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The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution Paperback – March 5, 2003

by Shulamith Firestone (Author)

4.4 150 ratings

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"No one can understand how feminism has evolved without reading this radical, inflammatory second-wave landmark." ―Naomi Wolf

Originally published in 1970, when Shulamith Firestone was just twenty-five years old, and going on to become a bestseller, The Dialectic of Sex was the first book of the women's liberation movement to put forth a feminist theory of politics.

Beginning with a look at the radical and grassroots history of the first wave (with its foundation in the abolition movement of the time), Firestone documents its major victory, the granting of the vote to women in 1920, and the fifty years of ridicule that followed. She goes on to deftly synthesize the work of Freud, Marx, de Beauvoir, and Engels to create a cogent argument for feminist revolution. Identifying women as a caste, she declares that they must seize the means of reproduction―for as long as women (and only women) are required to bear and rear children, they will be singled out as inferior. Ultimately she presents feminism as the key radical ideology, the missing link between Marx and Freud, uniting their visions of the political and the personal.

In the wake of recent headlines bemoaning women's squandered fertility and the ongoing debate over the appropriate role of genetics in the future of humanity, The Dialectic of Sex is revealed as remarkably relevant to today's society―a testament to Shulamith Firestone's startlingly prescient vision. Firestone died in 2012, but her ideas live on through this extraordinary book.

Review

“The Dialectic of Sex is a must-have for those interested in feminist theory, both past and present. It's reappearance now, during yet another period of 'ridicule' towards women's rights, is perhaps even more pertinent than its first publication.” ―Kathleen Hanna, founding member of the Riot Grrrls movement

“The Dialectic of Sex is a truly visionary work. Thirty years later, many of Firestone's ideas remain startlingly relevant, making Dialectic essential reading not only for its value as feminist history but its contribution to feminism's future.” ―Lisa Miya-Jervis, editor and publisher Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture

“Although Gen X women like to fancy ourselves the "freshmakers" of feminism, Shulamith Firestone reminds us that sisters have been "keeping it real" long before that expression was even invented. These power-packed chapters are live and direct, with a cultural shelf life that spans well into our times.” ―Ophira Edut, editor Body Outlaws: Young Women Write about Body Image and Identity, founder and publisher HUES magazine

About the Author

Shulamith Firestone (1945 - 2012) was a founder of the women's liberation movement and editor of Notes, a journal of radical feminism. A key figure of second-wave feminism, Firestone's best known for her groundbreaking work The Dialectic of Sex.

Print length

240 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date

March 5, 2003
Dimensions

5.55 x 0.85 x 8.15 inches
ISBN-10

0374527873
ISBN-13

978-0374527877
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (March 5, 2003)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0374527873
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0374527877
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.55 x 0.85 x 8.15 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #147,856 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #149 in Civil Rights & Liberties (Books)
- #255 in Feminist Theory (Books)
- #403 in Women in History

Customer Reviews:
4.4 150 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

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Protective Gear for Chicago activists

Best book on feminist theory

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

Best book on feminist theory. Better than Marx & Engles.

One person found this helpful

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Michael Lee

I was pleased with my order

Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2023

Verified Purchase

I was pleased with my order.

Helpful

Cheryl Sanders

Here is to pure brilliance and ingenuity may the "ultimate revolution" happen just as she saw it!!!

Reviewed in the United States on April 7, 2014

Verified Purchase

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!!! What Brilliance and what a tragedy to have lost her! Reading this book made me high as a kite because it is exactly what I believe. Her concept of the " ultimate revolution" and the new way of living life,is the life I have already lived, minus the artificial birth concept instead I chose not to give birth.This book gives me great hope. Now how do we convince the masses,if only we can convince the masses,or perhaps they already see as I do that Firestones concepts are manifesting slowly but surely!!!!! Here is to pure brilliance and ingenuity may the "ultimate revolution" happen just as you saw it and may your words continue to impress up on societies this perfect concept of a new way of living!!! I thank my professor Dr. Rinita Mazumdar for turning me onto this book!

7 people found this helpful

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E. Raphael

crazy/beautiful

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2013

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The language and frame of reference is quite dated, but the argument is still bracing, especially her material on psychoanalysis. Things get considerably crazier when she takes on reproduction, basically arguing that soon science will obviate the need for women to do the, as it were, heavy lifting.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

STILL A WOMAN BORN

Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

It was my second time around and loved it even more. I got to introduce the millennials in my world to this extraordinary woman. When I was in university, we have a feminist guerilla theater and performed vignettes taken from this book.

It will refresh our recollection and prevent much of the anti-feminism behavior from recurring. Last I knew, women were the only oppressed people on the planet who willingly sleep with the enemy. The pushback we predicted is here. I leave this fight to the young women and girls.

15 people found this helpful

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Kimberly Townsend Palmer

unqualified rave

Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2013

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you may not agree with her, but she was an excellent writer and a brilliant, brilliant mind, one that unfortunately was so bright it ended up as a supernova. her book of stories, "airless spaces," is in some ways better, and also a must read. i loved this woman in the 70s, and i love her more now. i won't apologize for it. any feminist worth his/her salt should read this if they haven't already. it's just plain required to fill in the whole gender roles/struggle/gap puzzle!

16 people found this helpful

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Rachel Ravensky

It's very serious and very much like a communist/far-out perspective on women

Reviewed in the United States on July 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

Hard to follow and hard to read. It's very serious and very much like a communist/far-out perspective on women. Nevertheless, many of the proposals Firestone had, have actually come true. So, in that sense, she was a bit of a visionary, but overall, kind of hard to read.

One person found this helpful

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teach1234

Shuly Firestone

Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

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 her ideas can still be felt when looking back at feminist thought of the 1960s and 70s. I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in 2nd wave feminism!

4 people found this helpful

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José de Jesús Adame Carrillo

Muy bueno

Reviewed in Mexico on January 29, 2023

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Excelente investigación y proposición de ideas. Es muy bueno entender los antecedentes de un movimiento social.

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frankgfj

A truely revolutionary text.

Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2019

Verified Purchase

I found this book thought provoking and absolutely astonishing. Her version of femknism is unique among feminists. By acknowledging biology as the ultimate source of sex inequality in our society, she avoids the anti scientism of many of others, while being no less emancipatory and revolutionary in her goal, as " to be natural is not to be good, nature doesn't dictate human values", and " to acknowledge the biological basis of sex inequality is not to lose our case". Firestone proposes a truely radical position of feminism, which is to use technology in order to destroy the sex distinction itsf, such as through artificial reproduction, and liberate women from the burden of reproductive work. This proposition may have seemed absurd and impossible by many at the tjme Firestone wrote this, but it has became increasingly within our reach, and Firestone's thoughts might be very helpful in guiding us through the current bioethical debates.
Firestone so theory on how culture reinforces and exacerbates this biologically based sex inequality also intrigues me. She identified many elements of our culture that does this, most thought provokingly are the family, childhood and romance. Firestone suggests that the structure of the family is one of the main roots of the patriarchal society we live in. By drawing on Freud's psychoanalytic theory of the Oedipus and Electra complex, Firestone explores how the unequal power relations within the family shapes individuals into a certain mentality which reinforces culturally the sex differences, and perpetuates the current sociocultural system that we live in.
Her theories on how the notion of childhood is a recent social construction, one in which perpetuates the patriarchal social structure, and is itself constantly reinforced and recreated, through the family and the schools.
Her thoughts on how romance is corrupted by our sexist system is also provocatively inspiring. The details I won't talk about here.
anyway, these, along with all other ideas presented in the book, such as the relationship between sexism and racism, are truely revolutionary ideas. And they together provide a unique feminist perspective, and In the end, I just wanna say I have thoroughly enjoyed this book.

One person found this helpful

Christiane

Harter Tobak, aber unbedingt lesenswert!

Reviewed in Germany on August 25, 2019

Verified Purchase

Firestones ungeschönter Blick auf das patriarchalische System, in dem sie Frauen als unterworfene Kaste begreift (die durch die Betonung von und Darstellung von Geschlechterunterschieden als naturgemäß zementiert wird), mag auch deshalb auf viele schockierend wirken, weil Firestone auch Liebesbeziehungen als Ausdruck und Verstärker von patriarchalischen Machtstrukturen wahrnimmt und klar macht, dass selbst die Idealisierung der Frau Ausdruck von deren Unterwerfung im Patriarchat ist (denn sonst müsste der idealisierende Mann seine Partnerin in spe nicht auf seine Augenhöhe bringen, indem er sie idealisiert). Ein Buch, dass zahlreiche Denkanstöße liefert - unbequem, aber gerade deswegen unbedingt lesenswert!

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Ann Lynn Correa

Good work

Reviewed in India on January 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

Really good read and provides a nice foray into feminist lit of recent times

Daniele Sorentino

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2015

Verified Purchase

SO happy this is in print again!

2 people found this helpful

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