Daring To Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975 (American Culture) [Paperback]

Alice Echols (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The women's liberation movement that began in 1967 is an absorbing study in political struggle. Radical women rejecting male dominance also rejected conventional political and organizational techniques. Their consciousness raised, they scrutinized each step, each meeting, each action, seeking theory and political practice untainted by patriarchal or hierarchical elements. Echols traces the volatile history of this movement, explaining clearly the positions of the various groups, the reasons for splintering and division, the controversies. She shows how ideas emerged that have changed American attitudes and assumptions. If we are still debating the relative importance of gender, class, and race, combating the power of capitalism and patriarchy, this valuable study shows that the discussion owes much to the radical feminists who hewed out the outlines of these issues.
- Mary Drake McFeely, Univ . of Georgia Libs., Athens
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press; 1 edition (December 29, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816617872
• ISBN-13: 978-0816617876
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #95 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Civil Rights

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing! A serious work that is also a delicious read!, July 21, 2004

By 

S. L. Smith (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daring To Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975 (American Culture) (Paperback)

Daring To Be Bad is an essential history of the Women's Liberation Movement. Daring is nuanced in that it connects this movement to other protest movements of the 60's while remaining true to the Women's Movement's distinctive arc.

If you want to understand the vexed racial politics of Women's Movement or the equality/difference divide, start with Daring. Echols has written an intellectually serious book that is also deliciously gossipy.

This is THE book about 60s Radical Feminism and also a really FUN read!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bad is Good!, June 27, 2008

By 

Michael D. Wiggins (Pulaski, Tennessee) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daring To Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975 (American Culture) (Paperback)

Alice Echols presents the reader with an excellent overview of the second wave of American feminism. The author situates the rise of the second wave with women's realization that they were being squeezed out of the cutting edge of both SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)and SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) and the further understanding that the only way women's issues were going to be addressed was by starting their own movement. Echols covers both the grand successes and weaknesses of the movement. This includes the fairly rapid splintering of the movement into a multitude of groups based in part on the politico-radical feminist and heterosexual-lesbian splits. The author really shines during the description of the period and is very precise in her explanation of when and why the splintering happens. Additionally, the author's endnotes and appendices are extremely helpful in keeping the information about the main participants and groups straight for the reader. Overall this is the best book for those wanting to get a handle on the second wave.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Sloppy, lazy, inaccurate scholarship, July 17, 2002

By 

Lynne Shapiro (New Haven, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Daring To Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America 1967-1975 (American Culture) (Paperback)

I question anyone's using this book as a reference as it indicates they have not thoroughly read the book to see its sloppy scholarship.

For example, Ms. Echol's account of the start and history of New York Radical Feminists is based upon gossip interviews with members of only one of the 20-50 brigades/consciousness-raising groups. She reports conflicts those few members had with NYRF's founding members without obtaining interviews with the founding members themselves. Also from her inaccurate reports of the subsequent activities and end dates of New York Radical Feminists, it is apparent that Ms. Echols never read any NYRF newsletters, conference documents (the latter now available with a "radical feminism" search on [...]) or the like.

Her title is also inaccurate as I and most women I know became radical feminists because we wanted justice for women and all women I know had the support of their families who might have thought us "eccentric" but never "bad." Also radical feminists changed society's attitudes towards rape and child sex abuse. However, can we be called "bad?"