Manifesta: feminism's goals

Manifesta

Young women today live by feminism's goals. Yet feminism itself is undeniably at a crossroads. Girl power feminists appear to be obsessed with personal empowerment at the expense of politics, while political institutions such as Ms. and now are so battle weary they've lost their ability to speak to a new generation.
In Manifesta, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards examine the snags in the movement - from the dissolution of Riot Grrrls into the likes of the Spice Girls, to older women's hawking of young girls' imperiled self-esteem, to the hyped hatred of feminist thorns like Katie Roiphe - and prove that these snags have not, in fact, torn feminism asunder.
In contrast, they show the vibrance with which the movement has evolved, detail important political goals that still need to be achieved, and spell out what a world with true equality would look like.
With its spirited and assured mix of history, politics, and popular culture, as well as extensive activist resources, Manifesta is a book every young woman should own.
Jennifer Baumgardner is a former editor at Ms. and writes for The Nation, Jane, Nerve, and Out. Amy Richards is a contributing editor at Ms. and co-founder of the Third Wave Foundation, an activist group for young feminists.
Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
ISBN: 0374526222

Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit is a collection of fascinating, largely untold stories of ordinary men and women who took extraordinary measures, risking life and limb to be together. Its the story of couples who faced mobs, bloodhounds, bounty hunters, and bullets to defy the system that allowed slave masters to breed and sell people like cattle. Some broke the taboo against interracial marriage, putting their lives in the most severe peril.
In one remarkable story, a Georgia couple who fled slavery wearing multiple disguises sailed for England with bounty hunters and federal troops on their trail. A fugitive slave from Virginia spent seventeen arduous years searching for his wife. A Missouri slave fell in love with his white Mormon neighbor and escaped to Canada to be with her, putting pepper in his shoes to throw dogs off the scent at night and hiding in trees by day.
Betty DeRamus gleaned these amazing stories from descendants of runaway slave couples, unpublished memoirs, Civil War records, books, magazines, and dozens of previously untapped sources.
Beautifully and compassionately written, this important book reveals a chapter of American history that is shameful but is about triumph as well as torture, achievement as well as degradation, and indomitable love as well as hate.
Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad by Betty De Ramus
ISBN: 0743482638

Women Art

This acclaimed study challenges the assumption that great women artists are exceptions to the rule who transcended their sex to produce major works of art. While acknowledging the many women whose contributions to visual culture since the Middle Ages have often been neglected, Whitney Chadwick's survey amounts to much more than an alternative canon of women artists: it re-examines the works themselves and the ways in which they have been perceived as marginal, often in direct reference to gender. In her discussion of feminism and its influence on such a reappraisal, the author also addresses the closely related issues of ethnicity, class, and sexuality.
This expanded edition is brought up to date in the light of the most recent developments in contemporary art. A new chapter considers globalization in the visual arts and the complex issues it raises, focusing on the many major international exhibitions since 1990 that have become an important arena for women artists from around the world.
Women, Art, and Society by Whitney Chadwick
ISBN: 0500203547

We Are Our Mothers' Daughters

In this best-selling collection of essays, renowned news correspondent Cokie Roberts examines the nature of women's roles, from mother to mechanic, sister to soldier, through the illuminating lens of her personal experience. Each essay introduces us to several of the fascinating women Roberts has encountered during the course of her reporting career.
Cokie Roberts also relates moving anecdotes about the women in her life, like her mother, former congress-woman Lindy Boggs. These intimate portraits of women become the springboard for more extensive discussions of women's issues, such as women's positions in politics, business, motherhood, and marriage. We Are Our Mothers' Daughters by Cokie Roberts
ISBN: 0688169678