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Right Wing Women
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What does the Right offer to women? How does the Right mobilize women? Why is the Right succeeding in opposing women's rights? With the stark precision and forceful passion that characterize all of her work, Andrea Dworkin answers these timely questions. And by providing the first clear analysis of the impact on women of the Right's position on abortion, homosexuality, ant
...more
Paperback, 255 pages
Published
February 15th 1983
by Perigee Trade
(first published 1983)
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Showing 1-30
Can I give this book 10 stars? No? Bummer...
One word sums up this book: BRUTAL.
There's a lot of discussion amongst radical feminists about "following a thought to its logical conclusion." This means not stopping when an idea steps on PC toes or becomes uncomfortable - or downright dangerous - either personally or to the sex-class system at large (which obviously BECOMES personally dangerous for individual women.) Dworkin's book is radical - "to the root" - in every single sentence, ...more
One word sums up this book: BRUTAL.
There's a lot of discussion amongst radical feminists about "following a thought to its logical conclusion." This means not stopping when an idea steps on PC toes or becomes uncomfortable - or downright dangerous - either personally or to the sex-class system at large (which obviously BECOMES personally dangerous for individual women.) Dworkin's book is radical - "to the root" - in every single sentence, ...more
Oct 15, 2008
Jude
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Jude by:
Books of Athena Bookstore
Shelves:
reference-formative,
the-f-word
i am 64 - this book brought my mother's generation to me in compassionate and world-view-changing ways back when it first came out. Dworkin's respectful and insightful take on the innately sexual politics of conservative women has proved prescient and sadly, all too relevant still.
please click the amazon link for reviews-this book's exploration of the mind-set and politics of right-wing women is still expanding the understanding of those who truly care about all women. That's what An ...more
please click the amazon link for reviews-this book's exploration of the mind-set and politics of right-wing women is still expanding the understanding of those who truly care about all women. That's what An ...more
Andrea Dworkin gets such a bad rap among (some) feminists and anti-feminists alike that I was slightly wary to actually go out and find one of her books. But, in an attempt to figure out what the majority of my female relatives are thinking, I picked this up. And it was damn worth it.
Firstly...did I agree with her on everything? No. I do not, for instance, consider pornography to be a base cause of anything, or even one of the biggest problems women face in society. I did, however, agree with h ...more
Firstly...did I agree with her on everything? No. I do not, for instance, consider pornography to be a base cause of anything, or even one of the biggest problems women face in society. I did, however, agree with h ...more
There is a lot to say for Right Wing Woman. Dworkin really breaks down the internal consistency of conservative women in a way that I found really compelling.
Quickly, some points of interest:
- Her critique of the sexual revolution: "sexual freedom" as just a reframing of men getting exactly what they want, with women needing to put up with even more males, an even higher chance of disease, etc., but calling it "liberated." It's a core tenant of any radical movement, not t ...more
Quickly, some points of interest:
- Her critique of the sexual revolution: "sexual freedom" as just a reframing of men getting exactly what they want, with women needing to put up with even more males, an even higher chance of disease, etc., but calling it "liberated." It's a core tenant of any radical movement, not t ...more
This is not a book that I would recommend to anyone who is critical of radical feminism. There are lots of assertions that are not argued through and most of the book is written in extremes. However, this is a very valuable book for left-wing folks. Dworkin is brutally honest about the chauvanism prevelent in the left, and why the program of the right is more appealing to oppressed women than the program (or rather hodge-podge of ill-defined ideas)of the left. Whether consious or not, the attitu
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This book helped me understand the psychology of right-wing women a little and the theories of Andrea Dworkin a lot. The writing is really, really good and persuasive even if I find Dworkin's ideas a bit... pessimistic. This is a mostly-accessible read that I would recommend to someone who wanted to read about radical feminism.
May 21, 2015
Nalim
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
iwspace-feminist-reader
An examination of women's reasons for collaborating with men for the limitation of women's freedom. - Dworkin asked, "Why do right-wing women agitate for their own subordination? How does the Right, controlled by men, enlist their participation and loyalty? And why do right-wing women truly hate the feminist struggle for equality?
I read this book a couple years ago and it changed my life. Dworkin retains such compassion for all women, even those who fight vehemently against our own rights. Her voice is strong and courageous, and the anger she feels towards the oppression of women is inspiring.
I was especially hostile to Dworkin's POV when I first read this but I've come a long way. I don't agree with some of her most controversial statements on religion, marriage and abortion. But I'm not a "right-wing" woman neither politically, nor as per this book's definition.
She has some points that are good to remember, especially as you get on the structure of the right in the United States. Her constant allusions to the far right and omissions of libertarianism were strange to wit ...more
She has some points that are good to remember, especially as you get on the structure of the right in the United States. Her constant allusions to the far right and omissions of libertarianism were strange to wit ...more
This was my first book by Dworkin. The book consists of six essays written at the the end of the 70s beginning of the 80s: The Promise of The Ultra-Right; The Politics of Intelligence; Abortion; Jews and Homosexuals; The Coming Gynocide; Antifeminism. Dworkin's insights can be brilliant but at the same time she can be too emotional, as if she is taking things personally, and a bit too repetitive. This makes her arguments not as clear as they could be. Also, it was noticeable for me that the book is a bit dated, although that in a way shows that some of Dworkin's
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So over the top, and I would have liked a bit more evidence for some of the conclusions she draws. That said, there are many parts of the book that speak to the experience of many women, which is why I think it is so highly rated. And it is refreshing to hear someone speak so frankly (read:strongly) about their own experience and the issues surrounding it.
Both enlightening and depressing. Worth the read.
Brilliant! Right in every sense! Most of it is true beyond America. I just couldn't put it down.
A stirring and compassionate analysis of Right-wing antifeminism and how little it differs from mainstream cultural and social antifeminism. Especially helpful in breaking down the superficial and ultimately irrelevant political divisions between American women.
I'm 35% through with my library copy and am so impressed with it, that I am buying it to reread, mark up and use as a reference.
Incredible, as ever. Definitely one of her key texts. Hard to review for a non-enthusiast, but I'll try at some point (too much travelling to do right now so no time).
Gets repetitive at the end but overall a pretty great read about conservative psychology. I know Dworkin's work has quite a reputation but don't knock it 'til you try it!
(Cool game to do on a boring afternoon, just pop this book open on a random page and see what kind of drivel it spews.)
Some quotes of this utterly insane book. She criticizes the drugging of women but boy, Dworkin could use an antidepressant or 2*:
Women cannot be responsible for pregnancy, in the sense of acting to prevent it, because women do not control when, where, how, and on what terms they have intercourse.
Intercourse is forced on women, both as a normal part of marriage and ...more
Some quotes of this utterly insane book. She criticizes the drugging of women but boy, Dworkin could use an antidepressant or 2*:
Women cannot be responsible for pregnancy, in the sense of acting to prevent it, because women do not control when, where, how, and on what terms they have intercourse.
Intercourse is forced on women, both as a normal part of marriage and ...more
Why women choose the Right?
That's the main question of the book, and the answer Andrea gives the reader is not only full, but clearly shows the complexity of the subject. The Right gives women the apparent "order" that leads one's life: non-changing values, traditions, the love of Jesus or whatever deitity, a sense of conservation and stability.
And from this gloomy picture, Andrea unmask the male construction of sexuality, economy, order, and intellect, explaining in this way what is radi ...more
That's the main question of the book, and the answer Andrea gives the reader is not only full, but clearly shows the complexity of the subject. The Right gives women the apparent "order" that leads one's life: non-changing values, traditions, the love of Jesus or whatever deitity, a sense of conservation and stability.
And from this gloomy picture, Andrea unmask the male construction of sexuality, economy, order, and intellect, explaining in this way what is radi ...more
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Dworkin isn’t my favorite feminist icon for various reasons but she really does hit the nail on the head in a lot of her writings so I find it sad that many people my age interested in feminist thought and ideas skip over her. This book in particular does a really good job of illuminating how misogyny exists on both the right and left of the political spectrum. Dworkin theorizes that right wing women choose the right because they are more attune to the sexism on the left, which can seem subtle b
...more
This is essential reading for all American women, especially in today's political climate. Critiques both the right and left in its exploitation of women.
First Andrea Dworkin work I read. Very good, except for a weird and unhealthy obsession with sex work that I can't seem to comprehend
Mar 04, 2018
Abdifatah
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sociology-anthropology,
history
Lovecraftian undertones.
This is such an intriguing and necessary book. Not only does Andrea Dworkin divulge how and why the roots of the patriarchy and misogyny have sprouted into what we see today, but how such sprouts are interpreted and therefore acted upon. Feminists decidedly wish to fight against such sprouts, inciting freedom and liberation--but right-wing women see the struggle a little differently. A fight for freedom is surely a means of rape, prostitution, homelessness, death. They work within the system
...more
'Looking for a way out of the sex-class system, a way beyond the boundary of prostitution, a way around the crimes of rape, battery, economic exploitation, and reproductive exploitation, a way out of being pornography, right-wing women look at feminists and they see women inside the same boundary, victims of the same crimes, women who are pornography. Their response to what they see is not a sense of sisterhood or solidarity—it is a self-protective sense of repulsion. The powerless are not quick
...more
This is essential feminist reading.
Essential reading for the Trump era.
This book floored me. It was so insightful, and so clear in its arguments and ideas. It's brutal to read at times because things are set out so starkly. This book is important now more than ever.
First radfem text I ever read. Life changing and makes shit make sense.
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Andrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography, which she argued was linked to rape and other forms of violence against women.
An anti-war activist and anarchist in the late 1960s, Dworkin wrote 10 books on radical feminist theory and practice. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, she gained national fame as a spokeswoman for ...more
An anti-war activist and anarchist in the late 1960s, Dworkin wrote 10 books on radical feminist theory and practice. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, she gained national fame as a spokeswoman for ...more
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“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.' (Leviticus 18:22). That means simply that it is foul to do to other men what men habitually, proudly, manfully do to women: use them as inanimate, empty, concave things; fuck them into submission; subordinate them through sex.”
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“The accounts of rape, wife beating, forced childbearing, medical butchering, sex-motivated murder, forced prostitution, physical mutilation, sadistic psychological abuse, and other commonplaces of female experi
ence that are excavated from the past or given by contemporary survivors should leave the heart seared, the mind in anguish, the conscience in upheaval. But they do not. No matter how often these stories are told, with whatever clarity or eloquence, bitterness or sorrow, they might as well have been whispered in wind or written in sand: they disappear, as if they were nothing. The tellers and the stories are ignored or ridiculed, threatened back into silence or destroyed, and the experience of female suffering is buried in cultural invisibility and contempt… the very reality of abuse sustained by women, despite its overwhelming pervasiveness and constancy, is negated. It is negated in the transactions of everyday life, and it is negated in the history books, left out, and it is negated by those who claim to care about suffering but are blind to this suffering.
The problem, simply stated, is that one must believe in the existence of the person in order to recognize the authenticity of her suffering. Neither men nor women believe in the existence of women as significant beings. It is impossible to remember as real the suffering of someone who by definition has no legitimate claim to dignity or freedom, someone who is in fact viewed as some thing, an object or an absence. And if a woman, an individual woman multiplied by billions, does not believe in her own discrete existence and therefore cannot credit the authenticity of her own suffering, she is erased, canceled out, and the meaning of her life, whatever it is, whatever it might have been, is lost. This loss cannot be calculated or comprehended. It is vast and awful, and nothing will ever make up for it.”
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More quotes…
ence that are excavated from the past or given by contemporary survivors should leave the heart seared, the mind in anguish, the conscience in upheaval. But they do not. No matter how often these stories are told, with whatever clarity or eloquence, bitterness or sorrow, they might as well have been whispered in wind or written in sand: they disappear, as if they were nothing. The tellers and the stories are ignored or ridiculed, threatened back into silence or destroyed, and the experience of female suffering is buried in cultural invisibility and contempt… the very reality of abuse sustained by women, despite its overwhelming pervasiveness and constancy, is negated. It is negated in the transactions of everyday life, and it is negated in the history books, left out, and it is negated by those who claim to care about suffering but are blind to this suffering.
The problem, simply stated, is that one must believe in the existence of the person in order to recognize the authenticity of her suffering. Neither men nor women believe in the existence of women as significant beings. It is impossible to remember as real the suffering of someone who by definition has no legitimate claim to dignity or freedom, someone who is in fact viewed as some thing, an object or an absence. And if a woman, an individual woman multiplied by billions, does not believe in her own discrete existence and therefore cannot credit the authenticity of her own suffering, she is erased, canceled out, and the meaning of her life, whatever it is, whatever it might have been, is lost. This loss cannot be calculated or comprehended. It is vast and awful, and nothing will ever make up for it.”
