cover image Getting There: The Movement Toward Gender Equality

Getting There: The Movement Toward Gender Equality

. Carroll & Graf Publishers, $12.95 (349pp) ISBN 978-0-7867-0014-1

What does it mean to be a feminist? Many women would be hard pressed to produce a simple definition. Feminism has become a sometimes conflicted, often polarized platform. In her collection of the writings, speeches and thoughts of some 29 feminists, Wells attempts to describe the status of the women's movement and then lay out the work still to be done. Wells has availed herself of some powerhouses for this compilation--Susan Faludi, bell hooks, Patricia Ireland, Gloria Steinem, Catharine Mackinnon--but some of her choices seem obvious (Faludi's introduction to Backlash is compelling but a little too easy). Others, like Emily Martin's discourse on medicine's contributions to inequality (e.g., the sexist language used to describe the functions of menopause and menstruation), while certainly thoughtful, are tedious nonetheless. Ruth Sidel's essay, ``Mixed Messages,'' is an excellent examination of how women are portrayed in the media; Anna Quindlen's rousing ``The Glass Half-Empty'' is a subtle, extremely effective addition; and Alice Walker's ``Womanist Prose'' is a perfect beginning to the collection. A hefty examination of women, feminism and what the future may hold, Getting There will make readers think about not only the larger issues but also the day-to-day realities of being a woman in this country. (Aug.)