| Description |
viii, 196 pages ; 22 cm |
| Contents |
Smile pretty : a cultural history of women and happiness -- Grumpy nuns die young : women and the science of joy -- A life of one's own : what we mean by happiness |
| Summary |
"Happiness has become a serious business. Where twentieth-century psychology focused on depression, today's scientists have begun focusing on "positive psychology" - the study of happiness. With this focus has come a spate of bestselling books and a cheery fascination with learned optimism." "Ariel Gore became intrigued by the happiness phenomenon when she discovered that Positive Psychology was the most popular course on the Harvard campus. As she read deeper into the topic, she noticed something disturbing: everyone in this happy land was a guy. Worse still, some of these new "experts" seemed hell-bent on proving that women with traditional values and breadwinning husbands - those who had made "an effort to expect less," according to one sociologist - were more content than women with feminist values. The more she read the more she wondered: Can a woman be smart, empowered, and happy?" "Determined to find out, Gore began her own "study in living" - a journey into the feminine history, science, and experience of women's happiness. Her results, chronicled with humor and curiosity in Bluebird, are by turns fascinating and enriching. Bluebird is a smart, no-nonsense, uplifting study of the real secret of joy - and whether it's truly at odds with the goals of modern women."--BOOK JACKET |
| Notes |
Formerly CIP. Uk |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references |
| Subject |
Happiness.
|
|
Women.
|
| LC no. |
2009015677 |
| ISBN |
0374114897 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
9780374114893 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
|
