10.RACE AND GENDER 55 11.ENDING VIOLENCE 61 12.FEMINIST MASCULINITY 67 13.FEMINIST PARENTING 72 INTRODUCTION 14.LIBERATING MARRIAGE AND PARTNERSHIP 78 Come Closer to Feminism 15.A FEMINIST SEXUAL POLITIC Everywhere I go I proudly tell folks who want to know who I am An Ethics of Mutual Freedom 85 and what I do that I am a writer,a feminist theorist,a cultural critic.I tell them I write about movies and popular culture,analyzing the 16.TOTAL BLISS Lesbianism and Feminism 93 message in the medium.Most people find this exciting and want to know more.Everyone goes to movies,watches television,glances 17.TO LOVE AGAIN through magazines,and everyone has thoughts about the messages The Heart of Feminism 100 they receive,about the images they look at.It is easy for the diverse public I encounter to understand what I do as a cultural critic,to un- 18.FEMINIST SPIRITUALITY 105 derstand my passion for writing (lots of folks want to write,and do). But feminist theory-that's the place where the questions stop.In- 19.VISIONARY FEMINISM 110 stead I tend to hear all about the evil of feminism and the bad femi- INDEX 119 nists:how“they”hate men;how“they'want to go against nature- and god;how"they"are all lesbians;how"they"are taking all the jobs ABOUT SOUTH END PRESS 125 and making the world hard for white men,who do not stand a chance. When I ask these same folks about the feminist books or maga- zines they read,when I ask them about the feminist talks they have heard,about the feminist activists they know,they respond by let- ting me know that everything they know about feminism has come into their lives thirdhand,that they really have not come close enough to feminist movement to know what really happens,what it's really about.Mostly they think feminism is a bunch of angry vii10. RACE AND GENDER 11. ENDING VIOLENCE 12. FEMINIST MASCULINITY 13. FEMINIST PARENTING 14. LIBERATING MARRIAGE AND PARTNERSHIP 15. A FEMINIST SEXUAL POLITIC An Ethics of Mutual Freedom 16. TOTAL BLISS Lesbianism and Feminism 17. TO LOVE AGAIN The Heart of Feminism 18. FEMINIST SPIRITUALITY 19. VISIONARY FEMINISM INDEX ABOUT SOUTH END PRESS 55 61 67 72 78 85 93 100 105 110 119 125 INTRODUCTION Come Closer to Feminism Everywhere I go I proudly tell folks who want to know who I am and what I do that I am a writer, a feminist theorist, a cultural critic. I tell them I write about movies and popular culture, analyzing the message in the medium. Most people find this exciting and want to know more. Everyone goes to movies, watches television, glances through magazines, and everyone has thoughts about the messages they receive, about the images they look at. It is easy for the diverse public I encounter to understand what I do as a cultural critic, to un￾derstand my passion for writing Oots of folks want to write, and do). But feminist theory - that's the place where the questions stop. In￾stead I tend to hear all about the evil of feminism and the bad femi￾nists: how "they" hate men; how "they" want to go against nature￾and god; how "they" are all lesbians; how "they" are taking all the jobs and making the world hard for white men, who do not stand a chance. When I ask these same folks about the feminist books or maga￾zines they read, when I ask them about the feminist talks they have heard, about the feminist activists they know, they respond by let￾ting me know that everything they know about feminism has come into their lives thirdhand, that they really have not come close enough to feminist movement to know what really happens, what it's really about. Mostly they think feminism is a bunch of angry Vll