Feminism Unfinished

June 16, 2014
Dividing their history into three periods and covering one each, scholars Cobble, Gordon, and Henry (professors at Rutgers, NYU, and Grinnell College respectively) examine the multiple strains of American feminism. Featuring lesser-known activists, they show that the movement has always had leaders who recognized the importance of race and class in relation to women’s issues as well as the diversity of what it means to be female. Cobble takes on the post-suffrage period, Gordon tackles the “women’s liberation” of the late 1960s though the 1980s, and Henry covers the period from the 1990s through the present. The authors assert that the work of feminism is not yet finished, and that the new wave of predominantly white, Ivy League–educated, and Internet-savvy feminists must listen to the diverse voices around them. The book’s stories of the broader variety of feminist organizations offer useful perspectives for today’s feminists: you did not invent this; your mothers did not get it all wrong; you are not done; and this might still take a while. 20 illus. Agent: Charlotte Sheedy, Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency.