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The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution

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Shulamith Firestone (Author)
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Shulamith Firestone (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars 24 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0374527877
ISBN-10: 0374527873
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (March 5, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0374527873
  • ISBN-13: 978-0374527877
  • Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 0.7 x 8.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #93,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA Classic Text of the Women's Movement
By Michelle Moravec on July 25, 2002
Format: Paperback
Shulamith Firestone's now classic work was an important influence on, and manifestation of, the 1970's women's movement. Firestone, an active participant in the Chicago and New York radical feminist scenes, captures the spirit of the movement, and the historical moement, in this work. Combining a material and feminist analysis of women's status in Western society, Firestone makes a case for revolution that may seem extreme to today's reader. However, this text is essential for understanding 1970's radical feminism and it is wonderful to have it back in print.
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5.0 out of 5 starsONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORKS OF THE "SECOND WAVE" OF FEMINISM
By Steven H Propp TOP 100 REVIEWER on September 8, 2011
Format: Hardcover
Shulamith Firestone (born 1945) is a Jewish, Canadian-born feminist, who was a founding member of the New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and New York Radical Feminists.
Here are some quotations from this 1970 book:

"Freudianism subsumed the place of feminism as the lesser of two evils." (Pg. 69)
"Women and children are always mentioned in the same breath... The special tie women have with children is recognized by everyone. I submit, however, that the nature of this bond is no more than shared oppression." (Pg. 81)
"Racism is a sexual phenomenon... racism is sexism extended." (Pg. 122)
"I draw three conclusions based on these differences: 1) That men can't love... 2) That women's 'clinging' behavior is necessitated by their objective social situation. 3) That this situation has not changed significantly from what it ever was." (Pg. 152)
"I submit, then, that the first demand for any alternative system must be: 1) The freeing of women from the tyranny of their reproductive biology by every means available, and the diffusion of the childbearing and childrearing role to the society as a whole, men as well as women... 2) The full self-determination, including economic dependence, of both women and children... 3) The total integration of women and children into all aspects of the larger society... 4) The freedom of all women and children to do whatever they wish to do sexually." (Pg. 236)
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5.0 out of 5 starsA powerful argument for radical feminist revolution.
By paul.lai@yale.edu on December 13, 1998
Format: Paperback
Shulamith Firestone's 1970 text calling for a radical re-thinking of the basis of modern social structures remains a powerful analysis of the state of patriarchy and the feminist movements of the Twentieth Centry. Firestone's central claim is that only in abolishing the sexual differences rooted in biology and reproduction can women, and by extension all humans, free themselves of the sex caste system which privileges men over women and children. In her book, she takes on important thinkers such as Freud and Marx, exposing their oversights and/or oppositions to a true revolution of sex. She ultimately looks to technology (cybernation) as the means by which humans can finally take control of reproductive necessity and correct the accident of Nature that insists on sexual difference and differential power dynamics.
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5.0 out of 5 starsthe best book on the feminist revolution ive ever read
By toby on December 27, 2011
Format: Paperback
i wish they would re release this book. its by far my favorite feminist book. unfortionatly you either have to search really hard (i found mine in a bargain lot in an auction) or pay out the ear for it. It is to me the most important book in womens studies i have found. that and the feminine mystique. its also never been released on kindle (hint hint amazon, id so love to have it on there because my copy is probably as old as the movement it was written on jk).
people go to feminism for a multitude of reasons and in doing so seek knowledge of its origins. to me the dialectic of sex is one of the most empowering books ive ever read. shulamith firestone is so raw and bold in this rock in books of feminist studies. so much more than i could imagine for that time period. if you are new to feminism or are an old hand at it i would especially recommend looking for a copy of the dialectic of sex because this book is life changing. i wouldnt part with mine for anything.
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2.0 out of 5 starsCritique by Marxist Anthropologist Evelyn Reed
By Marc Lichtman on September 17, 2015
Format: Paperback
This is a brief excerpt from Is Biology Woman's Destiny? by Evelyn Reed:

But historically, before the patriarchal takeover, there was no such thing as male supremacy over women - or contrariwise, of female domination over men. The clan community was communistic; a sisterhood of women and a brotherhood of men. The keystone of that social structure was equality in all spheres of life, economic, social, and sexual. Thus women were not always oppressed. The oppression of women began as an integral part of an oppressive society that overturned and supplanted the old matriarchal commune.

The “avunculate theory” of eternal female oppression is only a more sophisticated variation of the “uterus theory” of female inferiority. The one, like the other, must be rejected by women of the liberation movement.

Unfortunately, this has not been done by some influential writers such as Kate Millett, although she is scornful of the proposition that biology is woman’s destiny. This fighter on the side of women’s liberation has been influenced by the anti-historical anthropologists. In her book Sexual Politics she writes that “both the primitive and civilized worlds are male worlds,” (p. 46) and that women have always been oppressed, if not by patriarchal men then by men of the “avunculate.” (p. 25) Oddly enough she takes this position while admitting she does not know whether or not there was a matriarchal period.

Shulamith Firestone in her book The Dialectic of Sex plunges even deeper into the error of the eternal oppression of women. She recites the whole man-made litany on this score.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great

Published 3 months ago by Astroman
5.0 out of 5 starsShuly Firestone

Firestone's book is super influential to feminists, and I can see why after reading it. At times, it did seem kind of cliché, because so much of her influence and many of... Read more

Published 11 months ago by spanishteach
5.0 out of 5 starsMind-Changing, Life-Changing

This book is life-changing and mind-changing.

I bought it in the 70s but did not read it. Read more

Published 14 months ago by P. Schumacher
5.0 out of 5 stars... her book demonstrates the difference between being crazy and...

This chic was bat-sh*t crazy but her book demonstrates the difference between being crazy and stupid. Read more

Published 16 months ago by Jayce
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Great book. Radical feminism needs an urgent revival.

Published 17 months ago by Henrique Mirenda
3.0 out of 5 starsIt's very serious and very much like a communist/far-out perspective...

Hard to follow and hard to read. It's very serious and very much like a communist/far-out perspective on women. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Rachel Ravensky
5.0 out of 5 starsA must read

You don't have to read De Beauvoir to understand feminism. Firestone is actually more up-to-date. She pushes the French lady's thread of though even further. Read more

Published 19 months ago by Itle
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting, but dry, dry, dry

Maybe the reason women couldn't raise interest for their rights in the 50s was because their writing was so BORING! Come on, ladies. Show some passion.

Published 21 months ago by MRC
5.0 out of 5 starsHere is to pure brilliance and ingenuity may the "ultimate revolution"...

OMG I just spent the day reading The Dialectic of Sex. Shulamith Firestone was I think, the ultimate great thinker way ahead of her time!!! Read more

Published 22 months ago by Cheryl Sanders
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book in good condition.

Excellent read, brilliant author, and radical thoughts. Exactly what every woman and especially man needs to read in this increasingly modern world.

Published on January 28, 2014 by Dylan Molho

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