Is a society where there is true equality just too difficult to envisage?
I think that's the really interesting question raised by the book - and it's not one to which there is an easy answer.
What probably stands in the way of equality is a gothic desire, deep down in human beings, to subjugate, victimise and humiliate others. Of course most of us have a stronger good side, but the barbaric side is there within all of us. As Freud said this dark side is mostly either repressed or 'sublimated' (so rather than express violence directly someone might channel it into aggressive punk rock, or become a boxer).
So far, this atavistic violence has mainly been expressed by men and culturally identified with them because they have had all the power. Women are assumed to be innately nurturing, kind and incapable of violence. When one of them does do terrible things - like Myra Hindley or Rose West - they are assumed to be mystically evil aberrations.
But as women gain more power it is reasonable to assume they will use that power to express the darker side of human nature as much as the noble side. T. This isn't an argument against feminism, because I think rather than a reverse dominance forming (as The Power envisages), misuse of power will level out between the genders. Equality would mean both roughly equivalent men and women using their power to do good, but also to do evil. There will be more and more Malala Yousafzai’s, but also more Rose West’s
I think one message of the book is that with power comes moral responsibility. Power can be a good thing, but it can be a terrible thing too. We all need to recognise that there is barbarism deep down within us.