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The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom
Feminist icon and political activist Phyllis Chesler, author of the 2.5-million copy bestseller Women and Madness and the controversial The New Anti-Semitism, calls for an overhaul of the women's movement. In this important book, Phyllis Chesler asks the Within feminism, is there room for free thinkers who oppose the party line? What if a feminist believes in capitalism? God? Patriotism? Chesler is the first to show the crisis in feminism today, which is silencing women and stripping them of power. In order to be a member of the club you must reject capitalism, see religion as a dangerous form of patriarchy, oppose the war, and turn a blind eye to the woman-defeating practices of Islam. The result contradicts the moral and ethical principles feminism was built on. Chesler signals a critical need for women to come together in a pro-individualist form of feminism.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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195 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis Chesler
37 books399 followersPhyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at City University of New York. She is a best- selling author, a legendary feminist leader, a psychotherapist and an expert courtroom witness. Dr. Chesler has published thousands of articles and, most recently, studies, about honor-related violence including honor killings. She is the author of 20 books, including Women and Madness and An American Bride in Kabul. Her forthcoming book is titled Requiem for a Female Serial Killer, about serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 22, 2012
I picked this book up on a whim when I was at my local library last week - I was looking for a book on Lewis and Clark, and someone had set this book down on the table next to the section I was in. Admittedly, what interested me at first was the cover - what's more provocative than the word 'feminism' and a woman with an taped mouth? I decided, Why not, and checked it out, thinking I could flip through it and return it if it wasn't interesting.
Boy, was I unprepared to read it!
Women's issues and the question of feminism have been at the forefront of my intellectual backburner, so to speak, for about a year or so. Being myself a young woman at an academically rigorous and respected university, I have been challenged and confronted by the question of my own identity and self-conception: who am I in terms of my gender and role in society, and in relation to my intellect and academic pursuits? Luckily, I have been blessed enough to grow up and be educated in a home and college that both support and encourage my exploration of faith and intellect without fear of being restricted or undermined because of my gender.
By the same token, though, I do recognize the fact that my self-identification as a young Christian Conservative female academic feminist strikes a chord of contradiction or, worse, heresy among my intellectual and spiritual peers.
Never having taken any women's studies courses before (for lack of time), I was a bit nervous about reading this book, my first foray into the official academic and political arena that is modern feminism.
Phyllis Chesler's book changed the way I understand both myself and the global arena I am coming of age in.
Chesler, herself a practicing Jew, identifies strongly as a liberal Democratic feminist, a label that usually makes me uncomfortable - such women are seen by people of my tradition as being female Satans and viragos, intent on murdering babies and ridding the world of men. I don't necessarily subscribe to that view, but I have certainly had my fair share of confrontations with women who see my Christianity and consider it an attack on women's rights to live a consequence-free life.
As I read this surprisingly quick and engaging book, though, I realized that Chesler, herself a foremost veteran of the liberal women's rights movement in the 1970s, was articulating the tension in modern feminism that I had sensed but either not fully realized or was unable to express. She does not couch this discomfort in religious terms, but the mere fact that such an influential and articulate feminist could not only come from a similar religious tradition but even allow her fight for women's equality to grow her faith was immensely encouraging to me.
Chesler and I disagreed on many points, to be sure - she a Jew, I a Christian; she a liberal Democrat, I a libertarian Republican. But she addressed the real meat of the issue, one that transcended religious and political boundaries: that modern-day feminism is being poisoned and misdirected by the mistaken idea that women's rights really means multiculturalism and self-destructive tolerance.
Colored and intensified by personal and statistical anecdotes, Chesler maintains her argument throughout the book. Tolerance for fundamentalist Islam is not a question of political correctness and acceptance of other cultures, she insists with devastating examples and references; rather, it is a willful ignorance of the very real and very dangerous plight of Middle Eastern and Muslim women by the people who should be standing up for them.
Chesler is very frank and to-the-point, and several times I was moved to tears not only by the heartbreaking stories she related, but by her unbelievably prescient and intuitive observations of American feminists and the global community we live in.
Even though her book was published in 2004, I feel that it is even more relevant and important in 2012. An absolute must-read for anyone interested in the current discussions of feminism, the Arabization of Europe, fundamentalist Islam, or human rights in the Middle East.
Boy, was I unprepared to read it!
Women's issues and the question of feminism have been at the forefront of my intellectual backburner, so to speak, for about a year or so. Being myself a young woman at an academically rigorous and respected university, I have been challenged and confronted by the question of my own identity and self-conception: who am I in terms of my gender and role in society, and in relation to my intellect and academic pursuits? Luckily, I have been blessed enough to grow up and be educated in a home and college that both support and encourage my exploration of faith and intellect without fear of being restricted or undermined because of my gender.
By the same token, though, I do recognize the fact that my self-identification as a young Christian Conservative female academic feminist strikes a chord of contradiction or, worse, heresy among my intellectual and spiritual peers.
Never having taken any women's studies courses before (for lack of time), I was a bit nervous about reading this book, my first foray into the official academic and political arena that is modern feminism.
Phyllis Chesler's book changed the way I understand both myself and the global arena I am coming of age in.
Chesler, herself a practicing Jew, identifies strongly as a liberal Democratic feminist, a label that usually makes me uncomfortable - such women are seen by people of my tradition as being female Satans and viragos, intent on murdering babies and ridding the world of men. I don't necessarily subscribe to that view, but I have certainly had my fair share of confrontations with women who see my Christianity and consider it an attack on women's rights to live a consequence-free life.
As I read this surprisingly quick and engaging book, though, I realized that Chesler, herself a foremost veteran of the liberal women's rights movement in the 1970s, was articulating the tension in modern feminism that I had sensed but either not fully realized or was unable to express. She does not couch this discomfort in religious terms, but the mere fact that such an influential and articulate feminist could not only come from a similar religious tradition but even allow her fight for women's equality to grow her faith was immensely encouraging to me.
Chesler and I disagreed on many points, to be sure - she a Jew, I a Christian; she a liberal Democrat, I a libertarian Republican. But she addressed the real meat of the issue, one that transcended religious and political boundaries: that modern-day feminism is being poisoned and misdirected by the mistaken idea that women's rights really means multiculturalism and self-destructive tolerance.
Colored and intensified by personal and statistical anecdotes, Chesler maintains her argument throughout the book. Tolerance for fundamentalist Islam is not a question of political correctness and acceptance of other cultures, she insists with devastating examples and references; rather, it is a willful ignorance of the very real and very dangerous plight of Middle Eastern and Muslim women by the people who should be standing up for them.
Chesler is very frank and to-the-point, and several times I was moved to tears not only by the heartbreaking stories she related, but by her unbelievably prescient and intuitive observations of American feminists and the global community we live in.
Even though her book was published in 2004, I feel that it is even more relevant and important in 2012. An absolute must-read for anyone interested in the current discussions of feminism, the Arabization of Europe, fundamentalist Islam, or human rights in the Middle East.
March 29, 2018
I spent some time utterly flummoxed by the statements in this book. Is there really an academic anti-Zionist attitude? Are the feminist elite really so pro-Muslim they can't see the issues?
I'm way to far outside this sphere of influence to even recognize the arguments.
But I like her take on feminism in general. And her personal story is extremely compelling.
She had one particular part in this book that really appealed to me; ".....the right to be a sex worker rather than the right not to be, freedom from rather than freedom of religion, abortion and adoption rather than biological motherhood, motherhood outside of marriage rather than motherhood within marriage, the work of women of colour and of Third World women as opposed to the work of white, western women, and so on..........Nevertheless, it is now time to include and welcome western traditional, religious and conservative women as part of the vision."
I really liked how she spoke to what the feminist movement has started to include and what they still need to add.
I'm way to far outside this sphere of influence to even recognize the arguments.
But I like her take on feminism in general. And her personal story is extremely compelling.
She had one particular part in this book that really appealed to me; ".....the right to be a sex worker rather than the right not to be, freedom from rather than freedom of religion, abortion and adoption rather than biological motherhood, motherhood outside of marriage rather than motherhood within marriage, the work of women of colour and of Third World women as opposed to the work of white, western women, and so on..........Nevertheless, it is now time to include and welcome western traditional, religious and conservative women as part of the vision."
I really liked how she spoke to what the feminist movement has started to include and what they still need to add.
April 13, 2012
The book uses the situation in the Islamic countries, the way women are treated there and the reaction of the current "mainstream" feminists to show/explain how they are failing and don't actually do anything useful. The book also follows a lot of the ideas of Ayaan Hirsi Ali on the problems with muslim emigrants in Europe and the US and the barbaric practices they bring with them.
January 11, 2019
The preachy, holier-than-thou, pro-America-anti-anything-else time this book takes is not only ridiculous its disgusting.
April 11, 2014
About the Author: Phyllis Chesler is a long-time feminist, who has written books on mental illness, the way women treat each other, child custody disputes and, most recently, a memoir of being a young bride in Afghanistan. She was raised as an Orthodox Jew. She obtained a Ph.D. in psychology from the New School for Social Research in New York City. She has worked as a psychotherapist and has taught at CUNY (City University of New York).
Overview: This book describes how the feminist movement has become corrupted by other agendas, which are unfriendly to women.
Islam and Women: Phyllis Chesler criticizes mainstream feminists for failing to speak out against the way Islam treats women. Some feminists even support the veiling of Muslim women.
Jan Goodwin: Chesler praises Goodwin for her criticisms of Islamic fundamentalism’s harmful impact on women. But she criticizes Goodwin’s anti-Israeli bias. Goodwin blames the suffering of Palestinian women mainly on the Israeli occupation rather than on the Palestinian government or culture.
Women’s Studies at UCSC: The Women’s Studies (Feminist Studies) department at the University of California at Santa Cruz includes Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker, and Helene Moglen, among others. Chesler criticizes it for giving more invitations to pro-Palestinian speakers than to pro-Israel speakers.
Robin Morgan: Robin Morgan of Ms. Magazine supports the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), but is critical of Israel. Morgan is overly concerned with the (largely imaginary) persecution of American Muslims after 9/11.
Christian Arab Suha Sabbagh: Suha Sabbagh fears that if she criticizes Arab misogyny, others will use her criticism to justify being anti-Arab. Suha Sabbagh wants Arab women to be seen not as passive victims, but as active agents. Suha Sabbagh has an excessive focus on Palestinian Arabs in Israel, to the neglect of other parts of the Arab world.
Embracing Other Agendas: Chesler believes that mainstream American feminists have in large part abandoned their main goal of protecting women from misogyny in order to embrace other agendas:
• Multiculturalism: Because of multiculturalism, the philosophy that all cultures are equal, feminists feel that they must respect Islam and not interfere with its culture.
• Anti-Colonialism: Mainstream feminists are reluctant to criticize Arab societies, because it conflicts with their anti-colonial agenda, where Arabs are seen as victims of Western powers
• Anti-Americanism: Chesler criticizes mainstream feminists and European intellectuals for their anti-Americanism
• Pornography and Prostitution: To gain favor with men, gays and the political Left, modern feminists have abandoned their fight against pornography and prostitution. Chesler describes the situation of University of Rhode Island Professor Donna M. Hughes, who has gotten into trouble with the feminist movement, because she strongly opposes prostitution.
Ostracism: It is difficult for people who think for themselves to find an intellectual home. Any group they attempt to join will suspect them of disloyalty whenever they utter a thought that contradicts the party platform. Some feminists criticized Chesler for publicly debating individuals who were critical of feminism. Talking with the enemy was seen as treasonous. The author was ostracized by mainstream feminists, because she disagreed with some of their positions, and voted for a Republican. Not merely excluded from their political activities, but also dropped as a friend. Other feminists who support Israel have avoided voicing their opinions on the issue, to avoid being ostracized from the feminist mainstream.
Overview: This book describes how the feminist movement has become corrupted by other agendas, which are unfriendly to women.
Islam and Women: Phyllis Chesler criticizes mainstream feminists for failing to speak out against the way Islam treats women. Some feminists even support the veiling of Muslim women.
Jan Goodwin: Chesler praises Goodwin for her criticisms of Islamic fundamentalism’s harmful impact on women. But she criticizes Goodwin’s anti-Israeli bias. Goodwin blames the suffering of Palestinian women mainly on the Israeli occupation rather than on the Palestinian government or culture.
Women’s Studies at UCSC: The Women’s Studies (Feminist Studies) department at the University of California at Santa Cruz includes Angela Davis, Bettina Aptheker, and Helene Moglen, among others. Chesler criticizes it for giving more invitations to pro-Palestinian speakers than to pro-Israel speakers.
Robin Morgan: Robin Morgan of Ms. Magazine supports the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), but is critical of Israel. Morgan is overly concerned with the (largely imaginary) persecution of American Muslims after 9/11.
Christian Arab Suha Sabbagh: Suha Sabbagh fears that if she criticizes Arab misogyny, others will use her criticism to justify being anti-Arab. Suha Sabbagh wants Arab women to be seen not as passive victims, but as active agents. Suha Sabbagh has an excessive focus on Palestinian Arabs in Israel, to the neglect of other parts of the Arab world.
Embracing Other Agendas: Chesler believes that mainstream American feminists have in large part abandoned their main goal of protecting women from misogyny in order to embrace other agendas:
• Multiculturalism: Because of multiculturalism, the philosophy that all cultures are equal, feminists feel that they must respect Islam and not interfere with its culture.
• Anti-Colonialism: Mainstream feminists are reluctant to criticize Arab societies, because it conflicts with their anti-colonial agenda, where Arabs are seen as victims of Western powers
• Anti-Americanism: Chesler criticizes mainstream feminists and European intellectuals for their anti-Americanism
• Pornography and Prostitution: To gain favor with men, gays and the political Left, modern feminists have abandoned their fight against pornography and prostitution. Chesler describes the situation of University of Rhode Island Professor Donna M. Hughes, who has gotten into trouble with the feminist movement, because she strongly opposes prostitution.
Ostracism: It is difficult for people who think for themselves to find an intellectual home. Any group they attempt to join will suspect them of disloyalty whenever they utter a thought that contradicts the party platform. Some feminists criticized Chesler for publicly debating individuals who were critical of feminism. Talking with the enemy was seen as treasonous. The author was ostracized by mainstream feminists, because she disagreed with some of their positions, and voted for a Republican. Not merely excluded from their political activities, but also dropped as a friend. Other feminists who support Israel have avoided voicing their opinions on the issue, to avoid being ostracized from the feminist mainstream.
June 2, 2014
A much-needed criticism of the feminist establishment's failure to pursue basic rights for women globally. As a former insider in feminist circles, Chesler is able to uncover how completely academic feminists have abandoned criticism of misogyny where it currently exists in it's most egregious form: the Muslim world. Where feminist ideals of egalitarianism clash with cultural relativism, the vast majority of feminists have chosen to kowtow unquestioningly to cultural practices, no matter how violently oppressive of women.
Although I thought Chesler's criticisms were justified and well-reasoned, the book sufferers from a lack of editing, rambling in places and detracting from the moral force of her argument. Nonetheless, this is an important book, calling as it does for intellectuals to break free of the chains of a leftist ideology to think clearly about two of the most pressing issues of our day: Islam and human rights.
Although I thought Chesler's criticisms were justified and well-reasoned, the book sufferers from a lack of editing, rambling in places and detracting from the moral force of her argument. Nonetheless, this is an important book, calling as it does for intellectuals to break free of the chains of a leftist ideology to think clearly about two of the most pressing issues of our day: Islam and human rights.
January 5, 2009
Generally interesting with some good points on cultural relativism and the finicky nature of public opinion (and how this can get in the way of open-mindedness). Sometimes a little heavy-handed with the reprimands of "leftist academics and intellectuals." (And this contributed to the feeling that this book was really a way of Chesler airing her grievances...) But altogether had a very good point about the hypocrisy of academia and its tendency to critique without ever really participating in any real life discussions or actions - and how this in particular affects minorities (ie women). Not a totally enjoyable book and really would only appeal to either conservative feminists or feminists with a very open mind.
December 2, 2015
I completely forgot that I had read this book in September for an essay for university. This book was really interesting as it highlighted how feminism has ignored the plight of women in developing countries and made you feel the need to help. It also gave an account of Chesler's own time spent in Afghanistan and the suffering that takes place their. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in gender inequality.
November 12, 2011
I felt like Chesler makes some great points, particularly about the West's tendancy to coddle backwards Islamic customs, BUT, I saw her personal bias too prominent throughout, and it muddled what would have otherwise been a great scholarly work.
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January 15, 2010women's studies
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October 20, 2018Very insightful
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews