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Aug
22
Book Review: TRUE CONFESSIONS edited by Susan Gubar
2011 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
Published August 2011 by W.W. Norton
Volumes have been written–and careers built–on investigating the origins of feminism, but what of the origins of feminists?
What experiences inspire and define feminist thinkers, and what are the professional consequences of introducing feminism into academic inquiry? In True Confessions, groundbreaking academic feminist Susan Gubar presents essays in which more than two dozen pioneers in the field of women’s studies, all of whom represent important “firsts,” discuss the personal experiences that ground their theories and the professional repercussions of their feminist identities.
Nancy K. Miller and Jane Marcus identify ties between their oppressive fathers and their struggles against patriarchy, but Tania Modleski and Shirley Geok-lin Lim cite their mothers’ behavior as the impetus for their pursuit of feminist sisterhood. In a piece that opens, “When my mother found God, all hell broke loose,” Dyan Elliott lays the groundwork for an exploration of the complex relationship between feminism and religion, a recurring theme that results in unexpected and fascinating lines of study across many disciplines of the humanities.
The intersection of race, class and gender looms as large in these pieces as it does in any Women’s Studies curriculum. Among the many contributors who address sexual harassment in academia are Martha C. Nussbaum, who recalls crashing the gates of an all-male philosophy department, and Ann Douglas, whose male colleagues frequently interpreted her enthusiasm for their shared studies as sexual interest in them. Jane Gallop presents the other side of the issue, asking what it means–and if it is even possible–to be a feminist accused of sexual harassment.
Frances Smith Foster and Tey Diana Rebolledo reflect on the tension that exists between one’s feminist identity and one’s racial identity, and the pressure felt from all sides to prioritize one over the other. Lillian Faderman explores the links between feminism and lesbianism, and Nancy Chodorow synthesizes her remarkable career in feminist-oriented psychoanalysis into a single, stunning essay.
Women we recognize as intellectual giants who changed history appear in these pages simply as women, with remarkable stories of the personal liberations, sexual awakenings and professional challenges that changed them. True Confessions is a revelation. A must-read for feminists budding and seasoned alike, it is a master class in the origins and evolution of women’s studies and feminist activism. Gubar and company establish that the personal is still political and firmly suggest that if we think feminism’s work is done, we must think again.
Review originally published in Shelf Awareness.
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- Book Review: My Little Red Book edited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff
- Book Review—Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation by Elissa Stein and Susan Kim
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Sounds like a very interesting book. women’s power is so strong, we just need to remember how to use it
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Nice book, woman power is infinite but only when she knows it and as Anna said here, you just need to remember how to use it.
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I couldn’t agree more with your statement “appear in these pages simply as women, with remarkable stories of the personal liberations”. I think all great changes happen because a person feel that something is missing in order him to achieve his / hers wishes
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I feel this is an important topic. Only I wonder what is its use? In the begiinning God created male and female. They are a unit. Women are not seperate. Women’s studies is a useless major. What can a person do with it?.
Yet, books like this one are necessary because of the inequity in the sexual area.
The women whose essays fill this collection are demonstrations of what a person can do with a women’s studies degree. They work to raise awareness and teach the next generation of women who will continue the work to achieve gender equity. Would you also consider African American Studies a useless area of study?