Inventing Herself: Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage

In case you don't have the time to accomplish the very important task of reading every single book written by influential women, this book is a wonderful way to become at least familiar with their philosophy, and where they stood in the context of their times. The accounts are lively and readable, and can serve as a reference for later on you when you might have time to explore more deeply the writings of the individual women who interest you.

....P>She is also the author and editor of a number of books. In March of 2001 her newest book, Inventing Herself : Claiming a Feminist Intellectual Heritage was published, and it is also an examination of the personal and political realms of Feminism. In it, she illustrates the lives of some of her personal heroines, women who have lived from the 18th Century on and whom have contributed to women's rights. She starts out with Mary Wollstonecraft, whose revolutionary book Vindication on the Rights of Women was one of the first pieces of feminist writing, and ends with modern heroines like Hillary Clinton, Princess Diana, and Oprah Winfrey. With each woman's story, she not only shows what they did to change politics and society, but also how their personal lives had an effect on those of other women living during that time.<p>Elaine Showalter, whether writing about Janis Joplin or Germaine Greer, always draws similarities between the public importance and personal apprecation of feminism. It is obvious to the reader of her words that she has treasured feminism in her own life and wants to share it with others. Her book will inspire and motivate you....