When Colette Dowling, single parent and journalist, discovered that the root of her problems in life was that she always allowed (indeed wanted) men to organize her life, she was horrified. She found that the same yearning - to use men as a buffer to the world - lies at the heart of millions of women's lives, even though society now expects women to strive for greater independence. The fear is that if they really stand on our own two feet, they'll end up stranded - unwomanly, unlovely and unloved. But the prince has vanished: there is no place for a Cinderella today. Colette Dowling believes that only when women come face to face with this realization can they work towards real independence.