emotional, psychological, and even medical benefits of self-sufficiency.--From publisher description.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?