The history of the second wave of feminism in the United States demonstrates the potential for both serious social change and seemingly intractable divisions among women. Race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and religion have all been dividing influences among women, shaping their various perspectives on and relations to the women's movement. Yet collectively, women's efforts-identified as second wave feminism-are seen as having made a difference. This book highlights the lives and work of fifty second wave feminists, women who have served as catalysts in the developing feminist movement. A diverse group-playwrights and politicians, grassroots organizers and scientists, poets and theologians-they provide the reader with compelling stories of individual women's lives, collective feminist struggles, and the possibilities of feminist social change.Each woman's story provides inspiration to those interested in the power of one, and collectively, the stories show the range of motivations, activities, and accomplishments of feminist thinkers and activists today. Each entry contains three parts: a biographical portrait of the individual, including information about education, family life, and early activism; an analytical discussion, highlighting the person's accomplishments and her relationship to U.S. feminism; and a bibliographical section containing a selective list of the subject's publications and writings about her and her work.

PrefaceIntroductionBella Abzug by Mary ErtelPaula Gunn Allen by Gonul PultarGloria Anzaldúa by Judith RichardsFrances Beale by Marina Karides and Joya MisraRita Mae Brown by Julie A. DaviesCharlotte Bunch by Viki SoadyPat Califia by Lisa SigelJudy Chicago by Beatriz Badikian-GartlerShirley Chisholm by Frederick J. SimonelliEsther Ngan-Ling Chow by Linda WongPearl Cleage by Linda Rohrer PaigeKate Clinton by Annmarie PinarskiMary Daly by Margaret R. LaWareAngela Davis by Jennifer OldhamSusan Faludi by Ann Mauger ColbertShulamith Firestone by Karen GarnerJo Freeman by Jennifer ScanlonBetty Friedan by Susan ButlerRuth Bader Ginsburg by Gwenn Brown Nealisbell hooks by Lara E. DieckmannDolores Huerta by Nerea A. LamasJune Jordan by Nikki SenecalEvelyn Fox Keller by Anne F. EisenbergFlorynce Kennedy by Cheryl RodriguezAudre Lorde by Lara E. DieckmannCatharine MacKinnon by Eileen BresnahanOlga Madar by Amy Beth AronsonWilma Mankiller by Michaela Crawford ReavesDel Martin by Danielle DeMuthKate Millet by Nancy McCampbell GraceCherríe Moraga by Grace SikorskiRobin Morgan by Stacy DonohuePauli Murray by Uche EgemonyeEleanor Holmes Norton by Tracy WahlAlice Paul by Amy ButlerAnna Quindlen by Carolyn KitchRosemary Ruether by Beth BlissmanAdrienne Rich by Sioban DillonFaith Ringgold by Ann Lee MorganJoanna Russ by Jeanne CortielPatricia Schroeder by John NealisEleanor Smeal by Pat MurphyBarbara Smith by Jaime M. GrantGloria Steinem by Ann Mauger ColbertMargo St. James by Diane L. McKayAlice Walker by Angela CottenRebecca Walker by Jennifer KohoutMichelle Wallace by Viki SoadySarah Weddington by Susan L. PatnodeEllen Willis by Deborah J. Gepner SalvaggioSelected BibliographyIndexAbout the Editor and Contributors