To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism [Paperback]

Rebecca Walker (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

An anthology of essays by up-and-coming feminist and gay writers reevaluates the objectives and philosophy of the feminist movement, calling for more emphasis on liberating women than guarding their sexual behavior.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Edited and introduced by Walker, journalist, Ms. editor, and coauthor of House and Home: Spirits of the South (Univ. of Washington Pr., 1994), this anthology adds to the growing body of work by and about younger feminists. "An eclectic gathering of folks"?20 activists, academicians, artists?explore the theme of how they define themselves as individuals, against both traditional stereotypes and the feminist ideas and ideals of their parents' generation. bell hooks's "Beauty Laid Bare" discusses the role of material objects in traditional black culture; Naomi Wolf's "Brideland" examines the enduring attraction of the bride image. Other topics include sex in cyberspace, women and aggression, the politics of taking names, feminist hip-hop, how to hold a nonsexist stag party, and the trials of an aspiring corporate attorney. On the whole, it's an energetic and original collection that belongs in most libraries.?Beverly Miller, Boise State Univ. Lib., Id.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; Anchor Books ed edition (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385472625
• ISBN-13: 978-0385472623
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #260,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insight into that impenetratable Third Wave crowd, July 31, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Paperback)

This book offers an incredible look at the issues that constantly face the younger generation of feminists, even those who are male. I think it has been a long time coming, even though she was much criticized for allowing so many voices that seem offbeat to fill the pages. I found, however, that those are the voices of many and they need to be heard. Thank you, Rebecca Walker for such an comforting look that my life is actually normal-my concerns are not only voiced by myself, but by thousand of other feminists across the nation. It is very important to keep the younger generation in print so we do not lose touch with the old school feminists who are dealing with issues that pertain to their ages. An excellent read for just that bridging of the generation gap.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, January 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Paperback)

I read this anthology after reading Gloria Steinem's Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions and another anthology that I think was called Voices From the Next Feminist Generation. Thank you thank you thank you Rebecca Walker for creating a forum for this incredibly diverse and colorful group of feminists who completely reshaped, juggled and challenged every "rule" about what it means to be a feminist. I treasure the knowledge and power I have accrued from reading the first two books and now, after reading Walker's book, I feel that my understanding of gender, race and class issues is even more rounded out. This is a critical book for any feminist and anyone who is willing to read about feminism,(probably to discover that they too, are feminists).

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riding the Third Wave of Feminism, April 7, 2000

By 

J. Cray (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism (Paperback)

This morning I was sitting in the Laundromat down the street quietly reading Rebecca Walker's anthology of feminist essays, To Be Real. I was reading the line "in much of our understanding, power is equated with oppression: images of white supremacists dominating people of color, men dominating women, and the rich dominating the poor underline the histories of many cultures and societies," in an essay by Jason Schultz, when an ironic thing happened.

I heard pieces of a conversation between an older white man and a middle aged white woman that was going on the other side of the room. I heard words like, "nigger" and "lazy" within phrases like "all they do is make babies and live on food stamps." I couldn't hear whole sentences, and so I tried to shut them out and read my book. Another girl my age was not so lucky. She was waiting for her clothes to dry, just a few feet from the conversation. Just before leaving the scene, she approached the two and said "I'm sorry, but some of us are trying to do our laundry and we shouldn't have to listen to your racist conversations..." The old man threw up his hands, mocking her, and said, "Ok, we'll stop. Peace, man." She went on, and again I could only hear bits of her words, over the whining drone of washing machines. I heard her say, "the problem is your redneck mentality," and "educate yourself."

But her words fell on deaf ears. As she stormed out to her car, carrying load after load of laundry, the two small town residents mumbled about her things I could only imagine to be extremely offensive. I followed her out to her car to congratulate her. I told her that I agreed with everything she said and that she was a strong person to have done what she did. At the same time I felt immense guilt. Because I, the Feminist, did not get up and go over there to hear the conversation that I knew to be oppressive, and that I was not the one who said something. Here I was, reading a book about how Feminism needs to fight towards equality- not only between the sexes-but in terms of Race, Sexuality, and any form of difference. A book whose essays, compiled by the incredible Rebecca Walker, were personal confessions about times when each author was forced to question their own position in the feminist movement. I felt that I had just been tested, and failed. So I began to analyze the situation. Had I been standing closer to the conversation would I have responded as this other girl had? I would like to think so. If the target of oppression had been gays and lesbians instead of black folks, would I have responded? Most definitely, I don't think that I would've been able to help myself from attacking the attackers. So what does this say about me? That unless I, myself, am part of the group being oppressed I wouldn't get directly involved?

The point of these questions are exactly what Rebecca Walker is bringing up for discussion. We, as individuals, have to ask ourselves such things in order to determine who we are and what our place is within this Third Wave of Feminism. This Third Wave encompasses the notion that there is no one way to be a feminist, and that there is no betrayal in being yourself. As humans, we will fall short at times, and we will constantly surprise ourselves.