I don't know why other reviewers gave this author five stars. This book is not for working women or married women with no kids,but just for moms. But I don't think this book has a positive influence on readers. This book is indeed prejudiced and disgusting. The author strived for finding out all bad things men did toward women from history of many countries. She says something like "Don't feel victimized." But she described her experiences and women's history as victimized ! She also speaks down on readers and I felt as if she repeated to me,"You are not intelligent.","I'm intelligent and I'm very confident of myself". Also,she seems to have a racial prejudice..I, as an Asian woman,felt so insulted and angry. By this book,my depression became worse ! I'll never buy this author's book !

If you really want to be confident of yourself,read Marilyn Sorensen Ph.D's "Breaking the Chain of Low Self-Esteem". This book changed my life and saved my life.

After going throug a particulary rough patch, I found myself rather depressed and my confidence was at an all time low. I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, and am really glad I did!

The author lists several reasons that women, as a group, may lack confidence, even when their lives have been fairly productive, and I found that interesting, but in my opinion, the best part of the book was the self rating quiz. This confirmed my feeling that I was in a real slump.

The next part of the book had really excellent exercises that helped me clarify my values, wants and desires. The aim was to help me get back in touch with who I really am, and who I want to become. what I like and dislike, what I want to "be, do and have" and generally just get back in touch with what was and wasn't important in my life.

The next section of the book dealt with practical ways to act on what I'd learned in the values clarification exercises, and how to "get it in gear" and take an active role in mazimizing things that made me happy, and minimizing those that left me feeling like a used dishrag.

I have to tell you that it perked me right back up in the first week! I'm now putting those positive things back into my life, slowly but consistantly, and feel far more hopeful and focused than I did before the book arrived.

This book did a lot to boost my morale, and level of confidence, and that was just exactly what I seemed to need right now.

I hope other readers will find it as benifical as I have.

I purchased "The Confident Woman" principally because I have long held the author, Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz, in high personal and professional regard. Now retired from an editing career, I frankly had no intention of reading it, or at least of reading it cover to cover. Indeed, I expected to put it on a shelf, there to collect dust, after flipping through a few pages to check the author's approach. By the end of two chapters, though, I was hooked. I read it all, and I'm glad. Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz provides significant data, yes. But, more importantly, she couples this with pertinent examples of life experience, practical solutions and ideas for continuing growth. An enjoyable read. An important book for women of all ages and stages in life.