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Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory

Marilyn Frye,

Diana Souza (Illustrator)

4.12 · Rating details · 355 ratings · 17 reviews

Politics of Reality includes essays that examine sexism, the exploitation of women, the gay rights movement and other topics from a feminist perspective.

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Paperback, 192 pages

Published March 1st 1983 by Crossing Press (first published 1983)

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Average rating 4.12 ·

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· 355 ratings · 17 reviews

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Jul 27, 2017 Sapphire rated it it was amazing

Shelves: feminism, lesbian, read-in-2017, favorites, non-fiction, essays, lesbian-author, race-racism, radical-feminism

This book is a must-read for anyone invested in feminism. It's the sort of book that you can read more than once, and learn something new or gain a different insight the second/third/fourth time around. The book is *so* structured, and her arguments are so succinct and well-formulated, so it's not a matter of the content being poorly explained; the content is just very, very deep. The imagery Frye uses, especially, is really profound and elegant: the bird in a wire cage as an analogy for oppress ...more

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Jan 14, 2009 AJ rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, 2009, essays, feminism, lgbtqi, lesbian

I enjoyed the essay on oppression, which set the stage for what I was hoping to be an excellent collection of feminist essays. I found the subsequent essays to be dreadfully academic, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not my idea of pleasure reading. But whatever, I skimmed through the parts I found to be less interesting and the essays were okay.

Then I got to the essay "Lesbian Feminism and the Gay Rights Movement" which is basically a giant rant about how gay men are t I enjoyed the essay on oppression, which set the stage for what I was hoping to be an excellent collection of feminist essays. I found the subsequent essays to be dreadfully academic, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not my idea of pleasure reading. But whatever, I skimmed through the parts I found to be less interesting and the essays were okay.

Then I got to the essay "Lesbian Feminism and the Gay Rights Movement" which is basically a giant rant about how gay men are the torchbearers of the patriarchy. Her points are as follows:

- Gay men love other men, other men have penises, therefore gay men are all about penis worship, and therefore are upholding the patriarchy. (She mentions naught about heterosexual women. Are they upholding the patriarchy as well if they have relationships with men?) She only briefly mention how gender-bending gay men can be, and how this may serve to break down the male/female gender binary. But mostly she states that effeminacy just serves to ridicule women. I don't even think I need to explain how problematic this idea is, that loving men hurts women, period.

- Some gay men are married to women (and may have children), which means they not only can love other men, but can still grab onto their male privilege to subjugate women in the institution of marriage. What about gay men who came of age in an area (or era) where it wasn't safe to be out and proud about homosexuality? What about gay men who wanted to have children, but weren't able to adopt due to draconian laws forbidding gays from adopting children? What about men who, still to this day, remain closeted due to (not unwarranted) fear about coming out?

- Gay men hate women. Wait, what? Marilyn Frye seriously has this as one of her bullet points. For a feminist who rails against the "feminists hate men" stereotype, she seems quite eager and willing to uphold a "gay men hate women" stereotype. I can't even fathom this as being remotely true.

After reading this essay I really lost respect for the author, and only just skimmed briefly through the last essay (a confusing one about how lesbians and women aren't part of phallocratic societies, therefore they don't exist).

I really wouldn't recommend this book to anybody, unless they had to read it for a women's studies course. In that case I'd ask them to read it with a very skeptical and questioning mind. ...more

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Apr 22, 2018 l. rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, 2018, american-lit, lesbian, lgbt, women-gender

“Oppression” is a very clear essay, and a good what is and what isn’t oppression 101.

“Some reflections on separatism and power” is amazing and necessary. Down with male parasitism!

“A note on anger” has a good insight: “Anger. Domain. Respect.”

Wasn’t sold on the rest. Some of her reflections on race are bizarre - “natives of India and Pakistan are generally counted as white in [america]”??? Also the navel gazing - “does being white make it impossible for me to be a good p ...more

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Mar 19, 2007 markey rated it really liked it

Shelves: girl-books, non-fiction

the kind of non-nonsense practical feminism that ceased to exist after the early 1980s. this book tells you what rooms of the house you an argue in if you are a woman, really. it makes wild claims about abortion politics, then argues until you wonder. it explained things about anger to me that I hadn't though of before. it's a good read.

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Jan 09, 2011 Sarah rated it it was amazing

This is a seminal work in feminist philosophy. Prepare to read each one through several times in order to get a firm understanding of what's going on.

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Oct 31, 2012 Jessica Ippolito rated it it was amazing

Impactful. Author successfully articulated many of societies social injustices that usually are overlooked and have been ingrained for centuries.

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Jun 07, 2013 Charlotte rated it really liked it

Her essay on epistemology (about the loving eye vs. the arrogant eye) is good.

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Sep 11, 2008 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

This is a very useful book for getting a grip on foundational feminist concepts, especially oppression. I teach something from this book pretty much every year.

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Mar 05, 2019 Genae Matthews rated it it was amazing

A philosopher who I look up to gifted me this book and said that it was so good that she has referenced when writing nearly all of her work. :') The book stood up to even these very high expectations!

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Nov 09, 2017 Amy rated it liked it

While Frye's theories are thought-provoking and backed with solid evidence, her wording can get muddy in the thick philosophical habit which makes this tiny book a dense read.

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Nov 07, 2017 Erika Levy rated it it was amazing

Feminist theory described with utmost clarity. Must read for all.

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May 30, 2012 Maya rated it it was ok

Shelves: feminism, essays, philosophy

As a radical feminist, I bought this book in the hope that I would gain more insight into radfem theory. But holy crap, am I ever disappointed.

Her first essay (on oppression) was pretty good; but the rest of the book read like an exercise in making interesting things boring. She couldn't be more dry if she tried. Her essay on separatism wasn't the slightest bit convincing, either. The gist of her argument was that separatism makes men nervous and makes it impossible for them to pursu ...more

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Mar 16, 2008 Rachel rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: those attending michigan womyn's festival

marilyn frye is a hack. same tired sex-is-bad, men-are-haters, middle-class-white-feminism. yak. is this a poem? but i guess it was 1983 so she gets a pass. b- to frye for at least giving a significant amount of lip service to working class and poor women of color (but not giving them agency and instead prescribing a feminism for them) and helping tow the political lesbian feminist party line. it's cool, just cause i don't agree i guess i can't tell her to suck it. but her methodology is still f ...more

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Sep 11, 2015 misha rated it liked it

Shelves: feminism

Very aware/inclusive of racism, not so much of trans issues. The first chapters were very strong, but then it kind of wavered and died a very sad Freudian, transphobic death.

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