Gone is not forgotten

I am currently reading Gone With the Wind. What a fantastic book! I had no idea it was this good. For years I put off reading it because its over 1000 pages, and its old, and I thought, who cares about the civil war... Well, let me tell you -- its fascinating, the pages are flying by, and the war stuff is not that much. Really it just gives you a great insight into what the world was like way back when, plus Scarlett is truly an interesting character. And the writing is very creative -- many passages are just Scarlett's thoughts and what she would like to say but doesn't because of the time and because of what womens roles were back then.

I'll set up this passage for you: Scarlett is thinking about how if she just acted doe-eyed, clingy and helpless then she could get the man shes in love with. The book reads:
"There was no one to tell Scarlett that her own personality, frighteningly vital though it was, was more attractive than any masquerade she might adopt. Had she been told, she would have been pleased but unbelieving. And the civilization of which she was a part would have been unbelieving too, for at no time, before or since, had so low a premium been placed on feminine naturalness."

So. Have we really come so far from the 1800's? Do women really have the freedom today to show their true selves, to be strong, to show their "feminine naturalness?" I bet some would say yes, and then again, some would say no. Do we find ourselves masquerading to fit the mold? What exactly Is the accepted way of being a successful woman? And lastly, if we are now so liberated, so free, and so empowered, then tell me why our salaries are still lower than those of our male counterparts in the workforce!