I'm running away from home, but I'm not allowed to cross the street: A primer of women's liberation

by Gabrielle Burton

A primer on the Women's Movement with illustrations by Dianne Footlick

Genres: Feminism

206 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1973

About the author

Died September 3, 2015.

Gabrielle Burton, awarded an MFA in screenwriting from the American Film Institute, currently splits her time between her Buffalo home and Los Angeles, where she is involved with her daughters' Five Sisters Production Company. Burton is the author of Heartbreak Hotel as well as the nonfiction work I'm Running Away from Home, But I'm Not Allowed to Cross the Street: A Primer on Women's Liberation (1972).

Reviews

[Angel Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Running Away From Home, But I'm Not Allowed To Cross The Street by Gabrielle Burton is an all feminist publication. By that I mean it was written by a woman, for women, by a printing press run by women for feminist literature in the early 1970s.

Gabrielle Burton was tired of feeling bored, miserable, and trapped in a string on babies, hobbies, and classes that never helped her. So she joined a Women's Liberation group in her town. It opened her eyes to learning how to really communicate with other women and also with her husband.

I think what was really cool about the book were the theoretical ways these women wanted to make communities and families healthier.
For example: community daycares in every community run by volunteers (parents, aunts/uncles, grandparents, siblings) and paid for by donations that ran 24hrs. In theory, that's fucking brilliant. Literally a village raising the children, in practice terrifying because today's parents are not only 100% anxious and terrified, but also gow do you clear volunteers for not being abusive or sick pervs? Also alot of people are so self centered they wouldn't believe that they should donate money to a "cause they don't need". This is also a 2022 perspective on the world not a 1970s one.

Anyway, this book made tons of great points about how women need drive and passion in their lives and shouldn't have to sacrifice proffesionalism or friendships to have to perfect family life. It's literally killing us.

Stop sleeping during the day! Find your passions! Unless you work third shift or are nocturnal. Then keep sleeping during the day, but still find your passions! 😘

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just fell in love with this lady. Her personality really comes through in this book making her points so much easier to absorb. She made a few mistakes but nothing that countered her main points. To dwell on them would be nit-picking and non-productive.

My only real objection can't be an objection in the context of her time. BUT, since this is a book from the early 1970's I know what happened afterward. Some of her ideas never worked out. I know. I tried some of them. We just couldn't live up to her vision of us. We are flawed human beings.

Last week I listened to a woman give a speech and pour out her woes about her oppression under the standards that are set for women today. Making a guess at her age, the woman could have been one of the author's grandchildren or possibly great grandchildren. Yet the speaker had the very complaints that the author expressed in the 1970s about the author's own life. Things have changed but there is a long way to go yet.

I might read this book again for reference. I recommend it.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting view into the mindset and perspectives of second wave feminism and what it was trying to accomplish.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was really interesting to see how people thought in those times. It felt like a window into the past. She wrote about what the WOmen's Liberation movement meant to her and other middle class white women. There must of been a lot of negative feeling towards the movement and she was just trying to spread the knowledge that women's liberation is also human liberation.