THE NEW FEMINISM
Ciabattari, Jane
THE NEW FEMINISM rebirth of feminism, by Judith Hole and Ellen Levine. Quadrangle. ¦ 488 pp. $10. reviewed by Jane Ciabattari According to radical feminists, sexism (sex-role...
...From their evidence and exposition, it is clear that the possibility of unprecedented fundamental change does exist...
...The former, including organizations such as the National Organization for Women (NOW), focus on legislative, economic, and educational reforms and most often work through traditional political and legal channels...
...Rebirth of Feminism is a thorough, unrhetorical history of the first decade of the growing movement to eliminate sexism in this country...
...The bulk of the book is divided into three sections: the origins and development of the new women's movement (including histories of dozens of groups...
...the creation of a feminist media and women's studies courses...
...In a brief introduction to the earlier feminist movement in the United States, the authors argue that suffrage was "only one element in the wide-ranging feminist critique questioning the fundamental organization of society...
...The authors define the women's movement as "the entire spectrum of women's groups from moderate to radical," encompassing such diverse groups as Bread and Roses, a Boston socialist group, and the National Coalition of American Nuns...
...women constitute a political class, and one-half the world's population (men) oppress the other half (women) economically, politically, and psychologically...
...They distinguish between women's rights and women's liberation organizations...
...They conclude that the women's movement could "potentially change society more profoundly than any other movement for social change...
...Hole and Levine claim the women's movement is unique in that it redefines the meaning of politics, bringing into question issues (marriage, motherhood, and sexual behavior) never before considered political...
...Written by two feminists, Judith Hole of CBS News and Ellen Levine, an editor of Notes from the Third Year, a women's liberation annual, the book details the growing pains and accomplishments of the new feminism...
...Even so, attempts at coalition, urged frequently by NOW, have rarely been successful (an exception was the temporary national coalition engineered by NOW for Women's Strike Day in August, 1970...
...Other targets include the image of women portrayed in the media, in Christian ideology, and in textbooks...
...reviewed by Jane Ciabattari According to radical feminists, sexism (sex-role stereotyping) underlies all existing institutions and ideologies...
...It is evident from their discussion of the politico-feminist split that the authors side with theorists who fear the "politicos" will frighten away moderate and conservative women and threaten the expansion of the movement...
...The liberation groups, which originated in the student activism of the 1960s, emphasize attitudinal changes, collective action, the abolition of internal hierarchical structures, and consciousness-raising, through street theater, speakouts on abortion and rape, and "zap" actions against institutions of female oppression...
...Ciabattari is a free lance writer...
...once the vote was gained, the feminist movement faded into ineffectual "respectability...
...Ms...
...The more radical and controversial issues, such as marriage and religion, were abandoned under pressure from abolitionists and conservative women's groups...
...expositions of the feminist refutations of traditionally accepted views on marriage, motherhood, sex, housework, chivalry, and other areas of social life...
...and summaries of women's group activities in six prime areas...
...Hole and Levine date the beginnings of the resurgence of feminism to 1961, when President Kennedy's formation of the President's Commission on the Status of Women brought to light the "woman's question" submerged for forty years...
...This last section illustrates how the groups function and defines their targets and goals...
...In discussing the development of the women's liberation movement, Hole and Levine explore the split between feminists who believe women's problems are subsidiary to a socialist revolution ("politicos") and those who believe sexism underlies all social and political systems and believe feminism a revolutionary force in its own right ("feminists...
...The most immediate goals are repeal of abortion laws, free child care, and equal pay for equal work...
...Some of the more radical younger women, true to their New Left origins, regard NOW as "part of the capitalist establishment attempting to gain privileges only for middle-class white women...
...While separating the two branches of the movement, they emphasize the importance of cross-fertilization: "Much of the philosophical analysis of radical feminist groups has provided the ideological framework in which moderate feminist action has been undertaken...
...Perhaps they should have added there is a danger that, if the women's rights organizations overpower the more radical branch, this movement may fade out like its predecessor...
...The authors sketch the internal problems the movement must overcome but make no specific projections or suggestions...
...The attempted takeovers of the New York Women's Center and a Boston feminist journal by women in the Socialist Workers Party and the Young Socialist Alliance are perhaps the most dramatic instances of a conflict which has been present in the radical branch of the movement since its beginnings...
...ordination for women and upgrading the status and salaries of women...
Vol. 36 • May 1972 • No. 5
