Gender Shock: Practicing Feminism on Two Continents

Essays compare feminist theory and practice in Australian and American culture and politics

In 1980 feminist historian Eisenstein left an academic post in the U.S. to become an affirmative action officer in Australia. As a "femocrat" or feminist bureaucrat (a word of Australian coinage), she worked within the system to imbue public policy with "women-centered" values. In these interlinked lectures and articles marred by opaque academic prose, she portrays Australian feminists as more cosmopolitan, better read, more outspoken and more confrontational than their American counterparts. Down Under, femocrats "perform a kind of feminist judo" to bring about reforms. Currently a women's studies professor at the State University of New York, Eisenstein argues in one paper that feminist analysis of the family is upsetting to some because it lays bare the realities of rape, incest, child abuse and wife-beating. She calls for a "commitment to optimism" as a feminist political stance.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Between 1980 and 1988, Eisenstein traded American academia for Australian bureaucracy. Part autobiography, part cross-cultural study of feminism, her book offers the perceptions and insights of a feminist inside two distinct workplaces, within two distinct cultures. Best described as a work in progress, this collection of essays, lectures, and a radio interview is more about means than ends. Tackling the feminist dilemma of how to get from here to there, Eisenstein develops the concept of "femocrats," women who effect change within bureaucracy, and promises to further the study in her upcoming work. Recommended for large academic libraries supporting women's studies programs.
- Melody Burton, York Univ. Libs., Toronto
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.