Dear Sisters: Dispatches From the Women's Liberation Movement [Paperback]

Although the title and subtitle of this outstanding collection pretty much say it all, readers will be delighted to have these leaflets, essays, op-ed pieces, cartoons ("Wonder Woman with a Speculum" is especially fetching), and other essential and/or ephemeral documents of the women's liberation movement, dating from about 1968-1977. Much of the work collected and commented on here was collaborative or anonymous (almost all of it has been preserved by chance), and it has also been substantially abridged to make room for as much material as possible. Nevertheless, it supports a vivid picture of the hope, defiance, and giddy enthusiasm that characterized the women's movement in those years. The section on women's health--in which feminists have made such enormous strides--is especially cheering. --Regina Marler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Middle-aged feminists will greet with delight this wide-ranging compilation of original documents from 1968 to 1977, the days of "maximum grassroots participation in the women's movement." Two distinguished historians have gathered these articles, leaflets, position papers, drawings, and cartoons to record the thinking of myriad feminist groups overlooked by historians because of the difficulty in locating documents often written collectively or anonymously and circulated by samizdat. (Originals are now in the New York University library, available to the public.) The authors introduce the collection with an essay placing the movement in historical perspective, and each entry has its own brief introductory annotation. The documentsDmost have been abridgedDare arranged in broad topical areas, and the diversity of perspectives is admirable. Although there is some overlap with Radical Feminism: A Documentary Reader, edited by Barbara Crow (New York Univ., 2000), Crow's focus on longer theoretical pieces will serve a scholarly audience, while Baxandall and Gordon's work will attract a larger public readership. Most libraries will want this volume.DCynthia Harrison, George Washington Univ., Washington, DC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Baxandall and Gordon coedited America's Working Women (1995); here, they provide a documentary history of second-wave feminism from the mid-'60s to the late '70s. Their collection is notably inclusive, pulling together song lyrics and cartoons as well as manifestos and theory. Part 1, "Origins," collects items from the movement's early days, reflections on the New Left, documents on the new organizational forms the movement developed, and initial efforts to forge feminist theory. Part 2, "Bodies," covers women's health initiatives, reproductive rights, sexuality, and the related issues of objectification, harassment, and violence. Part 3, "Institutions," describes the movement's evolving attitudes toward family, education, work, and culture. Contributors include familiar names and obscure ones, as well as the many groups, from the Redstockings to Gainesville Women's Liberation, that contributed to the national conversation about the meaning of liberation. The editors contribute an introduction that traces the multiple misunderstandings (willful and otherwise) of feminism, outlines the political roots of women's lib, offers an overview of the movement's history, and outlines what it accomplished. Eclectic and valuable. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"A fascinating and important chronicle of the women's liberation movement." -- Marie Claire magazine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.