What Women Want: An Agenda for the Women’s Movement

Stanford law professor Rhode (Justice and Gender) takes a weary, frustrated look at the current state of the American women’s movement. She sees it as “stalled,” burdened by a “demonization of activists” that makes taking on the label of feminist unappealing, and suffering the effects of complacency and the “no problem problem,” an erroneous attitude that remaining concerns about women’s rights are minor. Taking third-wave feminists to task for not having “a distinctive set of political objectives,” she offers a political agenda based in 1970s activist sensibilities, but addressing today’s issues. Rhode compiles research from a wide variety of sources to address key issues for women, including employment, work and family, sex and marriage, reproductive justice, sexual abuse, and appearance. For each, she presents clear agenda items for how legal remedies and improved corporate or government policies could foster progress. Rhode’s ideas are well-articulated, specific, and reasonable. However, while there’s forward movement to be made, it’s a hard sell to ask women to look backward in order to get there. (Sept.)