This book examines the enduring critical presence in contemporary Western culture that scrutinizes, critiques, and sizes women in their daily lives, despite rights gained through the centuries. Pygmalian was the ancient mythical sculptor who believed that all women were essentially flawed. He therefore endeavored to chisel to perfection a statue of a woman he called "Galatea." Like the perpetually carved and perfected Galatea, women labor under Western culture's assumption that they are flawed, yet they are often unable to account for the self-criticism and self-doubt that result from this premise. The author traces how these cultural forces permeate women's personal lives. In calling for solutions, she reviews the thinking of historical women who responded, rather than reacted, to the patriarchal culture that devalued them. In engaging these women of the past, whose struggles were eerily similiar to our own, the author encourages a responsive feminism that draws a clear path leading away from Pygamlian entreachment. -- Publisher description