Individualist Feminism Of The Nineteenth Century

Feminism today has many definitions, but to a large degree, the movement has its roots in nineteenth century individualist feminism, which was based on the theory that all humans should be treated as sovereign individuals, regardless of gender, race, or religion. This once-shocking idea was championed by many individuals and publications now largely forgotten. This unique work covers the history of the individualist feminism movement and of three prominent publications that rose in its defense: The Word, Liberty, and Lucifer the Light Bearer. Although these journals published some of the most important ideas on feminism, anarchism, and personal liberty, they are often overlooked today. Biographies and selections of writing from contributors to these magazines feature the remarkable women and men who laid many of the foundations for modern feminist thought. Included among those profiled are Angela Heywood, who first defended abortion based on woman's self-ownership of her body, and Lillian Harman, who was jailed at the age of 16 for being married without state or church ceremonies. These profiles and writings provide insight into the lives and work of these important, but often neglected early feminists.

The issues that gave rise to the women's movement are still with us today. Feminism as an organised force dates from abolitionism prior to the Civil War when, fighting to free the slaves, women became conscious of their own legal disabilities. From these anti-statist roots, the women's movement eventually divided over such issues as sex, the family, and support for World War I. This newly revised edition traces individualist feminism from these origins up to the present day. It demonstrates that on issues from sex and birth control to business and science, government has been the real obstacle preventing women from achieving freedom and equal rights. The authors include abolitionists Sarah and Angelina Grimké, anarchists Emma Goldman and Voltairine de Cleyre, journalists Rose Wilder Lane and Suzanne La Follette, social critic Lillian Harman, and modern writers such as Barbara Ehrenreich, Deirdre English, Rosalie Nichols, and Jean Bethke Elshtain. Wendy McElroy, in her introduction, discusses such controversies as individualism and socialism in the feminist tradition, economic freedom and the role of women, and the contemporary differences between mainstream and individualist feminism. She issues a ringing and provocative call for women to recapture their individualist heritage.

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"A fine book that is sure to provoke interesting debates. . . . Paying close attention to the implications of gender and domesticity for American notions of individualism, Brown draws upon new questions of method and theory to provide fresh readings of canonical texts."--Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, author of "Feminism without Illusions "Brown has fascinating and original things to say about a phase of American literature and culture that has now returned to the center of the Americanist agenda. Her work displays a dense knowledge of cultural sources . . . and an imaginative grasp of how literary and paraliterary texts might intersect."--Richard Brodhead, author of "The School of Hawthorne

This collection of papers draws on insights from social anthropology to illuminate historical material, and presents a set of closely integrated studies on the inter-connections between feminism and medical, social and educational ideas in the nineteenth century. Throughout the book evidence from both the USA and UK shows that feminists had to operate in a restricting and complex social environment in which the concept of "the lady" and the ideal of the saintly mother defined the nineteenth-century woman’s cultural and physical world.

The contributors to this important new collection offer a vision of contemporary feminism based on individual rights and personal responsibility.