This page last updated on April 24, 2001.  The most recently posted reviews are:

Manifesta, by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, by Susan Faludi
Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, by bell hooks
The War Against Women, by Marilyn French

The book reviews included here are from members of the 2001 Applied Anthropology class.  For each reading there were usually several reviewers, but we have typically posted only one of the written reviews submitted to the class.  Presence in the list is not necessarily an endorsement of the content. You will find a mix of perspectives, and reviews representative of the class reaction to each work.   The complete list of readings was organized around eight questions about gender consciousness.  Follow the links provided for each question to jump to specific issues:

NOTE:  The reviews are being posted a few at a time over the summer of 2001, so please revisit our review page if a particular work is not available now.  The revision notice at the top of the page will indicate new material as it is added.

Susan Faludi, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women(Anchor, 1992).  Susan Faludi reports on the "undeclared war against women" that took place throughout the 1980's.  The backlash she identifies is manifest in the media and literature of the time period, which portray feminism negatively and blame feminism for problems that women face in patriarchal society.  She explores the evidence for men's psychological dependency on women, misconceptions about female aging and infertility, exaggerations of female anxiety, and misinformation about day care in our culture.  Faludi provides some historical background for periodic resistance to acquisition of power by women, expressed especially through limitations on women's fair access to public institutions.  She also explores media representations of women which limit perceptions of women's abilities and contributions to society.  Finally, she explicitly identifies and theoretically explains the motivations of  the "New Right" leaders who have successfully attacked women in ways comparable to the reactionary movements against Blacks by the KKK or the anti-communist campaigns of the 1950s.  The impact of backlash, he points out, is the misconception that working conditions and opportunities for women are greatly improving when, in fact, women are encountering continuing discrimination and even some reversals.

Marilyn French, The War Against Women (Ballentine, 1993). Marilyn French's history of discrimination against women documents how patriarchy has transformed more balanced, if not primarily matriarchal culture into a global system which suppresses women, controls their bodies, and justifies violence and abuse as natural male tendencies.  She cites the central role patriarchal religion takes in subordinating women within Western culture.  She also shows how the themes of this subordination are worked through the arts, militarist culture, and economic practices.  French's work suggests that the conditions limiting women will not change until men take responsibility for their actions, and the ideologies used to justify inequity.  She also points out instances around the world where women are coming together to resist oppression and change the laws and practices that are arrayed against them.  This book was recommended by all of the readers who reviewed it.

Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2000).  This vibrant page-turner offers a history of the women's movement, starting with the suffragists and continuing through the current 'Third Wave' of feminism.  Focusing on America, the book describes the current plight of the women's movement, discussing the backlash of the Reagan/Bush years, the failure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, and the current lack of cohesion among modern feminists.  The book offers keen insights into the stigma attached to the term 'feminist' through bold a but open-minded critique of critical language, strong assessments of current modes of sexuality, and a very clear understanding of the importance of 'life-cycle' issues.  The book also addresses the means of activism from consciousness raising and rallies to quiet discussions, techniques of direct confrontation, and direct work to change institutions. Manifesta is a valuable resource for anyone interested in feminism or any other form of activism.  The work is especially successful at connecting all the disparate voices that make up the modern women's movement; if the authors do not finding a 'theoretical whole' for feminism, then they at least establishing the groundwork for seeing many essential commonalities of purpose and direction.  Most important, Baumgardner and Richards pull in the controversial writers alongside the more conventionally accepted feminist voices, reminding young women to be proud they are women, appreciating women's strengths and the brave efforts that have provided the practical opportunities of our time. This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand how the women's movement is changing today.

bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics (South End Press, 2000).  "Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are--to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace.  Feminism is for everybody."   These brief sentiments remind us that feminism is a critical movement which benefits everyone because it sees clearly the inequities and impediments to personal growth.  bell hooks, feminist theorist, educator, author, and cultural critic, explains she too grew up in a patriarchal household where, as a teen, she began to rebel against the strongest patriarchal voice in her life--that of her mother.   She is emphatic and unapologetic in her assertion that "reform feminism," coopted by white women of privilege for the advancement of only their socioeconomic status, has left lower-class women and women of color marginalized.  This, she contends, was not the original direction of the grassroots feminist movement, which included all class struggle.  hooks reminds us that authentic feminist politics are radical.  She points out the inconsistencies of having a privileged "feminist elite" which attempts to work "within the existing patriarchy" and which sometimes contributes to the subordination and exploitation of underpaid and underemployed working women.  This book may make some readers uncomfortable, but hooks ends with visions of hope, action, and justice.  It is essential reading for anyone who wants to really change this society in positive ways.