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The book begins as an autobiography, as Ireland describes her childhood in 1950s Indiana. She tells of growing up in a conservative midwestern town, where the expectations of a young woman were to learn to be a "good girl" (she wasn't), to marry (she divorced early and remarried), and to become a housewife and mother (she never had children). Ireland's family, however, encouraged her to finish college so that she'd have "something to fall back on" if marriage didn't work out. They also subtly motivated her not to be afraid of doing the unexpected.
Ireland describes her early career as an airline stewardess for Pan Am Airlines, where she discovered the power concerned individuals can have over "the system." When her husband needed dental work, she discovered that the company insurance paid for the families of its male employees, but not for the families of its female employees. With the legal advice of NOW, Ireland fought the rules and won. That experience opened her eyes to what was, at that time, commonplace discrimination against women. It convinced her that becoming a lawyer was the best way she could work for women's rights. It also acquainted her with the organization she would eventually lead.
Ireland's law school experience influenced her to become not just a feminist, but a politically active feminist and legal counsel to Florida NOW. Here, the book takes a turn of direction as she tells story after story of NOW's efforts on behalf of women, both in her Florida chapter and nationally. Rather than a personal account of her life during the highlights of NOW's activities, the book becomes a history of the women's movement from the mid-1970s to today.
When Ireland addresses what "women want," she refers not only to individual women, but to all women who continue to face discrimination in the workplace and legal system, as well as violence at home. However, she explains that her personal motto, "we've come a long way, baby, but we've still got a long way to go," refers to anyone who faces discrimination anywhere in the world.
©1996, ProMotion, inc.