INTRODUCTION

ON SALE NOW at WWW.MISSLEDBOOK.COM!

There’s an elephant in the room that women and men don’t want to see, let alone talk about. Significant numbers of Women are struggling.  You don’t hear or read those words from the mainstream media, except when they are portrayed as victims of injustice from the hands of “society” or, most commonly, men.  Unfortunately, too many women are indeed confused, and unhappy. Too often they make decisions and take actions that are self-defeating.  This is unsurprising, given how ill-prepared they’ve been for the turbulent, confusing times they live in.  As described in Francis Fukurama’s 2000 big-picture book on social order and human nature The Great Disruption, the way that families are raised and how men and women relate to each other - social mores that have lasted for thousands of years – have been altered.  The rise of unprecedented individualism in men and women allows some to innovate and thrive, but it also means that others struggle mightily. This is a seismic social shift, with the inevitable result that some women will not handle these unprecedented changes well.  One of the unhappy effects is that it leaves many women alone to make difficult, profound life choices and career decisions.   Due to the weakening of the social bonds and common values until quite recently held families and neighborhoods close, many are largely on their own when the make momentous personal decisions. And the numbers of women alone or with great individual responsibility is rising. Women – including those who are unmarried – are now the leading or solo breadwinners in 40 percent of U.S. households, compared with just 11 percent in 1960, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau analyzed by Pew.

In the mid-1970s to the late 1980s, well-meaning parents, encouraged by media and government messages, sent young women to college to “get an education” and then told them to make a career by “following your dreams.” For their love lives, the misleading advice given by Disney, Hollywood, Mom and Dad was to “follow your heart” or “listen to your women’s intuition” in order to find their “soul mate.”  In young adulthood, the misbegotten guidance given was to “have fun,” “experiment,” “learn from your mistakes,” and “trust your gut.”  All the while, they were told again and again to listen to their intuition and always think positively.  As grown women, they were further misinformed -  by Oprah and her ilk  - that Karma would ensure that any wrongs done to them would eventually be righted.  The inevitable results of all of this misconceived guidance and advice are predictable:  some women pay a heavy price for being given such misleading information.  For some, the price is shown by their mistakes within their personal relationships that, fortunately, they were able to learn and recover from.  For the others who were more seriously misled, unfortunately, the price continues to be paid.   

 

MissLed is the term I’ve chosen to identify and explain the plight of those women who paid - and some who still pay – the price for being on the receiving end of misleading media messages, misguided parenting and education, and misconceived ideas about men, women, and relationships.  My term for females who’ve been misled, MissLed describes the myriad ways some women mistakenly form false opinions or beliefs, are taken in by deliberate deception or by incorrect information, or wrongheadedly adopt bad habits.  In essence, MissLed explores the specific ways that women’s thinking and beliefs have been guided wrongly or led astray.  To be clear, MissLed is not about all women - nor about most women. The discussion within applies focuses only on some women 35 to 55 years old.  Of course, it is impossible to quantify a percentage of women who have adopted faulty thinking or misguided beliefs.  However, I’d conservatively estimate that 30 percent of women in the aforementioned age group struggle with many of the thinking and behavioral habits described within MissLed.

MissLed is an exploration of the impact of the forces and factors that mislead women – the cultural forces that misinformed them, or misguided them in the wrong direction regarding some of the most critical parts of life – relationships, decision making, and communication.  The results of such misleading can be understood in the following, simple formula:

MissThinking ---> Misbelieving ---> Misbehaving ------> MissLed

The first result is what I term MissThinking – wherein some women are misled into perceiving that faulty thinking such as shoulding and blaming, or emotional pollution such as sarcasm, anger, pettiness, or entitlement, is warranted, justified, or even commendable.  Similarly, they are misled into perceiving that victim thinking, intuitive thinking, egocentric thinking, wishful thinking, group thinking, adolescent thinking, or Politically Correct (PC) thinking are harmless, or even beneficial.  Not surprisingly, then, Misbelieving and Misbehaving tend to flow from the ill-start of MissThinking.

 

Before I cover the background of how I came to these conclusions, I’d like to address objections that I’ve already faced and that I anticipate will continue after the book is released:

1.       “Why are you so mean to women?” Of course, I don’t see MissLed as mean to women – quite the opposite, in fact.  The aim of this book is to explain, not to blame.  It is firm but fair – tough love for tough times. Not surprisingly, some women have let me know that they take my book project personally, as they have misperceived MissLed as a book that “bashes” women.  Based on feedback I’ve already received from in-person and online discussions, I fully expect to be mislabeled and name-called. In fact, I predict the following words will be used to describe MissLed or the author, which I’ve termed the Killer Bs – Bitter, Bully, Basher, Brazen (as in, how dare a man write about women), Bedeviling, Boorish, Busy body, Bonehead, Buffoon, Brute, Blamer, Bigot, Bizarre, Belittler, and, lastly, Bachelor (as a single man, I’m particularly unqualified to explore women’s thinking, beliefs, and behaviors).  Despite my anticipation of criticism, mislabeling of me, and mischaracterization of this book’s content and spirit, my words will remain as I intended them to be – candid and truthful, even if some claim that they hurt, or offend. That’s not the intention – not at all.  Quite the contrary – in my view, examining how the minority of MissLed women don’t measure up to the majority of women in terms of thinking and behaving will be of value to any woman (or man, for that matter) who wants to improve the clarity and effectiveness of their thinking and decision making.

2.       “Why don’t you write about men instead?”  A reasonable question.  The answer is simple – men’s current struggles are well-documented in books such as Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood and the American Dream  - and Why It Matters  by Helen Smith, PH.D., and Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men into Boys by Kay S. Hymowitz, along with quite a few others.  To my knowledge, to date, no one – woman or man – has attempted to write a comprehensive exploration of women’s contemporary struggles with faulty thinking and misconceived mindsets.  Two women, however, did write books that touched off a firestorm of reaction from women. Erin Pizzey’s book Prone to Violence was removed from most libraries due to pressure from feminists, she received death threats, and she ultimately felt forced to move.  This extreme reaction to her book was a response to her exploration of how and why some women are violent in domestic relationships.  Kelly Valen’s book The Twister Sisterhood: Unraveling the Dark Legacy of Female Friendships also brought down quite a bit of wrath from some women onto her. Their reaction was so disturbing and disheartening that she discussed it repeatedly and at length within a revised version of the book.  Both authors took great pains to be very careful with their language so it would not be interpreted by women as insensitive or blaming the victim.  Nonetheless, they were startled by the vitriolic response of some readers.  It is understandable, then, that few women want to venture into a discussion that is critical of certain thought processes and behavioral trends among some women.

3.       “How can you claim to write objectively?”  “Aren’t you biased?”  Subjectivity is a noble goal to strive for, but no writer ever quite reaches it.  In the case of MissLed, the presence of unintentional biases and errors is conceded.  Whatever imperfections within the writing, however, does not negate the truth or value of the material within. 

 4.       “Why a book about women that emphasizes the positive rather than the negative? Why discuss bad news instead of good news? Aren’t women doing better than ever?”  Yes – in some important ways, such as in education and by some economic measures.  Unfortunately, in other, very critical ways, such as demonstrated in recent happiness surveys, women are less overall satisfied with their lives.  MissLed explores the reasons some women don’t think and behave in ways that lead toward life satisfaction.  Ironically, my choice to focus on the “negative” was largely motivated by the excessive and sometimes damaging focus on “positivity” I’ve noticed among many contemporary women.

Now, as promised, on to the origins of MissLed – They are threefold. Firstly, my personal, social, work, and dating/relating experiences with women during the last decade.  Understandably, an ordinary, average guy writing a book that discusses general thinking and behavior trends in women isn’t likely to garner an audience.  Fortunately for me, my last fifteen years have allowed me some extraordinary opportunities for travel and living in locations that, pun intended, were near-polar opposites in terms of culture and living conditions:

• 1997-1999 Florida as a student on active duty completing undergraduate History degree.
• 1999-2002 Hawaii as a military air traffic controller (atc)
• 2002-2004 Greek Island of Crete as a military atc.
• 2004-2008 Dividing time between working in atc in Antarctica and working and residing in Charleston, SC.
• 2008-2010 Florida – Where I had my first insights and concerns that motivated me to begin the preliminary research for MissLed.  In fact, in the summer of 2008 I took advantage of my semi-retirement and enjoyed a 5 week trip that took me from New Jersey to Salt Lake City. The long times alone, along with the experiences I had on the trip (and since), prompted me to take a closer look at women’s thinking, beliefs, and behaviors.  After a long process of research on thinking traps, everyday cognitive illusions, female friendships, women’s beliefs about romantic relationships, and their fervor for Positive thinking, this idea for this book solidified. 
• 2010-2012 Texas instructing student air traffic controllers

In addition to wide variety of locations, in the last decade, I was fortunate enough to travel extensively to countries including Spain, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Holland, and some of the usual tourist spots in Canada and Mexico.

During the vast majority of this period, I remained unattached.  Being single allowed me time to observe and analyze strangers' and friends' behaviors in public locations - typically, cafes, restaurants, and upscale nightspots.  It also permitted me a long period to listen to various individual stories of confusion, anguish, and conflict when discussing relations between men and women.  What I was told - and what I noticed - was often not very pretty. 

The second main contribution to finalizing my concepts and arguments in MissLed comes from the many Facebook observations and discussions I participated in during the last 3 years.  Many were often intense, some, at times, were quite heated, but nearly all were useful in my striving to understand the big picture. Their main value was in serving to either confirm or disconfirm ideas I posted from research I undertook, or in sparking new ideas for me to further research and investigate.

The third major contribution to the formulation of MissLed stems from my in-person observations and conversations during the last five years.  These range from the bar staff and customers at swanky restaurants, to the diners and servers at Golden Corral, back to the customers and guests in high end Las Vegas casino hotels, to the notorious customers and besieged cashiers at Walmart.  Again, these were nearly always polite and enjoyable, although, on a few occasions, they did become heated.  All proved to be a goldmine of information and perspective on the state of women’s minds today.

None of these three contributions to MissLed provide information that lead to scientific conclusions, of course.  I’m not a Ph.D., or any other type of specialist in female behavior, communication, or psychology.  Admittedly, it isn’t possible to quantify, measure, or “prove” any of the assertions made within this book.  However, I’m confident that my research methods were fair and thorough, and that my arguments and conclusions are cogent and sound. Ultimately, of course, it is for the reader to decide what merits and value can be derived from MissLed.

 

MissLed is an aggregate of information that will no doubt aggravate some women who are unaccustomed to reading candid assessments of women’s thinking, beliefs, and behavior. What makes MissLed both unique and valuable is the quality of its sources and the valuable, practical information contained within its unapologetically frank message.  Indeed, MissLed contains a thorough synthesis of some of the most insightful and useful books of the last twenty years.  These were written by many of the best thinkers and experts, on topics that range from women’s friendships to the brouhaha surrounding breast cancer funding and treatments. The reader will notice the large number of quoted material from this material in many sections.  MissLed, then, is a digest for the reader of the best reviewed books and contemporary articles that I digested for them in form of brief compilations of quotes and opinions.  My thinking and subsequent opinions are heavily influenced by the writings of Carl Sagan and Michael Crichton on critical thinking and skepticism, and Stephen Pinker on human nature.

However, I’m not the only person alarmed by some women’s struggles.  In the last decade, there’s been several books written by prominent women that explore the important ways which modern women struggle in terms of friendship, relating, and thinking: 

·         Kelly Valen’s Twisted Sisterhood: Unraveling the Dark Legacy of Female Friendships explores her extensive survey results that showed that an overwhelming majority of women said they had endured serious, life-altering knocks from other females. In fact, an alarming 97 percent of those polled believed it is crucial that we improve the female culture in this country.
·         Phyllis Chesler’s Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman discussed why women often have such a hard time getting along with each other - at work, and within the family.
·         Lisa Bloom’s Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed-Down World explored the damaging impact on those women who choose to dumb down their behavior and avoid reading and other intellectual and educational pursuits.
·         Susan Shapiro Barash’s Toxic Friends discussed, along with several other similar books on female friendships, the trials and tribulations common with making quality friendships among today’s women.
·          Barbara Ehenreich’s Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America discussed the dangers of excessive Positive Thinking to both women and men.
·         Laura Berman’s It’s Not Him, It’s You!: How to Take Charge of Your Life and Create the Love and Intimacy You Deserve explored the wrongheaded romantic beliefs all-too-common among women.
·         Women’s Infidelity : Living In Limbo: What Women Really Mean When They Say "I'm Not Happy" explained the formerly taboo subject of wives cheating on their husbands and why it has been on the increase in our culture.
·         Erin Pizzey’s Prone to Violence dared to disclose that men could also be the victims of domestic violence, and to discuss how and why women could be as violent toward their partners as men.

 

What are the reasons for these unfortunate developments? What is causing some women to choose to take the wrong paths in life?  MissLed how, and by whom, you ask?  As little girls, females begin to be misled by exposure to Fairy Tales and Disney movies wherein females are sugar and spice, princesses, or, increasingly, smarter, and better humans than males.  In teen years, they are misled still more by Hollywood messages wherein girls “kick butt” and rule, while “boys drool.”  Today’s public education system further encourages a misleading self-image in some teen females It is too often female-centric, overemphasizing their self-esteem and empowerment.  Feminism’s misleading messages of oppression and victimhood – past and present – mislead the increasing number of females enrolled in Universities.  Finally, the media (and not merely the mainstream) continues to fortify the misleading messages to women as adults, as it celebrates women’s triumphs and denies or distorts their tragedies. In fact, the same media reacts in horror or puzzlement at tribulations encountered by women.  When they are acknowledged, they are nearly always misguidedly explained as due to the faults of others – namely, government, corporations, or other male “dominated” institutions that supposedly treat them unjustly.  A sober examination of women’s own role in their faulty thinking, misbelieving, or misbehaving, is strictly verboten.  Why?  Most Men and many women are uncomfortable examining women’s responsibility for their own lives. The dominant cultural message today tends to promote women’s emotionalism, rationalizations (“that’s just the way women are”), and even manipulation (“a woman’s got to do what’s she got to do”), over the more difficult, mature behavior common among good women and men - reasoned discourse.

 

         What else misleads women?  Some forms of misguided extreme Feminism – those which encourage both victim thinking, and the concept of men as the source of women’s ills, certainly provide misleading information and guidance to women.  Obsolete, misplaced chivalry by men also misleads.  Rooted in the past, when women were not expected to fend for themselves, it tends to either infantilize or pedestalize women. In fact, modern chivalry is a lose/lose, as men are also diminished because their chivalry tends to be received by many women as either or condescending or unwanted fawning.

What are the common ways that some women are MissLed?

·         MissLed that most men oppressed and mistreated women – and continue to do so.  Obviously, such a misbelief feeds a victim mentality in some women and a distrust of men in other women.

·         MissLed that MissThinking habits are merely women’s ways of coping in the world.  As a result, they are able to act entitled, sarcastic, angry, resentful, petty, self-righteous, or indignant without realizing that such polluted or cognitively distorted thinking is profoundly damaging to their personal relationships.

·         MissLed  that sunny optimism and Positive thinking are panaceas for life’s many challenges.  Too often, misleadingly sweet words of encouragement – often in the form of vapid platitudes – are now embraced as part of the Positive thinking mindset.  These mislead because they have little or no basis in reality – they reflect the wishful thinking that a quick, painless expression of “positive” encouragement or feedback will be comparably effective as the longer, harder effort involved in clearly and soberly analyzing and thinking things through.  Because MissLed women are prone to wishful thinking, they want so much to believe that “no pain, no gain” isn’t true.

·         MissLed that friendship, “romance” and soul mate relationships “just happen” naturally, and require little learning or effort on their part to build or nourish.

            ·         MissLed that the best-selling book The Secret contains profound, invaluable wisdom for their lives.

·         MissLed that there’s more sanctioned Sameness than significant differences between men and women .

·         MissLed that the excessive brouhaha surrounding funding and focusing on Breast Cancer is warranted and that the anti-vaccination movement is acceptable.

·         MissLed that Quackery is harmless, or, even, at times, as effective and trustworthy as proven medical treatments.

·         MissLed that effective Argument isn’t a critical skill worth developing.

·         MissLed that they communicate “just fine” – or, at least, better than the vast majority of men.

MissLed matters because faulty thinking habits damage decision making, impair learning, and encourage or enable irrational or quack beliefs. It matters also because wrongheaded expectations regarding romantic relationships not only hurt women themselves, but can wreak havoc in the family’s lives as well.

MissLed describes the significant impact of misleading influences on women’s thinking, beliefs, and behaviors in the following sections:

 

1. MissThinking
2. VIEWGAP – Victim Thinking
3. Intuitive Thinking
4. Egocentric Thinking
5. Wishful Thinking
6. Group Thinking
7. Adolescent Thinking
8. PC Thinking
9. Illusions, Assumptions, Delusions, Confusions, Disillusion, and Dissolution
10. Friendship Frustrations
11. Wrongheaded Romance
12. Soul Mate Solipsism
13. Karma
14. Positivity Poison
15. The Secret Seductive Sophistry
16. Quackery
17. Breast Cancer Brouhaha & Anti-vaccination vitriol
18. Sanctimoniously Sanctioned Sameness
19. MissCommunication
20. Argument Aggravation
21. Conclusion: 21 Suggested Solutions

Exploring and explaining such a wide range of subjects is no simple task. Nevertheless, I have strove to make each section clear and succinct for the reader. The first nine sections of MissLed explore how faulty thinking and misconceived perceptions impair women’s decision making, learning, and mindsets.  Specifically, MissThinking explores how thinking traps and emotional pollutants significantly impair women’s thinking, decision making, and reality perception.  Next, Illusions Assumptions Delusions Confusions Disillusion and Dissolution illustrates how the faulty thinking explored in MissThinking leave MissLed women prone to more fallout from cognitive illusions and wrongheaded assumptions.  Both of these often are often followed by delusions, confusions, disillusion, and for some, dissolutions of their most cherished personal relationships. Sections 2 – 8, the VIEWGAP sections, explore how these often tremendously harmful thinking habits damage too many women. VIEWGAP appeals to women because thinking in such ways tends to be quick and easy, and can lure the unsuspecting with promises to lessen risks and appeals to positive emotions such as belonging (group) or feeling righteous (victim). First and foremost, victim thinking underlies and justifies the rest of the VIEWGAP.  Victim thinking is encouraged by the misleading and distorted victim narratives told to women by the media, other women, and, ironically, men.  Victim thinking tempts because victims tend to receive compassion and often feel morally superior. MissLed women tend to accept the mistaken history that tells of women as mainly victims of men’s mistreatment and oppression. Even worse, they misguidedly believe that women’s victimhood continues today, both in the work place and the home. Intuitive thinking appeals because it is nearly effortless, and, since it is alleged to be more trustworthy in women, supposedly boosts their sense of uniqueness.  Intuitive thinking is far too trusted by MissLed women in large part because of the misleading advice and information given to them by their family members and media that encouraged them to see intuition as a reliable source for decision making. Egocentric Thinking has become common among Missled women largely due to the excessive “empowerment” campaigns directed toward women and the simultaneous cultural denigration of male competence and confidence.   Egocentric thinking allures the MissLed as it too tends to boost women’s feelings of self-worth. Wishful thinking is also essentially effortless, and feels wonderfully wistful.  It is inculcated early in too many girls, thanks to misleading fairy tales and bombardment by media.  Group thinking is particularly difficult to overcome for any person, but MissLed women in particular are vulnerable to it due to their strong desire for teamwork, consensus and bonding with other women within a group. Group thinking offers the pleasant sanctuary of diffused responsibility within a group consensus. Adolescent thinking among MissLed women has been enabled by a culture that celebrates feelings over reason and logic.  Their intense preoccupation with their own feelings – and the expression and sharing of them - are seen not as a fault, but often as a virtue.  Indeed, there’s a promotion, or even a glamorization of “girl” behavior among women – “Girls’ Night Out,” “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “You Go Girl,” etc. Lastly, Politically Correct (PC) thinking is alluring to MissLed women because it appeals to their desire to be seen as “nice” and sensitive to others in their communication. PC thinking is often accompanied by feelings of moral superiority because of its aligned stated goals of sensitivity and equality.

Friendship Frustrations follows VIEWGAP and discusses how MissLed women’s faulty thinking and misguided beliefs affect their relationships with other women.  Next, Wrongheaded Romance and Soul Mate Solipsism explain how MissThinking and misconceived mindsets and unrealistic expectations damage women’s intimate relationships.  The following three chapters describe how faulty thinking and a lack of critical thinking leave some women prone to the seductive lure of the current widespread faddish belief in Karma, the similarly all-too-common yet misplaced confidence in the power of positive thinking, and the ludicrous, yet alluring premise of the runaway best seller “The Secret.” Next, MissLed discusses how Missthinking and misconceived mindsets can put women’s lives in danger due to some women’s susceptibility to Quackery, the misplaced attention and information surrounding Breast Cancer funding and fundraising, and the pseudoscientific scare tactics of the Anti-vaccination zealots. Sanctimoniously Sanctioned Sameness  then explores the false and damaging notion that men and women are essentially the same in most of the important characteristics of personality and ability is explored in. In fact, a sanctimonious belief in the sameness of the sexes often results in misunderstanding men (and sometimes, mistreating them);

The main text of MissLed is completed by an in-depth discussion of how misconceived mindsets and misbegotten habits in communication result in MissCommunication  and Argument Aggravation.  Finally, MissLed concludes with 21 suggestions for reducing or eliminating the characteristics that leave some women to be partially or mostly misled in their thinking and beliefs.

What’s the ultimate results from some women being MissLed?  Again, it is beyond the scope of this book to attempt to quantify the damage wrought from this impaired thinking and the resultant misconceived mindsets and unrealistic expectations among some women.  What is incontrovertible, in any case, is that a good number of women are struggling, and many report that they are unhappy.  Why?  Some of the explanation undoubtedly lies in their new found freedoms.  As men have long known, freedom and its guarantee of a pursuit of happiness is far from an assurance that happiness will be gained by most, let alone all.  In truth, for a man or a woman, freedom is a mixed bag of uncertainty and opportunity.  Unfortunately for them, women were given misleading advice about what to expect when freedom and opportunity became available to them.  In fact, there’s a troubling indication of a contrast between women’s increased freedom and their declining happiness. Over the last forty years, as documented by Wharton Professors Betsy Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, women's overall level of happiness has dropped, both relative to where they were forty years ago, and relative to men.  In addition, six major studies of happiness have been released:

* United States General Social Survey (46,000 people, between 1972-2007)
* Virginia Slims Survey of American Women (26,000 people, between 1972-2000)
* Monitoring the Future survey (430,000 U.S. twelfth graders, between 1976-2005)
* British Household Panel Study (121,000 people, between 1991-2004)
* Eurobarometer analysis (636,000 people, between 1973-2002, covering fifteen countries)
* International Social Survey Program (97,462 people, between 1991-2001, covering thirty-five developed countries.)

Indeed, there were more than 1.3 million men and women surveyed over the last 40 years, both in the U.S. and in developed countries around the world. The findings are the same: greater educational, political, and employment opportunities have corresponded to decreases in life happiness for women, as compared to men. While women are less happy now, on average, than they were 20 years ago, in contrast, men are slightly happier, on average.

Are the two linked?  In my (non-humble) opinion, without a doubt.  Contrary to their current image, most men are not fools.  Many of them have observed the same phenomenon - and have altered their behaviors toward women.  They have also adjusted their expectations and beliefs regarding women accordingly.  Sadly, in many cases, men now look at women with much lower levels of respect, trust, and admiration.  In the recent past, most men considered most women much more trustworthy and worthy of respect.  Consequently, they behaved better and became accomplished, mature men in order to impress women.  That is changing - and for the worse, for both men and women. Why?  Women influence men's behavior and life choices much more so than vice-versa.

 

In sum, too many women’s potential is thwarted because they’ve been misled into chasing or following bad advice.  Years are lost, money is wasted, their mental and physical health is endangered, and even their lives (in the cases of quackery and anti-vaccine beliefs) are sometimes put at risk.  For them, short-term interests and feelings in the moment too often trump long term interests that involve thinking and planning for the future.

 

What can be done about this tragic, potentially devastating state of affairs among too many women today?  Most importantly, a paradigm shift is needed in women, both in how they see themselves and how they perceive men.  Women can no longer function in accordance with outdated concepts of inequality.  Given women’s increasing control of spending and responsibility for profound decisions such as reproduction, it is imperative that as many women as possible recognize the reality of the present situation in society and think clearly, rationally, and effectively. Only by throwing away the false teachings, misguided advice, and misinformation fed to them until now can we get the large number of MissLed women to learn to avoid mistaken and self-defeating behaviors and then they can begin to thrive and perhaps even prosper.

It simply isn’t workable, and certainly no longer affordable, for women to live their lives based on false assumptions and misleading information, and plan their futures based on misguided expectations.  With women assuming on more and more responsibility in the coming decades, the very future of the United States may very well lie in their hands.  Will they collectively mature, become better informed, clear thinking, and rise to the occasion?  The key is the malleable middle of women, who have yet to decide which course to take in their lives.  They must be convinced to pattern their thinking and behavior after the shrinking majority of women who remain clear thinking, fair minded, and who behave with maturity and dignity. 

A final note on the main text of the book.  The reader will note frequent use of the words “some,” “many,” and “too many.”  These words are used in order to provide a sense of the proportion of MissLed the author estimates the subject pertains to.  “Some” implies that the subject applies to approximately 30% of MissLed women.  “Most” implies that the subject applies to approximately 70% of MissLed women.  Finally, “too many” implies that the subject applies to approximately 50% of MissLed women. It is the stated goal of this book to help initiate some women to re-consider their thinking habits and misconceived mindsets, and thereby lower those percentages significantly.

---