Women’s Liberation!: Feminist Writings that Inspired a Revolution and Still Can

Novelist Shulman (Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen) and memoirist Moore (Our Revolution) highlight the diversity and radicalism of second-wave feminism in this sweeping anthology. Arranged chronologically from Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) to Susan Faludi’s Backlash (1991), the selections track the evolution of the movement from ending legal discrimination against women, through exposing “deep-rooted attitudes of sexism and misogyny,” to defending against “escalating right-wing attacks” and addressing internal divisions over pornography, sexuality, race, and class. Milestone works such as Kate Millett’s Sexual Politics and Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will get their due, but the anthology’s greatest strength is its elevation of lesser-known activists and groups. Organizers of the Combahee River Collective analyze “interlocking” systems of oppression in “A Black Feminist Statement”; Lin Farley, a human affairs director at Cornell University in the 1970s, offers one of the first guides to fighting sexual harassment in the workplace; and Z. Budapest, founder of Dianic Wicca, describes resistance to the “Goddess religion” within the pagan community and the feminist movement. Each excerpt is succinctly introduced and contextualized, and controversies (such as the “sex wars” of the 1970s and ’80s) are highlighted rather than ignored. The result is both a comprehensive introduction to the movement and a persuasive defense of its revolutionary nature. (Feb.)