Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century (Paperback)

~ Wendy McElroy (Author)
Key Phrases: midwife problem, battered women, criminal victimization, United States, New York, Supreme Court (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A matchless book on the most important issues facing women now and in the future. -- Christina Hoff Sommers, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute

A must-read for anyone interested in issues of equality and sexual politics. -- Christie Hefner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Playboy Enterprises, Inc.

A thought-provoking anthology of freedom-feminist writings. -- National Review

All women share a love of liberty...all should have the courage to embrace this book. -- Wendy Kaminer, Senior Editor, American Prospect; author of Fearful Freedom: Women’s Flight from Equality

Brilliant...with verve and daring explorations. -- Judith S. Kleinfeld, Director of Northern Studies and Professor of Psychology, University of Alaska

Lively and provocative and adds immensely to the debate on the role of women in contemporary life. -- Linda Chavez, President, Center for Equal Opportunity

Lively and provocative...Liberty for Women adds immensely to the debate on the role of women in contemporary life. -- Linda L. Chavez, President, Center for Equal Opportunity, and former Director, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Provocative…I hope Liberty for Women becomes a must-read in every women’s studies program in America. -- Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises

This collection offers much food for feminist thought. -- Publishers Weekly --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

The contributors to this important new collection offer a vision of contemporary feminism that runs counter to and goes beyond the dominant attitudes of the feminist orthodoxy. Basing their arguments on individual rights and personal responsibility, the contributors offer surprising views on a wide range of issues that confront modern woman. Published in association with The Independent Institute.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee, Publisher (May 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566634342
• ISBN-13: 978-1566634342
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #369,202 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feminism with a future, July 17, 2002

By	Andrew S. Rogers (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century (Hardcover)

Editor Wendy McElroy is one of the leading lights of 'ifeminism' (a term she coined) -- feminism with an individualist, libertarian emphasis, as opposed to the collectivist, group-rights orientation of more traditional, left-leaning feminism. In place of the tired old orthodoxies of today's victim-feminism, the provocative, insightful, and energetic essays collected here reveal a feminism fit for the twenty-first century.

I admire Wendy McElroy a lot, and so particularly looked forward to her contributions to this collection. But the other writers she assembled are also quite good. I especially enjoyed the first three chapters, in which McElroy, Camille Paglia, and Richard Epstein lay the foundations of ifeminism. From there, different sections address ifeminism as it relates to sex, work, the home, violence and victim disarmament (aka 'gun control') and, finally, technology. Of the issue-oriented sections, this last one was particularly good. I especially appreciated Janis Cortese's 'The Third WWWave: Who We Are, What We See' -- a defiant, even angry, call to 'second generation' feminists to take this new, rising tide of ifeminists seriously.

Much of what you'll read here runs counter to received feminist wisdom: it's pro-market, pro-gun, anti-'comparable worth,' and profoundly skeptical about the evolution of sexual harassment law. It's pro-choice, but doesn't consider abortion a sacrament, as much of traditional feminism seems to. To borrow a too-often-paraphrased TV ad, this is not your mother's feminism.

Regardless of whether you're male or female, how you define feminism, or what your opinions of it may be, Wendy McElroy and her fellow contributors have outlined a new vision of feminism. It may well change the terms of debate entirely. Let's hope so.