The New Victorians

March 1, 1999
Distressed that women of her generation tend to dissociate themselves from the feminist movement, 27-year-old Denfeld asserts that older feminists themselves are to blame for this state of affairs. By adopting what she calls repressive sexual politics and a victim mentality that harken back to Victorian notions of femininity, today's feminist leaders, argues Denfeld, alienate younger women who perceive themselves to be more liberated and more empowered than current feminist dogma allows. Denfeld may have a point about the generation gap she identifies, but her tone is so unremittingly spiteful that it's hard to believe her claim that she wants to rescue the movement through constructive critique. Her analysis of the work of Catharine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin-her two chief bogeywomen-is grossly reductive, and her ``Victorian'' analogy is clumsily handled and largely irrelevant. If Denfeld is right that feminism is in a state of crisis, her carping is unlikely to improve the movement's health. Author tour.

November 1, 1994
This critique of traditional feminism comes at the right time, given the recent success-in terms of book sales-of "new" feminists Camille Paglia (Sex, Art, and American Culture, LJ 10/1/92) and Kate Roiphe (The Morning After, LJ 9/15/93).

March 1, 1995
Just how is feminism currently defined and what is its meaning to the women--especially younger women--of today? Denfeld challenges the often disturbing and generally extremist nature of contemporary feminism by examining many issues being batted about by leading theorists. Key themes are debated; these include the antipornography activists' attacks on feminists who are against censorship in any form, the relevance of goddess worship, the trend in current dogma to condemn women's strides toward sexual liberation, and the tendency to inflate statistics that perpetrate a view of nearly all women as being victimized by men. Denfeld is neither conservative nor reactionary. Her observations are clear-sighted appraisals of how the movement alienates the great majority of women. She concludes with a treatise on reclaiming feminism, setting forth ideas on working toward meaningful change in such areas as child care, abortion rights, and sexual violence. ((Reviewed Mar. 1, 1995))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1995, American Library Association.)