Mordant Belle

The Feminine Mystique
By Betty Friedan, 2001, W. W. Norton & Company Reprint edition, 512 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: READING

Commentary:
I have begun to read this a few times, and have read three individual chapters for various Women’s Studies classes, but I have never read this from cover to cover. There’s also a great intro the the edition by Anna Quindlen.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Originally published in 1963, this book is credited with the birth of the contemporary women’s movement in the ’60s and ’70s, as it served as a “wake up call” for dissatisfied house wives. As Wikipedia notes, the main argument of this book was to refute the popular notion that women of that time could only find fulfillment through childbearing and homemaking. While the book is often (rightly) criticized as being primarily relevant to white, middle class women, it is still an important staple in the feminist cannon.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity
By Robert Jensen, 2007, South End Press, 200 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
Robert Jensen is one of my favorite “modern” authors. He’s also written a couple of books on empire and whiteness, both of which are destined to get on this list some day. I am eagerly awaiting the ability to read this book (once I get through all the other ones, so in about three decades or so.) It sits patiently on my bookshelf, waiting for me. This powerful critique of pornography is supposed to be eye-opening.

The study of masculinity is, I think, crucial to feminism, because it is contemporary definitions of masculinity (or, really, masculinity at all) that we are struggling to overcome. Pornography is deeply tied to masculinity, in ways I think most people don’t really think about because our first thoughts when someone say “porn” usually involve visuals of a slutty plasticky woman. But porn makes a strong statement about masculinity and being a man, and what that supposedly looks like.

The more guys I talk to, the more clear it becomes that porn is the major source of most guys’ (especially young guys) sex education. Which explains a lot about how and why my generation is so fucked up in that department. That’s why side-by-side critiques of porn and masculinity — especially coming from a guy, who’s been there, done that — are so important.

Interview from MediaMouse.org about the book

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Women, Race, and Class
by Angela Davis, 1983, Vintage, 288 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
Angela Davis is pretty much required reading, especially for feminists who care about understanding the impacts of race and class as they intersect with gender. A word of caution, however: the WOC blogs I read complain about us white folks thinking that reading and quoting Angela Davis (and other prominent WOC authors) at certain times makes us “un-racist”, or serves to address the concerns of minority women and poor women. It does not.

It certainly is a good starting point, though.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Angela Davis is one of the most prominent multiracial feminists out there. This book was the first of it’s time to really explore the ties between the suffragettes and the abolitionist movement of the first wave. In many ways, the suffragettes (the first feminists, though they did not identify themselves as such; the term became more widely used later during the women’s liberation movement) were compelled to form a women’s rights movement in conjunction with abolition. In both the first and the second wave, women’s political consciousness was born fighting for rights for minorities, only to discover (in the case of the suffragettes) that they could not speak at rallies or appear in public because of stigmas about women (they were expected to stay behind a screen at public meetings). In another interpretation, working for civil rights for others made women more aware of the stigmas and restrictions placed against themselves. So in many ways, women’s liberation was born out of the fight for rights for African Americans.

Davis is an ubernerd in terms of education; she went to many colleges both in the U.S. and abroad, showing her deep love of learning. She was associated with both the Black Panther Party and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in the ’60s and ’70s. She is a socialist and was previously a political candidate in the Communist Party USA. She became famous after she was connected to the murder of a judge who was held hostage during a Black Panther prison escape attempt; she fled underground, and was eventually captured, arrested, tried, and acquitted in a famous trial. She is now a professor at the University of California and Presidential chair at UC Santa Cruz.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Feminism is for Everybody
by bell hooks, 2000, South End Press, 118 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
I bought this little book, read the introduction, and was amazed. bell hooks is a cultural critic and writer, one of the most well known second wave women of color (at least to me). Here she provides an excellent feminist primer that addresses the history and spirit of the feminist movement, one which DOES do a good job of addressing race and class issues (unlike Full Frontal Feminism, which was much more for white, middle-class women who were “hesitant to call themselves feminist”, though there certainly is a niche for such a book). I would definitely recommend this as an introductory text.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
A description of the book from South End Press’ web site:

hooks applies her critical analysis to the most contentious and challenging issues facing feminists today, including reproductive rights, violence, race, class, and work. With her customary insight and unsparing honesty, hooks calls for a feminism free from divisive barriers but rich with rigorous debate. In language both eye-opening and optimistic, hooks encourages us to demand alternatives to patriarchal, racist, and homophobic culture, and to imagine a different future.

hooks speaks to all those in search of true liberation, asking readers to take look at feminism in a new light, to see that it touches all lives. Issuing an invitation to participate fully in feminist movement and to benefit fully from it, hooks shows that feminism—far from being an outdated concept or one limited to an intellectual elite—is indeed for everybody.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild
by Deborah Siegel, 2007, Pallgrave Macmillan, 240 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: READ

Commentary:
This book was assigned as a textbook in my “Sex, Power, and Politics” Women’s Studies class, and I loved it. Deborah Siegel does a great job of describing the history of the “mainstream” feminist movement, the one that immediately springs to mind when you hear the words “suffrage”, “women’s rights” or “women’s liberation”.* Which most people think they have a pretty good grasp on, and which most people really don’t.

And don’t discount the importance of history; as Siegel points out, many young feminists like me end up reinventing the wheel all over again because we know so little about the reality of this movement that has completely and utterly impacted every area of our lives. When the progress feminism made begins to break down, or when we seek to raise our consciousness or explore our sexuality, we do so without realizing that the trails have been blazed before, and we could learn from seeing where they went, rather then trying to break new ground to end up in the same place.

Reading this book, in combination with my amazing professor’s wealth of knowledge, helped me understand the real history of feminism, where it’s been, where it’s broken down, where it’s been effective and where there is still work to do. I especially love the list of links and resources in the back. As far as I’m concerned this is required reading for anyone who is interested in feminism, but most especially for anyone interested in making feminism part of their activism and daily life.

Additional Comments always welcome.

* I say mainstream because there is/was actually an equally powerful, and some argue more effective, feminist movement among communities of people of color, both before, during, and after the rise of the second wave. Siegel touches on this briefly, and I actually learned quite a bit from her about the movement of women of color, but that’s mostly because I was completely and utterly ignorant that there WAS such a movement, so her few paragraphs were a revelation. She makes clear in her introduction that her book that her history is not meant to address the issues, progress, and history of the feminist movement in communities of people of color.

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The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls
by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, 1998, Vintage, 336 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Summary, Description, and/or History:
This book is both historical and sociological, exploring the ways in which perceptions of the female body (and it’s importance to a girl’s self-worth) have changed over time. Not only has the development of girls’ body changed — menstruation and sexual activity begin much earlier — there is also much greater emphasis of the body as defining your self. Girls grow up believing that “good looks”, rather than “good works” — personal, communal, and professional accomplishments — are the highest form of female perfection. It includes previously unpublished entries from the diaries of girls across America, as well as a photo essay with photographs, advertisements and postcards that show how girls and their bodies have changed since the nineteenth century. Per the book’s web site:

From corsets to body piercing, The Body Project demonstrates how the preoccupation with the body has intensified and why adolescent girls and their bodies have born the brunt of social change in the twentieth century.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and and How All Men Can Help
By Jason Katz, 2006, Sourcebooks, 296 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
This popped up on my Amazon recommendations, and it looks fascinating. Katz, who I never heard of before looking at this book, is a famous anti-sexist and anti-violence advocate, specializing in prevention. Once I started looking into him and his work, I realized I’d already seen some of it, as the man behind Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity, an excellent documentary from the Media Education Foundation, who I hope to post on more in the future.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
From Publisher’s Weekly, via Amazon.com:

“Katz is cofounder of the Mentors in Violence Prevention Program (MVP), and his focus is on prevention—his intended audience is not violent men who need help changing their ways, but all men, who, he says, have a role to play in preventing male violence against women.
His basic assertion is that rape, battering, sexual abuse and harassment are so widespread that they must be viewed as a social problem rooted in our culture, not as the problem of troubled individuals. He urges men to directly confront the misogynistic attitudes and behavior of their peers.
Some men may find Katz’s advice occasionally baffling: he is full of directions about what not to do (such as paternalistic actions that deprive women of their autonomy). He wants to bring men into the larger discussion of pornography (which, he points out, has been dominated by women) and get them to look at its impact on themselves. Katz also presents eye-opening exercises and discussions from the MVP model that engender productive discussion among participants — usually high school or college students.”

A great excerpt from the opening page:

“Most people think violence against women is a woman’s issue. And why wouldn’t they? Just about every women in this society thinks about it every day. If they are not getting harassed on the street, living in an abusive relationship, recovering from a rape, or in therapy to deal with the sexual abuse they suffered as children, they are ordering their daily lives around the threat of men’s violence.
But it is a mistake to call men’s violence a women’s issue.”

Additional Comments always welcome.

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This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
By Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, 2002, 3rd Woman Press, 370 pages (3rd edition)
Mel’s Reading Status: UNREAD

Commentary:
I really want to read this book, but ran into several issues getting my hands on the 3rd edition, not the least of which being that my library’s copy is missing. Most of the copies of the 3rd edition that I find online are much too expensive; most were over $200, some were only $100. Anything less than $100 was very used. This is the second, and biggest, problem I ran into while trying to locate this book. The second edition, however, is much less expensive, though it lacks the newer material. Both of these editions seem to be out of print.

UPDATE: I finally got my hands on a gorgeous copy of the 3rd edition, by basically stalking the “New & Used” from Amazon.com and AbeBooks. It was awesome, I found one that was barely used, for only $42. If you want to get your hands on this book, I would recommend doing that.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Originally published in 1984 (1983? ‘84? Sources vary!), this anthology, which includes poems, prose, and essays, was edited by two radical women of color (Chicanas, both). This Bridge Called My Back was groundbreaking, the first well-known book that really held white feminists’ feet to the fire, so to speak, about their deliberate ignorance of the racial disparities within the feminist movement, and called for a radical restructuring of America. This third edition contains all the original material from the first two editions, including their forwards, prefaces, and introductions, as well as a new forward by Moraga that she began writing on September 11, 2001.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women
By Susan Faludi, 2006, Three Rivers Press, 592 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: READING

Commentary:
This book is difficult to read so far, simply because of the sheer volume of information. But it’s absolutely crucial reading, for anyone, but especially feminists. I recommend you read it in small spurts — I’m taking it chapter by chapter, giving it time to digest.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Originally published in 1991 (the cover I have here is for the 15th Anniversary edition), it’s a little out of date in terms of numbers. However, the phenomenon are still there, the analysis is still right on, and the truths it unveils are still disturbing at how much of the discrimination faced by women is part of a system. The book is INSANELY well-researched, literally TONS of numbers; Faludi is a Pulitzer-prize winning former Wall Street Journal reporter, and it shows. Feminist beginners should definitely read this as soon as they can stomach it; this is one of those texts that long-timers will refer back to again and again.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
By Naomi Wolf, 2002, Harper Perrenial, 368 pages
Mel’s Reading Status: READING

Commentary:
I am in the process of reading this book, and it’s so powerful. It’s one of those things that really wakes you up to how much of what we suspect, what we have this instinct is going on but can’t quite put our finger on because it seems so normal, so Just The Way Things Are, is a SYSTEM. It’s not an accident, but an institution, an actual system and process that was put in place to preserve the majority of people from having equal access to power.

Summary, Description, and/or History:
Summary Via Amazon.com: In a country where the average woman is 5-foot-4 and weighs 140 pounds, movies, advertisements, and MTV saturate our lives with unrealistic images of beauty. The tall, nearly emaciated mannequins that push the latest miracle cosmetic make even the most confident woman question her appearance. Feminist Naomi Wolf argues that women’s insecurities are heightened by these images, then exploited by the diet, cosmetic, and plastic surgery industries. Every day new products are introduced to “correct” inherently female “flaws,” drawing women into an obsessive and hopeless cycle built around the attempt to reach an impossible standard of beauty. Wolf rejects the standard and embraces the naturally distinct beauty of all women.

Additional Comments always welcome.

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