A review by i_read_big_boucs
No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women by Estelle B. Freedman

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

"Both advocates and critics of female consciousness must take into account that the majority of women in the world continue to perform familial duties, many of them in societies that have not adopted fully the liberal democratic politics that gave rise to Western feminism."

Themes: global and comparative history of feminism – cross-cultural feminism – the equality-difference dilemma – historical materialism – history of feminist ideas – asymmetrical distribution of care work – big feminist themes (work, violence, reproductive politics, sexual politics)

What variations existed in patriarchal systems across time and place? How did it come to be and why was it not overturned? What forms of resistance to patriarchy existed even without the name feminism? Which factors enabled the modern feminist movement to take on? Which political strategies and arguments did it use and which measures did it obtain across the globe?

What makes this book noteworthy, even 23 years later, is how
1) It puts feminism in the context of history (arguing that capitalism allowed for the rise of feminism because it made things worse for women while simultaneously bringing up a politics of right) in a way that explains a lot of things and a lot about how social change happens

2) It deals remarkably with the intersections between gender, race and class. It cleared up a lot of misconceptions for me about how patriarchy differed from place to place, how ideas about gender served also as a way to enforce racial hierarchies, and the role that class played in creating different interests for different women. Very helpful book for enlarging my views beyond white middle-class feminism, as well as questioning the narrative of western superiority. China and the soviet block, for instance, had abortion rights much before the US and Europe. 

3) It tells a solid history of ideas that highlights points of agreement and disagreements not only among feminists but among women. The arguments are explained with impressive clarity. One of the points of focus of the book, and what I perceive the author has the intention of rehabilitating, is the legitimacy of the "motherhood" strategy, which has historically supported women in obtaining rights, but became unpopular in the 90's (for the sensical reason that women should have rights regardless of whether they are mothers). Freedman seems to believe however that in-fighting to try to get other feminists to stop using gender difference arguments is unproductive, and that both strategies have always and should coexist. 

I came to this book after reading Susan Brownmiller's memoir In our times which recounts 60's white middle class feminist group history, as well as after reading an article by the philosopher Mari Mikkola on "Pornography and the Sex wars" which made a case for seeing the different positions of different feminists as a form of labor division in the movement, in which some feminists took on the role of fighting sexual violence while others worked for promoting positive sexuality. This idea of seeing different strands of feminism as complimentary rather than contradictory has been very influential for me lately, and this book fits this vision by explaining the work done by feminists of different backgrounds. 

The book is written really clearly and I would recommend it to someone who does not know much about feminism, though it is quite long to be the perfect introductory book. It gives a good breakdown of key historical women's issues, and it's refreshing to look at it in a historical perspective rather than a political argument text. The ways in which the book felt a bit dated is in its non-mention of trans women (trans men are mentioned vaguely). I think that the author is also a little bit too optimistic about seeing "no turning back" possible, considering the overturning of abortion rights in many places, but honestly, it was kind of nice to see some optimism and the book was very hopeful and empowering. 

Reading this makes me reflect on what the major developments have been in the feminist realm in the past 23 years (accidentally, this book was written the year of my birth) in Western Europe. I would cite 1) #Metoo, a higher emphasis on both sexual violence, the grey zone and positive sexuality, 2) the increased visibility of the trans rights movement and queer aspirations, 3) increased visibility of intersectional politics and politics of coalition with other marginalised group movements, 4) the body positive movement, 5) feminism happening largely on the internet. I look forward to the day women of my generation are old enough to write an updated version of this feminist history and explain the cultural moment I grew up in and the impact it had on us.