The Feminist Promise
1792 to the Present
Two centuries of feminism, and how it pushed liberalism toward rights in the most private areas of life.
Stansell tells two centuries of feminism from Wollstonecraft onward, arguing that its central promise, that women are entitled to a full life of their own, has been made and broken repeatedly. She is particularly good on how the movement’s gains reshaped liberalism’s understanding of private life.
Recommended by 1 Person
Eric Foner
And she helps us understand how liberalism evolved to embrace individual rights and privacy in the most intimate areas of personal life. That came through the women’s movement. Stansell gives a very good account of how these feminist issues, on the one hand, go very deep back in American history, and, on the other hand, reached a critical mass of popular engagement during the 1960s.
Interview · September 2012
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