Valley of the Dolls

So I'm reading this book,  DONTCHU JUDGE ME! and I don't really know how to feel about it.  its a great book its good its really really unique and interesting in the way that it speaks the fears and troubles specific to women of a certain time and real talk even today.  its deep my only issue is I can't tell the authors perspective...like while reading it i can't tell whether the author agrees that a woman should use her body and looks to marry up and benefit her financially over choosing a marriage based on love, or if the author is showing the reader that this is what this girl did and look how she turned out.  we see that the girls make mistake and I make it a point to learn from their error even though they are just fictional characters.  

I don't get whether the point is don't look for love search for advancement and resources for your children or if the message is don't be the property of a man live your own life.  :/ I'm also not clear on the whole attitude towards sexuality in this book,  should women own it and use it to their advantage or to their whim or be traditional like Anne...and in Jennifer's situation is her mother right for what she is doing?  Like is she correct for breaking her up with her boyfriend and sending her on a mission to marry a rich person and lying about her age and all that? its just bizarre.  All of the unions in this book are totally superficial I don't see any genuine heartfelt attachment in any of the couples except for mayyybe Anne and Lyon but even there its not a deep relationship and everything is rooted in initial attraction and their beauty is mentioned a lot.  I wonder what message the author is trying to bring across by presenting so many couples that aren't really great companions for one another but with the women thirsty for marriage before they get too old and men eager to settle before no one wants them or before their barganing chip is used and no pretty younger stupid girl is willing to marry them or just willing to settle when they believe they have come across the absolute best female specimen they believe they can get.

So does the author believe that male female relationships are inevitably this shallow and there's no point in trying? or is the author being flipit and portraying the irony of how shallow and ridiculous the characters limited beliefs are??

w.e will update my opinions when i finish