Killer woman blues

by Benjamin DeMott

"The new "killer woman," says Benjamin DeMott, believes that empowerment lies in tough, aggressive, "male" behavior. This gender denial, he contends, is reshaping American society and betraying the original vision of feminism, which embodies the ideal of a more compassionate and nurturing society for both women and men. Today, many women believe they must "become men" to succeed - and men are perceived as often ruthless and brutally competitive. Differences molded by nature and history are obscured, as is the healthy flexibility that would free both sexes from rigid gender positions. The other side of this coin is an increasingly hard-nosed ethos in corporate America and in our public policy.". "We can no longer think straight about gender and power, DeMott argues, because we are inundated daily by a flood of cultural material - popular and literary fiction, movies, sitcoms, commercials, cartoons, the whole media mix - embodying the killer woman and her values. It leads us to believe t