Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation, New Expanded Edition [Paperback]

Barbara Findlen (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2001

In this new, expanded edition of the acclaimed collection, writers and activists such as Rebecca Walker, Nomy Lamm, and Inga Muscio are joined by Lisa Miya-Jervis, publisher of Bitch; Alison Crews, editor of Girl-Mom; and Daisy Hernandez of Ms. Together, they cover a wide range of topics, from blending careers and feminist politics to the intersection of traditional culture and third-wave sensibilities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Third-wave feminists are less angry, more realistic and deal with more subtle obstacles than their foremothers. These and other popular conceptions of young feminists are explored, questioned and sometimes blown to bits in the revised and expanded edition of Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Generation, edited by Barbara Findlen. According to these undefeated and impressive young women, violence, rape, shame and self-hate still rear their ugly heads in the lives of girls and women. And, they attest, young feminists are as angry, self-expressive, political and interested in claiming their due as their predecessors.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This lively anthology counters the notion that feminism is on the wane. Findlen, managing editor of Ms. magazine, offers a collection of essays by young feminists, part of a generation that wrestles with a broad range of issues from race and sexual orientation to maternity. These writers, including well-known feminist Rebecca Walker, don't speak in definitives but acknowledge the many options that women have or ought to have. The collection includes a range of viewpoints--a Jewish woman dissects the paternalism in her religious culture, an Asian laments the lack of representation of Asians in feminist groups, a deeply religious Baptist African American ponders the multiplicity of her identities. The book begins with girlhood recollections of feminist--and sexual--awakenings and then moves on to struggles with identity and the boiling issues facing women, including abortion and sexual violence. The topics range from the mundane to the "underground grrrl movement," from economics to AIDS and other health issues. Women of any feminist sentiment will find themselves in the pages of this compelling and impassioned collection. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Seal Press; 2nd edition (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580050549
• ISBN-13: 978-1580050548
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #256,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Listen Up! January 2, 2002

By A. Craft

Format:Paperback

There couldn't be a better title for this book. Each essay begs you to "listen up" and listen good. The women in this book focus on all areas of feminism, and their feminist experiences at different times in their lives. Some are about trying to reconcile their circumstances with their feminist ideals, such as the feminist aerobics instructor, or the feminist who nearly had to become a go-go dancer just to pay the rent. My favorite essays were the ones that focused, at least in part, on what it's like to be growing up now, in a time where all too many people think that feminism is dead and/or dying. I have too many favorites to begin listing them here, but I definitely recommend this book to any one who is a feminist (no matter your age); think you might be a feminist, but don't want "that label"; or if you adamantly aren't a feminist, but you know one. I don't think any one will regret buying it.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Contemporary feminist perspectives on women's issues April 9, 2002

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

Now in an expanded second edition, Listen Up: Voices From The Next Feminist Generation showcases an outstanding series of essays by leading "third-wave" feminists on an impressive range of topics such as blending careers with feminists politics; the inability of a singular feminism to speak for all women, the intersection of traditional culture and third-wave sensibilities; feminist activism; sexuality; identity, gender formation, and more. Ably edited by feminist and women's issues expert Barbara Bindlen (Managing Editor, Family Fun magazine), Listen Up is a core addition to any academic and community library Women's Studies collection, and very strongly recommended reading for women seeking to learn contemporary feminist perspectives on important and principle women's issues of the day.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Voices that ring true... April 26, 2003

By Crystal

Format:Paperback

Profound, eloquent articulate, wrenching. After the first reading, nearly every page has markings, passages I relate to, echoes of my life or thoughts, or points I find myself surprised or ashamed to have missed, overlooked or ignored. There are notes in the margins of every essay, authors or other figures I don't want to forget, awakenings that came at the end of a paragraph sentence, or even mid-sentence.

In the essay by Curtis Sittenfeld, titled "Your Life as a Girl," I saw myself in literally every paragraph, from the early triumph of running the timed mile and beating not only all the other girls, but all but one or two of the boys, to the first time I gave up trying (be it a math problem or the precise spin of a football throw), admitting myself the weaker, slower or less intelligent. The year I spent perpetually chilled, wearing clinging fabrics to show the body I'd "worked" so hard for, while at home I piled on the layers and spent hours in front of the space heater, and nights dreaming of lavish meals I would never eat. The year upon year upon year spent camouflaging the giddy pleasure at being deemed worthy of brief attention by the object of my (temporarily) undying affection, followed inevitably by the crushing voice that convinced me that my poochy belly was the reason for my unrequited devotion. Most nights are now spent dreaming not of romance (at least not the kind they build novels around) or wealth, but of crossing that finish line to sit with the boys and gloat, watching all the rest straggle in after me.

To wit, an essential read for any woman searching for a voice she relates to, but always coming up short of that perfectly articulated match. These are voices you can trust to speak clearly, loudly, angrily, humorously and with integrity and honesty about the challenges we still face.