This volume collects many of the major essays of feminist theory of the past 40 years-works which have made key contributors to feminist thought.

Scholars of second-wave feminism often center their research on northern thought and political activity and usually overlook the vibrant pockets of activism that existed elsewhere. In Remapping Second-Wave Feminism, Janet Allured attempts to reshape the national narrative by focusing on the grassroots women’s movement in the South, particularly in Louisiana. This book delves into unexplored origins of the feminist movement. While acknowledging the ways that the fight for African American civil rights produced the women’s liberation movement in the South—and subsequently in the North—Allured also locates other wellsprings of the movement that were particularly important to southern change-seekers, especially preexisting women’s organizations such as the League of Women Voters and the YWCA. Also, for many southern feminists, being part of a faith tradition that emphasized social justice reform is what ultimately propelled them into working for gender equality. Allured highlights key figures in Louisiana; divisions based on regional, sexual, and ideological differences; access to abortion; lawsuits that had national implications that emanated from southern women; and the fight against sexual assault and domestic violence. Through detailed archival and oral history research, she has forged a new path, making this a foundational work for the field. Remapping Second-Wave Feminism will amend how we reflexively view feminism as a northern phenomenon, giving proper due to the southern contribution.

This book chronicles the influence of second wave feminism on everything from electoral politics to LGBTQ rights. The original descriptions of second wave feminism focused on elite, white voices, obscuring the accomplishments of many activists, as third wave feminists rightly criticized. Those limited narratives also prematurely marked the end of the movement, imposing an imaginary timeline on what is a continuous struggle for women’s rights. Within the chapters of this volume, scholars provide a more complex description of second wave feminism, in which the sustained efforts of women from many races, classes, sexual orientations, and religious traditions, in the fight for equality have had a long-term impact on American politics. These authors argue that even the “Second Wave” metaphor is incomplete, and should be replaced by a broader, more-inclusive metaphor that accurately depicts the overlapping and extended battle waged by women activists. With the gift of hindsight and the awareness of the limitations of and backlash to this “Second Wave,” the time is right to reflect on the feminist cause in America and to chart its path forward.

When Betty Friedan produced The Feminine Mystique in 1963, she could not have realized how the discovery and debate of her contemporaries' general malaise would shake up society. Victims of a false belief system, these women were following strict social convention by loyally conforming to the pretty image of the magazines, and found themselves forced to seek meaning in their lives only through a family and a home. Friedan's controversial book about these women - and every woman - would ultimately set Second Wave feminism in motion and begin the battle for equality. This groundbreaking and life-changing work remains just as powerful, important and true as it was forty-five years ago, and is essential reading both as a historical document and as a study of women living in a man's world. 'One of the most influential nonfiction books of the twentieth century.' New York Times 'Feminism ...... began with the work of a single person: Friedan.' Nicholas Lemann With a new Introduction by Lionel Shriver

How racial and class differences influenced the modern women's movement

This book chronicles the influence of second wave feminism on everything from electoral politics to LGBTQ rights. The original descriptions of second wave feminism focused on elite, white voices, obscuring the accomplishments of many activists, as third wave feminists rightly criticized. Those limited narratives also prematurely marked the end of the movement, imposing an imaginary timeline on what is a continuous struggle for women's rights. Within the chapters of this volume, scholars provide a more complex description of second wave feminism, in which the sustained efforts of women from many races, classes, sexual orientations, and religious traditions, in the fight for equality have had a long-term impact on American politics. These authors argue that even the "Second Wave" metaphor is incomplete, and should be replaced by a broader, more-inclusive metaphor that accurately depicts the overlapping and extended battle waged by women activists. With the gift of hindsight and the awareness of the limitations of and backlash to this "Second Wave," the time is right to reflect on the feminist cause in America and to chart its path forward.