Sisterhood Is Powerful
Registered by ACTIVcafe on 3/8/2004
2 journalers for this copy...
Danke fuer dass Buch, ich bin gespannt.
This collection of writings from the women's liberation movement was recommended by Mary Daly in Gyn/Ecology as one of the five best books on women's emancipation. Indeed, I found it very interesting, but I haven't read enough contemporary books to be able to say if that is still a valid judgment. Some of it is dated, but most of that is still interesting today to get an idea of what was happening in 1970, what has been achieved, and what still needs to change. I have been reading this since I got it half a year ago, and it is a good book to read in bits and pieces, I think, because the contributions are all very different, and there is a lot to reflect on, and I think that reading it all in one go could be too demanding, and also depressing at times.
Originally, it was to be called 'The hand that cradles the rock'.
Often in books, it's the small things that impress me most: "This book [...] includes [...] a complete list of every woman-positive health center in the country". The country is the USA, and there is nothing to suggest that this book is a multi-volume encyclopedia.
What I disliked most about it is that several authors note that men who are trying to organize other kinds of emancipation (notably blacks and communists), and who are potential allies in women's liberation, often are not, but where on other issues there are both inspiring and depressing contributions, on this issue there is only one inspiring one (dealing with communist China, so from today's perspective that one doesn't count), which is odd, because we are talking about the other half of the population here. I think the ecovillage movement, which I am also very interested in, is more inclusive, with attention being paid to cross-generational, rich-poor, gender and IQ emancipation. Maybe I am wrong, but my impression is that this is not primarily due to the 35 years between the publication of this book and the present-day ecological movement.
In a few contributions there is a lot of jargon, and this sometimes made it difficult to follow for me.
"If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it." Mao Tse-tung
'television [...] is known for its reduction to the "lowest common denominator". This phrase has been misunderstood and an inferiority complex has settled onto the unconsulted mass. It does not mean that some kind of assessment is made of the mass mentality and that show are geared to the worst of it. "The lowest common denominator" refers to the effort of the broadcaster. The least the broadcaster can do and still reach a mass audience is what is screened.'
"You can't possibly compare the sanctity of a human's life with that of a butterfly. In our culture, you can and indeed must quantify sanctity, and butterflies have less than people. We have opposable thumbs, hello."
Originally, it was to be called 'The hand that cradles the rock'.
Often in books, it's the small things that impress me most: "This book [...] includes [...] a complete list of every woman-positive health center in the country". The country is the USA, and there is nothing to suggest that this book is a multi-volume encyclopedia.
What I disliked most about it is that several authors note that men who are trying to organize other kinds of emancipation (notably blacks and communists), and who are potential allies in women's liberation, often are not, but where on other issues there are both inspiring and depressing contributions, on this issue there is only one inspiring one (dealing with communist China, so from today's perspective that one doesn't count), which is odd, because we are talking about the other half of the population here. I think the ecovillage movement, which I am also very interested in, is more inclusive, with attention being paid to cross-generational, rich-poor, gender and IQ emancipation. Maybe I am wrong, but my impression is that this is not primarily due to the 35 years between the publication of this book and the present-day ecological movement.
In a few contributions there is a lot of jargon, and this sometimes made it difficult to follow for me.
"If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it." Mao Tse-tung
'television [...] is known for its reduction to the "lowest common denominator". This phrase has been misunderstood and an inferiority complex has settled onto the unconsulted mass. It does not mean that some kind of assessment is made of the mass mentality and that show are geared to the worst of it. "The lowest common denominator" refers to the effort of the broadcaster. The least the broadcaster can do and still reach a mass audience is what is screened.'
"You can't possibly compare the sanctity of a human's life with that of a butterfly. In our culture, you can and indeed must quantify sanctity, and butterflies have less than people. We have opposable thumbs, hello."