The Sisterhood: The True Story of the Women Who Changed the World

In this ``herstory,'' New York journalist Cohen documents the development of opposing philosophies along with political events that continue to shape the contemporary struggle for women's equality. The movement's high-profile leadership has endured 25 tumultuous years of individual triumphs and public traumas, often sensationalized in the media, butsympathetically reported here. Those who generated the rhetoric of liberation are an eclectic group: predominately magazine writers but also activists, educators, politicians and clubwomen. Reacting to inequities in their professional and personal lives, they effectively protested the violation of rights suffered by all women. From Betty Friedan's articulation of The Feminine Mystique, through Gloria Steinem's launch of Ms. magazine, internal schisms festered, notes Cohen, weakening the unity of the sisterhood's brightest lights and, ultimately, undermining passage of the ERA. BOMC featured alternate. (June)