Everywhere and Nowhere: contemporary feminism in the United States
By - Reger, Jo,Call number:
Physical description: x, 242 pages ; 24 cm
Notes: includes index
The women's movement and feminism has been responsible for profound changes in American society, from greater access to education and jobs to increased choices in health and parenting. Its ideas and goals have largely become a part of everyday beliefs and norms. At the same time, obituaries of the women's movement appear regularly in the news and the current movement is criticized for being apolitical or ineffectual. In this sense, feminism today can be said to be at once "nowhere," no longer visible, and "everywhere," diffused into the culture.Through an extended case study of three communities, Jo Reger explores this paradox with a systematic and empirically-based look at the contemporary women's movement. She investigates some of the most debated topics about and between feminists in the 21st century, including the relationship of contemporary and second-wave generation feminists, the influence of identity politics on gender and sexuality, and the stubborn legacies of racism and classism. Where, with all these changes, is feminism today? The answers, she finds, are myriad and specific to each community. It is precisely the variations and convergences of feminist activism within particular communities, Reger reveals, that define the women's movement today.