Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st Century - Hardcover

Wolf, Naomi

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9780701160852: Fire With Fire: The New Female Power and How It Will Change the 21st Century

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0701160853 ISBN 13: 9780701160852

Publisher: Random House UK, 1993

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Most women embrace equality, but reject "feminism." In clear and brilliant prose, the author of the best-selling The Beauty Myth shows how this rift came about, and how to close it. A practical and inspiring road map for personal and political equality in our time.

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From Booklist:

Wolf sees the political and cultural "genderquake" set off by Anita Hill in 1991 as evidence for "the seemingly ludicrous assertion that women already run the country--in electoral and consumer terms, not, of course, in economic terms--and have the power now to bring about the conditions that can begin to secure our equality." Despite the backlash documented by Susan Faludi--and by Wolf in her first book, The Beauty Myth (1991)--Fire with Fire argues for a more inclusive, less doctrinaire feminist movement; for a new "power feminism" to replace the "victim feminism" that has dominated the Reagan-Bush retrenchment years; and for a female psychology of power that, in place of the aspiration to "niceness" and fear of power at the center of traditional acculturation, permits women to explore and actualize all aspects of their personalities. Fundamentally, Wolf insists that "difference feminism" mistakes nurture for nature and therefore misrepresents reality: the enemy is not men but patriarchy; the goal for women should be teamwork and respect, rather than sisterhood and intimacy; new psychological strategies and effective use of the powers women already have can produce "victory in our lifetime." Fire with Fire is certain to spark controversy; expect requests. Mary Carroll

From Publishers Weekly:

Feminist author of the bestselling The Beauty Myth , Wolf has written an empowering, impassioned manifesto that points the way toward a flexible feminism for the 1990s and beyond. Part political analysis, part psychological manual, part activist handbook, the book argues that women should renounce "victim feminism," which casts them as sexually pure, fragile, beleaguered creatures whose problems are all the fault of men. As an alternative, Wolf outlines an anti-dogmatic "power feminism" which sees women as no better and no worse than men, celebrates female sexuality and encourages women to claim their individual voices through a variety of tactics. These include "resource groups" for sharing contacts and increasing access to information and services; consumer campaigns; and pressure on the media to alter their portrayals of women. Wolf theorizes that little girls, as much as boys, have fantasies of absolute dominion but learn to repress their "will to power" at a very early age. Wolf here sketches a psychological road map designed to help women deal with their ambivalence about success, power, equality and money. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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