Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present [Paperback]

Miriam Schneir (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 1994

From Simone de Beauvoir to Susan Faludi, from the ERA to Anita Hill -- a historically informed sourcebook that defines the intellectual and political underpinnings of contemporary feminism.

In this important volume, the respected feminist historian Miriam Schneir completes the work she began in her bestselling Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings, presenting contemporary writings that define the women's movement today add reveal how radically transformative a force it is throughout the world.

Ranging from intensely personal statements to ringing manifestos, from diagnosis to outright rebellion, and incorporating both public records and works addressing such specific issues as religion, rape, women's health, pornography, and the concerns of lesbians and women of color, Feminism in Our Time is the most thorough record to date of women's ongoing struggle to control their own destinies and provide alternative visions of the just society and a true human equality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A sampler of feminist writings that focuses on the 1960s and '70s, this volume begins with a selection from Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex (1949) and then jumps rather abruptly to 1962 and Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook . Incorporating a diverse range of contributors, from poets (Anne Sexton) to polemicists (Shulamith Firestone), Schneir's selection is lively, inspiring and inclusive--there are excerpts from legal documents , such as the ERA and Justice Blackmun's majority opinion in Roe v. . Wade , and from political statements from activist groups. Schneir's introductions, providing historical context and relevant biographical data, take pains to be diplomatic but also acknowledge disputes. Of antipornography crusader and censorship advocate Andrea Dworkin she writes, "Her blunt, hard-hitting prose is anything but temperate or judicious." There is no sex-positive voice like Susie Bright or Betty Dodson to counterbalance Dworkin, but in anthologizing a heterogeneous movement, omissions are perhaps inevitable. Schneir has assembled not just a political sampler but an anthology of some of this country's best essayists. Her sequel to Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings will undoubtedly find a home on women's studies syllabuses, but it deserves a much broader readership.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This anthology, which updates Schneir's previous collection, Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings (Random House, 1972), begins with an excerpt from Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex and ends with a section on "Themes of the Eighties and Nineties." Including essays, excerpts from classic works (e.g., The Feminist Mystique, Sexual Politics), statements from organizations, poems, and fiction, Schneir's selections cover a wide variety of topics such as organization of the feminist movement, feminist theory, health, and discrimination against women. All major feminist authors are included, with African Americans and the lesbian perspective well represented, and Schneir provides introductory notes for each. Although many of these selections appear in numerous publications, the convenience of having them in one volume makes this a useful text for women's studies courses and a valuable purchase for nearly all libraries.
Kathryn Moore Crowe, Jackson Lib., Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (June 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679745084
• ISBN-13: 978-0679745082
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,836 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #48 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > History
  • #86 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Women's Studies > Feminist Theory

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Uneven, but worth the time and trouble, January 18, 2003

By 

Michael O'Neil (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present (Paperback)

If you are already a convert, you'll love this stuff. But if you're a curious scholar, like me, you're going to find this tough sledding at times. I don't like the way the book is organized. But I think most thinking people will find it a useful roadmap into the minds of feminists and it's a good place for men to begin if they want to get a handle on this important movement. Like it or not, the feminists are here to stay.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be required reading in school, July 19, 2001

By 

Laura LaVelle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present (Paperback)

Feminists of each generation, I think, have to do a lot of reinventing of the wheel. We don't know our own history, and although in 2001 we take for granted the ideas that women can be professional athletes or CEOs, that families are not all alike, that equal pay for equal work is fair and right...these ideas were once radical, and not that long ago. Likewise, in the 1970s universal suffrage was taken for granted...and the struggles of women activists in the 1920s were forgotten. This is a valuable collection of writings which gives us some of that history back. It covers important feminist thought from 1949 to 1993. This book holds important lessons for all of us, on religion, rape, health, pornography, family, race, sexual orientation...all manner of relevant and fascinating work.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For those who love women's history, May 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present (Paperback)

Miriam Schneir's book, "Feminism in Our Time..." is an EXCELLENT text full of wonderful bits of powerful moments in American women's history. Her text features the work (in the form of essays, excerpts from books, speeches, or manifestos) of such authors as Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Shulamith Firestone, Kate Millet, Anne Koedt, Adrienne Rich, and Anita Hill. In addition, at the beginning of each chapter and before each piece from these and other authors, Schneir provides crucial historical information. The experience of reading the works within this text will undoubtedly move any reader who has a passion for women's history (and for those who don't yet have the passion, this text will spark it) and inspire you to read more!!