What Is Feminism?

In this historical overview of feminism, Mitchell (Psychoanalysis and Feminism and Oakley (Woman's Work offer essays by 11 contributors that ably discuss various feminist issues, including child abuse and neglect, welfare and other economic matters, labor movements of the past and present, sexual harassment, medicine and motherhood. Comparisons are made between the women's movements of the 19th and 20th centuries; and in her essay, Oakley maintains that feminists never put motherhood in question but still see the problem of the status of women in society as a matter that lies in the arena of careers and education. This is a dense book that provides an extensive summation of feminism's roots and future possibilities.