Shulamith Firestone, RIP
By We’ve been remiss here at not noting the death of the great Shulamith Firestone. Although her life ended up in a sad decline of mental illness and death by cancer, Firestone shown bright in the early 1970s as a groundbreaking radical feminist, connecting patriarchy to the many problems of American society. In the end, The Dialectic of Sex may not have had the long-term influence of Silent Spring or Unsafe at Any Speed or The Feminine Mystique but its short-term influence over an important movement in our history cannot be denied.
Sadly, the Times published an awful obituary of Firestone, which I think suggests that most people see her and radical feminism as a relic today. A sign of the times. A bad sign for that matter. Also a sign of the times–evidently The Dialectic of Sex isn’t even in print.
[SL] See also Kathleen Geier. Via Bob in comments, see also Emily Chertoff.
…..According to various people on the Twitters, The Dialectic of Sex is out of print at Firestone’s request, for whatever reason. I guess it was almost back in print and she vetoed it. Presumably, we’ll now see a new edition soon.