We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists

The contemporary essays collected by Berger, an activist and creator of The F-Word, a feminist zine for teens, demonstrate loudly and clearly that feminism is alive, well and pursuing a wide variety of concerns. Sexuality, empowerment, violence, body image, reproductive rights, child sexual abuse, the gynecologist, the morning-after pill, the ""Seventh-Grade Slut"" and ""Sex, Drugs, and the Department of Homeland Security"" are all explored, as are the roles of government, religion, and the media. The result is a mixed bag that zeros in on the experience of contemporary women who face a multitude of slippery issues; according to Berger, ""the connecting theme is this: 'I'm a young feminist and I'm going to work it!'"" For her, the key is to fire up a movement-not a ""wave""-and the 30 voices here, including Lisa Jervis, Alix Olson, Dean Spade and Jessica Valenti, provide many fine starting points. Especially rousing are the endcap entries, Valenti's short, blunt rebuke of ""self-hating feminists"" and Jennifer L. Pozner's plan to reclaim the media for a progressive feminist future.