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The Changing Challenge: From Double Bind To Double Burden, Matina Horner

New England Journal of Public Policy

Has "fear of success" been overcome by our focus on individual achievement, or is today's working woman caught in an ever more exhausting circle of high expectations and guilt? The author of this article notes that professional accomplishment and femininity were once viewed as mutually exclusive, creating a double bind for women who wanted both, driving some to avoid too much success. But today, the economic interdependence of men and women is a reality, requiring that we move beyond the debate of the proper role of women and look at the real issues: burden sharing, support systems, and stresses on …