What Are We Fighting For?

by Russ, Joanna

• ISBN13: 9780312151980
• ISBN10: 0312151985
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-03-01
• Publisher: St Martins Pr

Summary

In What Are We Fighting For? Joanna Russ argues strongly against the shift in contemporary feminist theory - from the direct political struggle of the 1960s and '70s to a depoliticized focus on women's psychology and personal relations. Irreverent and rich with insight, this book connects the feminist movement to struggles for racial and class equality as it traces the highlights and low points of feminist thinking in the past twenty-five years on a range of issues: the parallels between the current state of feminism and the setbacks in American and English feminism after World War I; why feminism must accept the leadership of women of color; and the necessity of socialist and feminist theory, despite traditional clashes between feminists and the Left. What Are We Fighting For? will help feminists and their allies connect the issues, build coalitions, and revive the movement's radical spirit.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xiii	(4)
Acknowledgments	xvii
1. ADVANCING BACKWARD	1	(17)
2. WHO'S ON FIRST, WHAT'S ON SECOND, AND I DON'T KNOW'S ON THIRD: FREUD TO DINNERSTEIN TO CHODOROW TO EVERYBODY	18	(30)
3. MOMMY, WHERE DO BABY THEORIES COME FROM?	48	(36)
4. FOR WOMEN ONLY: OR, WHAT IS THAT MAN DOING UNDER MY SEAT?	84	(20)
5. SHE WASN'T, SHE ISN'T, SHE DIDN'T, SHE DOESN'T, AND WHY DO YOU KEEP ON BRINGING IT UP?	104	(22)
6. I THEE WED, SO WATCH IT: THE WOMAN JOB	126	(28)
7. WHY WE WOMEN, SLOPPY CREATURES THAT WE ARE, CAN NEVER FIND ANYTHING IN OUR POCKETBOOKS	154	(30)
8. SEEING RED: MY LIFE IS HARDER BECAUSE YOURS IS EASIER	184	(27)
9. "A SOCIALIST FEMINIST IS A WOMAN WHO GOES TO TWICE AS MANY MEETINGS"	211	(25)
10. IS LABOR LABOR?	236	(29)
11. LOOKING BACKWARD (AND FORWARD?)	265	(27)
12. "THERE IS A VILLAGE / OVER / THAT HILL"	292	(25)
13. "O.K., MOMMA, WHO THE HELL AM I?"	317	(19)
14. "COALITION WORK IS NOT DONE IN YOUR HOME"	336	(30)
15. SO	366	(15)
LEFTOVERS	381	(58)
1. THE DAILY CORRUPTION OF THESE SWEET SMALL BOYS	381	(30)
2. SCALING THE OFFICE BUILDING	411	(9)
3. HOME THOUGHTS FROM A (WHOLE LOT OF) BROAD(S)	420	(9)
4. COMPARING NOTES	429	(10)
Bibliography	439	(20)
Index	459