In this outstanding collection of essays, contributed by some of America's leading feminist writers, the current
terrain of American feminism is charted as never before. Covering a broad range of subjects and a diversity of
approaches, this volume demonstrates just how far American feminism has come in developing distinctive and sophisticated
strategies for combining theory and practice.
While many of the writers represented have made their careers within the academy, their interests are never exclusively
academic. Indeed, at the heart of this book lies a broad concern with the key social issues of our day. Thus, Catherine
MacKinnon writes on sex equality under the law, Cynthia Enloe on international politics, bell hooks on cinematic
representation of blackness, and Donna Haraway on the biopolitics of postmodern bodies.
The selection also includes important essays by Gayle Rubin, Tania Modleski, Rey Chow, Trinh Minh-ha, Sandra Harding,
Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne, Evelyn Fox Keller, Joan Wallach Scott, Linda S. Kauffman, Paula Treicher, Angela
Davis, Gloria Anzaldua and Jean Bethke Elshtain.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.
List of Contributors.
Introduction.
Part 1: Sexuality and Gender
1. Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality: Gayle S. Rubin (1984).
2. Seductive Sexualities: Representing Blackness in Poetry and on Screen: bell hooks (1990).
3. Cinema and the Dark Continent: Race and Gender in Popular Film: Tania Modleski (1991).
Part II: Theories of Difference
4. 'It's you, and not me': Domination and 'Othering' in Theorizing the 'Third World': Rey Chow? (1989).
5. The Language of Nativism: Anthropology as a Scientific Conversation of Man with Man: Trinh T. Minh-ha (1989).
6. Reinventing Ourselves as Other: More New Agents of History and Knowledge: Sandra Harding (1991).
Part III: The Status Of Science, Technology, Academic Disciplines
7. The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology: Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne (1985).
8. Making Gender Visible in Pursuit of Nature's Secrets: Evelyn Fox Keller (1991).
9. The Biopolitics of Postmodern Bodies: Donna Haraway (1989).
10. Women's History: Joan Wallach Scott (1992).
11. The Long Goodbye: Against Personal Testimony, or An Infant Grifter Grows Up: Linda S. Kauffman (1992).
Part IV: Feminist Issues, Activism, and The National Scene
12. AIDS, Gender and Biomedical Discourse: Current Contests for Meaning: Paula A. Treichler 1988.
13. Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and Reproductive Politics in the Nineties: Angela Y. Davis (1991).
14. Reflections on Sex Equality Under Law: Catherine A. MacKinnon (1991).
Part IV: American Feminism in an International Frame
15. La conciencia de la mestiza: Towards a new Consciousness: Gloria Anzaldua (1987).
16. Bananas, Beaches, and Bases: Cynthia Enloe (1989).
17. Realism, Just War and the Witness of Peace: Jean Bethke Elshtain (1990).
