Feminism S Progress

Modern feminism increasingly benefits only a small class of professional women. There is no reason to sacrifice everyone else's happiness for their sake. Mary Harrington shows that women's liberation was less the result of moral progress than an effect of the material consequences of the Industrial Revolution. We've now left the industrial era for the digital age, in which technology is liberating us from natural limits and embodied sex differences. This shift may benefit the elites, but it also makes it easier to commodify women's bodies, human intimacy, and female reproductive abilities. "Feminism" has been captured by well-off white-collar women, who use it to advance their own economic and political interests under the pretense that these are the interests of all women—all the while wielding the term like a club against anyone, male or female, who dissents. Feminism against Progress is a stark warning against a dystopian future in which poor women become little more than convenient sources of body parts to be harvested and wombs to be rented by the rich. "Progress" no longer benefits the majority of women, and only a feminism that is skeptical of it can truly defend their interests in the twenty-first century.

Olive Schreiner and the Progress of Feminism explores two key areas: first, the debates taking place in England during the last two decades of the nineteenth century about the position of women; and, second, the volatile events of the 1890s in South Africa, which culminated in war between the British Empire and the Boer republics in 1899. Through a detailed reading of the fictional and non-fictional writing of one extraordinary woman, Olive Schreiner, it traces the complex relations between gender and empire in a modernizing world.

Feminism's Progress builds on more than fifty years of feminist criticism to analyze narrative representations of feminist ideas about women's social roles, gender inequities, and needed reforms. Carol Colatrella argues that popular novels, short stories, and television shows produced in the United States and Britain — from Little Dorrit and Iola Leroy to Call the Midwife and The Closer — foster acceptance of feminism by optimistically illustrating its prospects and promises. Scholars, students, and general readers will appreciate the book's sweeping introduction to a host of concerns in feminist theory while applying a gender lens to a wide range of literature and media from the past two centuries. In exploring how individuals and communities might reduce bias and discrimination and ensure gender equity, these fictions serve as both a measure and a means of feminism's progress.

From Katharine Graham’s Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Personal History, a stirring narrative of how the legendary publisher of the Washington Post became a feminist. With an introduction from her granddaughter, Katharine Weymouth, publisher of the Post until 2014. Katharine Graham was the newspaper mogul who piloted the Washington Post through the crises of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate: but first she had to overcome the harsh expectations of a male-dominated industry, and her harshest critic of all—herself. Inheriting ownership of the paper from her father, and assuming its leadership in 1963 after the death of her husband, Philip, Graham found herself the only woman in a man’s world—a world, however, that was beginning to change. From Georgetown suppers to board meetings, from The Second Sex to Gloria Steinem, this is the refreshingly honest account of how the most powerful woman in Washington came into her own. An eBook short.

This book brings together theory and praxis, so that feminist discourse interacts as a partner with the lived experience of women's social action. The selections combine classics in feminist thought with work from modern theorists and offer a solid foundation in international feminism. The conceptual understanding embedded in the terms 'feminism' and 'womanism' contributes to feminist discourse, a carefully differentiated focus on the ideological uses of language to define relationships that have been historically mired in domination. The terms also define the way gender often has been used to signify and support domination. Given that feminism and womanism are interpretative concepts, there is always a sense that knowledge-making is in progress; for there is nothing static or stagnant about feminism, feminist theory, and feminist action. The formative nature of the feminist movement has, of necessity, a parallel interpretative theory. This Reader embraces both the formative nature of the movement and the accompanying interpretative theories.It also pays attention to the chronological, cultural, geo-political, racial, and ethnic landscapes and sites where women live, carry out social action, and theorise issues of equality. For both the general and the academic reader, this book will be edifying while providing exposure to the feminist and womanist voices that inform the scholarship.

It is more than fifty years since Betty Friedan diagnosed malaise among suburban housewives and the National Organization of Women was founded. Across the decades, the feminist movement brought about significant progress on workplace discrimination, reproductive rights, and sexual assault. Yet, the proverbial million-dollar question remains: why is there still so much to be done? With this book, Lynn S. Chancer takes stock of the American feminist movement and engages with a new burst of feminist activism. She articulates four common causes—advancing political and economic equality, allowing intimate and sexual freedom, ending violence against women, and expanding the cultural representation of women—considering each in turn to assess what has been gained (or not). It is around these shared concerns, Chancer argues, that we can continue to build a vibrant and expansive feminist movement. After the Rise and Stall of American Feminism takes the long view of the successes and shortcomings of feminism(s). Chancer articulates a broad agenda developed through advancing intersectional concerns about class, race, and sexuality. She advocates ways to reduce the divisiveness that too frequently emphasizes points of disagreement over shared aims. And she offers a vision of individual and social life that does not separate the "personal" from the "political." Ultimately, this book is about not only redressing problems, but also reasserting a future for feminism and its enduring ability to change the world.

In the early 1970''s, feminism promised to remake the world for women and create a new cultural landscape where women have equality with men. But forty years later, this attempted reboot has not occurred. Only a small minority of women have ever self-identified as feminists, and women overall are less happy today. In many ways progress is now stalled. Has feminism failed, or have we been thinking wrongly about gender issues all along? Both are true. Feminism sought too little systemic change and didn''t build a national consensus that it should succeed. While the book The End of Men helped encourage the false illusion that we''ve largely remedied gender inequality in America, in fact, we''ve barely begun. We need to rethink the effort, and on many levels start over. Upside Down draws on insights from biology, psychology, economics and political science. This book itself is paradoxical. It embraces the notion of gender differences, but does not imagine the world necessarily being better if women were in charge. Rather, Upside Down proposes a dozen public policy changes that could make the world a better place, with the side effect of aiding women''s advancement. The book delves into the difficult divide of partisan politics and explains how various public policies affect women, thus empowering individuals to effect change with their energies, their money and their votes. To set the stage for a new direction, the book relies on peer reviewed, scientific studies to describe eleven gender paradoxes - circumstances that based on feminism''s goals shouldn''t have happened, but did. Each of these paradoxes helps explain the causes of women''s continuing inequality in society, illuminates the harms, and suggests solutions. Did you know that as societies are becoming more egalitarian and behavior and opportunity are less constrained by gender, personality differences between men and women are becoming greater and increasing advantages men have in attaining power and wealth? This runs completely counter to the feminist view that such differences are purely cultural. It has huge implications for women''s competitiveness. Did you know that women in the U.S. are less happy today than they were forty years ago? And that by many measures, women''s progress in business and government - which should be steadily improving - has completely stalled in the 21st Century? Even more disturbing is research showing that in many workplace settings, women discriminate against women more than men do. Based on eleven years of meticulous research, Upside Down is filled with other surprising facts to support its conclusions. For example, did you know that mothers-to-be who skip breakfast are more likely to have daughters than those who don''t? Even more curious is the way this mechanism explains why women are less prone to violence than men. And on the topic of violence, many people are aware of the role played by testosterone, but did you know that a single dose often makes women more egocentric, less trusting and less collaborative? The book''s proposals would increase women''s access to opportunity, influence and power. For example, part time careers should be available to all, in every field - family responsibilities are too big a counterweight to a full time career for many. Changing hearts and minds about gender issues will require advertising and public relations campaigns. Adopting the policies of countries where women have greater influence could help women gain influence in government here. The book''s unique formula for gender quotas in state legislatures also could accelerate change. Upside Down charts a course for feminism to regain relevance and create real gender equality. This Deluxe Edition gives readers access to original research papers on a wide range of gender issues. The endnotes contain hundreds of web links to academic journal articles and newspaper stories.

A growing body of evidence demonstrates that improvements in the status of women and girls – however worthy and important in their own right – also drive the prosperity, stability, and security of families, communities, and nations. Yet despite many indicators of progress, women and girls everywhere – including countries of the developed world – continue to confront barriers to their full and equal participation in social, economic, and political life. Capturing voices and experiences from around the world, this work documents the modern history of the global women’s movement - its many accomplishments and setbacks. Drawing together prominent pioneers and contemporary policymakers, activists, and scholars, the volume interrogates where and why progress has met resistance and been slowed, and examine the still unfinished agenda for change in national and international policy arenas. This history and roadmap are especially critical for younger generations who need a better understanding of this rich feminist legacy and the intense opposition that women’s movements have generated. This book creates a clear and forceful narrative about women’s agency and the central relevance of women’s rights movements to global and national policy-making.. It is essential reading for activists and policymakers, students and scholars alike.