Scan barcode
Reviews
The Feminist Memoir Project: Voices from Women's Liberation by Ann Snitow, Rachel Blau DuPlessis
morgandhu's review
5.0
My early reaction to reading this was: "Reading this is difficult. Remembering how it was it be a female person in the 60s, how much there was to overcome, thinking of how long we have struggled, realising how much remains the same even while seeing how much has changed."
Now that I've finished, that feeling remains, but is joined by many other thoughts and feelings. Of course, because this is a collection of memories and observations about the Women's Movement in the US, much of what is recollected here is, to me, about second-hand memories. I remember reading and talking about the events these women remember being a part of, but the movement in Canada evolved differently, despite the infusion of ideas and inspiration from what was happening to the south of us. The starting points were similar, but the paths diverged and there are significant differences in what was achieved. I long to see a similar book produced that collects the experiences and thoughts of the early participants in the Canadian movement.
Nonetheless, reading this book brings back all the moments of realisation, all the nights of consciousness-raising and analysis, all the hours of reading, all the work of building a functional women's centre, of spreading ideas, of talking, talking, talking to other women, all the joy of growing liberation.
What also emerges from all these accounts, and from the various response papers solicited by the editors and published at the conclusion of the book, are the themes that recurred in the lives of these pioneering women, both positive and negative.
It's an important book, to help us remember where we've comes from, and also to see where we still need to go.
Now that I've finished, that feeling remains, but is joined by many other thoughts and feelings. Of course, because this is a collection of memories and observations about the Women's Movement in the US, much of what is recollected here is, to me, about second-hand memories. I remember reading and talking about the events these women remember being a part of, but the movement in Canada evolved differently, despite the infusion of ideas and inspiration from what was happening to the south of us. The starting points were similar, but the paths diverged and there are significant differences in what was achieved. I long to see a similar book produced that collects the experiences and thoughts of the early participants in the Canadian movement.
Nonetheless, reading this book brings back all the moments of realisation, all the nights of consciousness-raising and analysis, all the hours of reading, all the work of building a functional women's centre, of spreading ideas, of talking, talking, talking to other women, all the joy of growing liberation.
What also emerges from all these accounts, and from the various response papers solicited by the editors and published at the conclusion of the book, are the themes that recurred in the lives of these pioneering women, both positive and negative.
It's an important book, to help us remember where we've comes from, and also to see where we still need to go.
More...