From my understanding, Sheryl is not against the idea of "standing up". She simply realizes that the world is not perfect, and no matter the amount of "personal power" or "self confidence" a woman has, sometimes the cards are just unfairly stacked against women.

That sucks.

Lean In is just as much for men to read as it is for women. Gender is a component in nearly every interaction in today's business world. Race still is too.

Sheryl does not attempt to say that women cannot overcome these challenges, but instead she simply takes a no bullshit approach by admitting that those challenges do exist. Why kid ourselves and pretend they don't? Recognizing that those challenges exist is our biggest hurdle as a society, eliminating them is much easier from that point forward.