I heard Carrie Gress on the podcast Pints with Aquinas a number of months ago. I knew from the portions I listened to that I wanted to read The End of Woman: How Smashing the Patriachy Has Destroyed Us.
I was especially interested in her discussion about First Wave Feminists because they are held up as different and more noble by even many fairly conservative Christians today. You will hear conservative Christian women identify themselves as a “First Wave Feminist” because they believe the beginning of the feminist movement was a good and necessary thing. They argue it was only later that feminism went off the rails. Gress’ take (based on her extensive research and what she said in the interview) is completely different.
The first paragraph on the back cover states:
Feminism, the ideology dedicated to “smashing the patriarchy,” has instead made male lives the norm for everyone. After fifty years of radical feminism, we can’t even define “woman.” In this powerful book, Carrie Gress says what cannot be said: feminism has abolished women.
I have just started it so I can’t offer a detailed review. However, based on the interview and flipping through my copy of the book, I think it is worth checking out if this topic interests you.
The chapters are:
Part 1: The Lost Girls
- Mary, the First Feminist
- Mary and the Romantics
- Elizabeth and Seneca’s Fall
- Betty and the Communist Mystique
- Kate and the Lost Girls’ Triumph
- Gloria and Selling Feminism
Part II: The Means Girls
- The Queen Bees and Power
- Patriarchy Smashing
Part III: No Girls
- Margaret and Ls
- Simone and T
Part IV: The Way Home
- Restoration
- Mother
Gress is a Catholic, but this book was specifically written to reach a broader audience (as opposed to her other books that are specifically Catholic).
If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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