Woman Power

August 2, 2004
This sister volume to the bestselling The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands
argues that by simply using "the niceness of the feminine touch," women "have almost magical powers" to singlehandedly improve their marital relationships. The secret is in implementing the "As"—attention, approval, appreciation and affection—that Dr. Laura outlined in her earlier book, and she relies on reader testimonials and radio show transcripts to show specifically how change worked for her devoted fans. Women "dominate with respect to power in man-woman relationships," she says. Not all readers will agree with her conservative and controversial premise that "most women have been blinded to caring about what their men think, feel, and want," and many may find her message cloaked in feminist-bashing bombast (feminists have "created wussy Frankensteins out of men"). Dr. Laura blames feminism—and denigrates women who have chosen careers—for devaluing "what is truly meaningful (sacrifice, commitment, obligation, morality, loyalty) for immediate gratification and material gain, a bizarre notion of equality of the sexes, and power." She never discusses what men can do to improve a marriage; instead she reiterates why it's the woman's responsibility to change first—"because we have more power to transform our men than they have to transform us." Devoted fans may flock to this book. Some men may also want to read this is slickly written self-help title—and want their wives to read it as well.