Women on the Move
Pendleton, Elsa
Women on the Move Essays on Sex Equality, by John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill. Edited by Alice S. Rossi. University of Chicago Press. 242 pp. $8.75. Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of...
...Random House...
...The anguish and anger of many women are reflected in the essays, poems, articles, and documents which appear in Robin Morgan's anthology, stay with it The PROGRESSIVE Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Sisterhood Is Powerful...
...The situation does not improve after reading the Morgan anthology...
...It would seem that we now have access to all the information we need...
...These essays, written between 1832 and 1869, contain most of the arguments now espoused by many women's lib groups...
...his concept of "equality" would be curiously limited...
...It may appear incoherent and fragmented at times, but that is because it still has a lot of moving to do—it is growing in all directions, and there is room for all of us somewhere...
...Robin Morgan says in her introduction: "Everything, from the verbal assault on the street, to a 'well-meant' sexist joke your husband tells, to the lower pay you get at work (for doing the same job a man would be paid more for), to television commercials, to rock song lyrics, to the pink or blue blanket they put on your infant in the hospital nursery, to speeches by male 'revolutionaries' that reek of male supremacy—everything seems to barrage your aching brain, which has fewer and fewer protective defenses to screen such things out...
...But the UUWF found that the uneducated, impoverished women of all races are the women most victimized by society, and that the issue of women's rights encompasses questions of abortion law reform, and equality of education and employment, and eventually affects the lives of all men and women...
...For several years, the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation has been studying the situation of women throughout the world...
...We should be convinced of the worth and urgency of ridding ourselves of sexism and "pedestalitis...
...It would seem that we now have access to all the information we need...
...The solution has been the rap session, the most successful innovation employed by Women's Lib...
...8.95 cloth...
...The participants include Betty Friedan, founder of NOW, the National Organization of Women (generally considered the most "respectable" of the women's rights groups), and Congresswom-en Martha Griffiths and Shirley Chisholm...
...Edited by Robin Morgan...
...Voices of the New Feminism...
...It is also the most wordy and is plagued in places by irrelevant and feeble argument (leave it to a man to be distracted by comparisons of the weight of male and female brains...
...Sociologist Alice S. Rossi has edited a new collection of essays by Mill and his wife, Harriet Taylor Mill...
...We should be convinced of the worth and urgency of ridding ourselves of sexism and "pedestalitis...
...Yet, the lasting impression is still hollow, still sadly lacking in conviction...
...The present book is enriched by an entertaining and lucid introduction by Alice Rossi, which covers Mill's life during the years after he met Harriet Taylor...
...Reading John Stuart Mill, we find ourselves saying "yes...
...Despite Unitarian traditions associating the abolition of slavery with the women's suffrage movement, both led by prominent Unitarian men and women, Unitarian-Universalist women of today were at first unwilling to devote themselves to a problem which seemed to lack the urgency of other issues, such as war and poverty...
...Voices of the New Feminism has given us a compilation that is inoffensive and hardly startling...
...The solution has been the rap session, the most successful innovation employed by Women's Lib...
...He was bigoted with respect to class divisions, hopelessly parochial regarding the superiority of British culture over the rest of the world...
...This quotation appears in John Stuart Mill's essay, "The Subjection of Women," and illustrates his belief that the denial of equality to women demeans both sexes...
...The three essays speak of women's preference for homemaking—"the one vocation in which there is nobody to compete with them"—and argue that women should be admitted as freely as men to other jobs and professions: "What is wanted for women is equal rights, equal admission to all social privileges...
...The effort is here, the book and the task are worthwhile—but they are not much fun...
...Emotional, at times petulant, but consistently and painfully honest, the contributions reveal the deep distress of the "fifty-one per cent minority group...
...One of the major elements of the current Women's Liberation Movement, which makes it both appealing and irritating, is the emphasis on first-person testimony...
...Beacon Press...
...Robin Morgan says in her introduction: "Everything, from the verbal assault on the street, to a 'well-meant' sexist joke your husband tells, to the lower pay you get at work (for doing the same job a man would be paid more for), to television commercials, to rock song lyrics, to the pink or blue blanket they put on your infant in the hospital nursery, to speeches by male 'revolutionaries' that reek of male supremacy—everything seems to barrage your aching brain, which has fewer and fewer protective defenses to screen such things out...
...We can understand that women must concentrate on their own experiences and attitudes in order to understand their own motivations...
...The history of the suffrage movement has taught us the necessity for developing new techniques of leadership...
...Edited by Mary Lou Thompson...
...But the UUWF found that the uneducated, impoverished women of all races are the women most victimized by society, and that the issue of women's rights encompasses questions of abortion law reform, and equality of education and employment, and eventually affects the lives of all men and women...
...Think what it is to a boy, to grow up to manhood in the belief that without any merit or any exertion of his own, though he may be the most frivolous and empty or the most ignorant and stolid of mankind, by the mere fact of being born a male he is by right the superior of all and every one of an entire half of the human race: including probably some whose real superiority to himself he has daily or hourly occasion to feel...
...2.45 Vintage paperback...
...The intensity and frequency of wisecracks on the subject must be an indication that the Movement is becoming increasingly effective, but as with most fledgling causes, the documentation has been slow in catching up with the action...
...The definitive books on the subject are still to be written...
...We may realize the need for anger, and for the excessive and irrelevant use of Anglo-Sax-onisms—but we cannot escape the occasional thought: how childish...
...246 pp...
...We can understand that women must concentrate on their own experiences and attitudes in order to understand their own motivations...
...The writing is fresh and convincing after the lapse of more than a century, particularly in the first two essays, which show the strong influence of Harriet Mill...
...We may realize the need for anger, and for the excessive and irrelevant use of Anglo-Sax-onisms—but we cannot escape the occasional thought: how childish...
...With the exception of a few, such as "You've Come A Long Way, Baby" and "The Grand Coolie Damn," they have an overbearing attitude and turgid vocabulary...
...Yet, the lasting impression is still hollow, still sadly lacking in conviction...
...602 pp...
...The philosophy is a liberal, not radical, one, with the goal of achieving changes in society through education and legal reform...
...Three recently published books, each approaching the subject from a different direction, provide information and insight for those who desire to know more about women's struggle for equality...
...The definitive books on the subject are still to be written...
...The effort is here, the book and the task are worthwhile—but they are not much fun...
...Reading John Stuart Mill, we find ourselves saying "yes...
...The final essay, "The Subjection of Women," which Mill published after his wife's death, is the best known...
...The philosophy is a liberal, not radical, one, with the goal of achieving changes in society through education and legal reform...
...Sisterhood Is Powerful represents the more radical wing of the Women's Liberation Movement...
...Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement...
...The weakest parts of the book are the psychological and historical essays...
...Sisterhood Is Powerful represents the more radical wing of the Women's Liberation Movement...
...a half-dozen or so women meet to share problems and confide in each other...
...Despite Unitarian traditions associating the abolition of slavery with the women's suffrage movement, both led by prominent Unitarian men and women, Unitarian-Universalist women of today were at first unwilling to devote themselves to a problem which seemed to lack the urgency of other issues, such as war and poverty...
...The leaders believe that each individual woman, ignored by her man, fearful of competition with other women, hides her own feelings within herself, believing her own plight unique and due to her failures, not to the injustices of male-dominated society...
...Voices of the New Feminism, sponsored by the UUWF, is a useful handbook for study groups and individuals seeking background information on specific matters concerning women...
...Robin Morgan refers to the "blessedly uneven quality" of the writing in her anthology and perhaps here is part of the fascinaonly case in which to rebel against established rules is still looked upon with the same eyes as was formerly a subject's claim to the right of rebelling against his king...
...not a position apart, a sort of sentimental priesthood...
...The leaders believe that each individual woman, ignored by her man, fearful of competition with other women, hides her own feelings within herself, believing her own plight unique and due to her failures, not to the injustices of male-dominated society...
...Voices of the New Feminism has given us a compilation that is inoffensive and hardly startling...
...Reviewed by Elsa Pendleton TVTomen's Lib has now replaced fry-™ ing eggs on the sidewalk as a sure source of amusement and free publicity...
...his concept of "equality" would be curiously limited...
...They comment: "The case of women is now the only case in which to rebel against established rules is still looked upon with the same eyes as was formerly a subject's claim to the right of rebelling against his king...
...The anguish and anger of many women are reflected in the essays, poems, articles, and documents which appear in Robin Morgan's anthology, stay with it The PROGRESSIVE Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Sisterhood Is Powerful...
...But we are forced to realize that although he admitted women to equality with men, he was limited by his own experience and spoke only to people of his own class...
...The self-conscious effort to do Good Things has removed some of the spontaneity from involvement in women's rights...
...5.95...
...The personal histories are revealing and poignant, often highlighting cases of injustice which are common to us all, but which we have not understood as such...
...The Mills examine the nature of woman, her role throughout history, her place in the family, the marriage and divorce laws, and so on...
...a half-dozen or so women meet to share problems and confide in each other...
...One of the major elements of the current Women's Liberation Movement, which makes it both appealing and irritating, is the emphasis on first-person testimony...
...Emotional, at times petulant, but consistently and painfully honest, the contributions reveal the deep distress of the "fifty-one per cent minority group...
...The self-conscious effort to do Good Things has removed some of the spontaneity from involvement in women's rights...
...The participants include Betty Friedan, founder of NOW, the National Organization of Women (generally considered the most "respectable" of the women's rights groups), and Congresswom-en Martha Griffiths and Shirley Chisholm...
...yes" to his arguments, and admiring the pungency of his illustrations...
...He was bigoted with respect to class divisions, hopelessly parochial regarding the superiority of British culture over the rest of the world...
...With the exception of a few, such as "You've Come A Long Way, Baby" and "The Grand Coolie Damn," they have an overbearing attitude and turgid vocabulary...
...But we are forced to realize that although he admitted women to equality with men, he was limited by his own experience and spoke only to people of his own class...
...The weakest parts of the book are the psychological and historical essays...
...Voices of the New Feminism, sponsored by the UUWF, is a useful handbook for study groups and individuals seeking background information on specific matters concerning women...
...The personal histories are revealing and poignant, often highlighting cases of injustice which are common to us all, but which we have not understood as such...
...Taken together, the three essays show the continual development of the philosophy in favor of equality for women...
...yes" to his arguments, and admiring the pungency of his illustrations...
...Robin Morgan refers to the "blessedly uneven quality" of the writing in her anthology and perhaps here is part of the fascination of Women's Lib—as a Movement, it has not yet solidified...
...The history of the suffrage movement has taught us the necessity for developing new techniques of leadership...
...For several years, the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation has been studying the situation of women throughout the world...
...The situation does not improve after reading the Morgan anthology...
Vol. 35 • January 1971 • No. 1
