Neglected or Misunderstood: The Radical Feminism of Shulamith Firestone

by Victoria Margree

Shulamith Firestone’s The Dialectic of Sex proved immediately controversial upon its publication in 1970. The book’s thesis is that the origins of women’s oppression lie in biology: in the fact that it is women and not men who conceive and give birth to children. Firestone’s solution is revolutionary: since it is biology that is the problem, then biology must be changed, through technological intervention that would have as its end the complete removal of the reproductive process from women’s bodies. With its proposal for the development of artificial wombs, its call for the abolition of the nuclear family and its vision of a cybernetic future, Firestone’s manifesto may seem hopelessly out-dated, a far-fetched, utopian hangover of Swinging Sixties radicalism. This book, on the contrary, will argue for its importance to the resurgent feminism of today as a text that interrogates issues around gender, biology, sexuality, work and technology, and the ways in which our imaginations in the 21st century continue to be in thrall to ideologies of maternity and the nuclear family.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Philosophy

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2018

About the author

Dr Victoria Margree is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Brighton. She is interested in philosophy, politics, feminist theory, and fiction of all kinds.

Reviews

[Domhnall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shulamith Firestone’s 1970 classic was an important landmark in feminist writing and should be read for its historical importance but naturally it shows its age, belongs to its time and place. Margree’s book reviews Firestone’s arguments to establish their continuing relevance fifty years later. She gives a fair summary of the points made by Firestone, offers an assessment of their viability as of 2018 and invites readers to consider how they might apply to ongoing social concerns.

It would be very easy to broaden out her discussion to incorporate more contemporary concerns, some of which she does hint at, and most readers will be quick to point out all sorts of topical implications, but that is not her objective. Margree sticks faithfully to Firestone’s agenda and elaborates only where she feels that current issues bear directly upon Firestone’s interests. This is a reader’s guide to Firestone.

There are things in Firestone’s book that simply do not stand up to scrutiny today. Margree points them out without fudging. There are other matters on which the evaluation has to be more mixed and, arguably, Margree allows Firestone a charitable reading that is occasionally far too generous, crediting her with subtleties that are simply not in her actual work. The critical reader will decide for themselves. A lot of what Firestone speculated in 1970 was, however, genuinely prescient and Firestone’s basic lines of argument retain their value.

My major objection to Firestone’s book applies no less to this one by Margree and is that any discussion of motherhood in particular or social life in general must escape the narrow confines of cultural theory. If we are going to revive Firestone’s 1970s tirades against motherhood and her speculations about artificial wombs, why would we choose to be silent about the extensive sociological research by Ann Oakley into childbirth and motherhood, which commenced a few years later but seems now to have gone strangely out of fashion?

It must be obvious by now that medical practitioners make claims for what they can or might achieve which are wildly unrealistic and misguided and which reflect the interference of male experts and capitalist investment in a domain where women’s expertise is ignored. If we now concede that baby formula really is not an adequate substitute for mother’s milk, and if we have begun to grasp the sophistication of the way a mother’s breast produces that milk, adapting its content to changing needs of the infant, then surely it will have registered that the concept of an artificial womb is not only insanely ambitious but certainly inferior and undesirable even in principle.

What Oakley demonstrated was that major improvements are achievable for mothers and their babies but they would run counter to the interests and values of their medical experts. That’s where feminism needs to be looking – not to technological fantasies or the airy speculations of cultural theory but to the material reality of women’s lives. When did feminists stop listening to women?

[Jeffrey Canino]

A superb leftist revaluation of a bold, complex, occasionally eyebrow-raising, but always fascinating figure of second wave feminism. If that wasn't enough, Margree's concise, fluidly written volume also somehow manages to summarize most major mid-to-late 20th century perspectives and positions of the Women's Liberation Movement. This will be an invaluable work to draw upon for my own teaching.

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a clearly-written introduction to a sometimes neglected figure. Its elucidation of her core ideas was interesting and sometimes insightful. However, I think it could have done a lot more, and I'm not entirely sure I would recommend it to anyone. For one thing, it admits its own limitations, and states that it will dedicate itself to certain crucial topics and not others, as if space is an issue, and then still features an entire chapter that barely mentions Firestone and has virtually nothing to do with her. Also, as a small thing but another instance of wasted (airless?) space: at one point, it seems to gesture toward a fruitful comparison with Greer and Millett (14) that I suppose the reader is supposed to carry out on their own, whereas that wasted chapter could have developed this merely hinted contrast. Most significantly, I find that scholarship often provides me, the lowly reader, with the opportunity to become familiar with lesser-known works and contexts. This book gives a little (very basic and generally-known) context, but deals almost entirely with the Dialectic and a tiny bit with Airless Spaces. It does not devote much time at all to the latter's implicit critique of psychiatry. This means that the text does not devote any time whatsoever to the various, small, highly obscure works of Firestone's, at least one of which I think could have supplemented some of the book's points. At any rate, I would maybe recommend this book if you're desperate for any kind of Firestone scholarship, but not if you're already familiar enough with Firestone that it feels a good bit limited.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short excellent treatment of Shulamith Firestone's classic second wave feminist work "The Dialectic of Sex" was wonderful. I would recommend that anyone reading Firestone's original text read it along with this book too. Victoria Margree does a good job of both situating "The Dialectic of Sex" within its original historical context while simultaneously highlighting all of the ways in which Firestone's work is ultimately still relevant today. In particular, I found Margree's discussion of the politics surrounding gestational surrogacy, abortion, contraception, pregnancy, egg-freezing, Caesarean sections, natural childbirth, and in vitro fertilization (particularly in contemporary America) to be particularly worthwhile.

[fausto · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excelellent analysis of the relevance of Firestone's work today, specially Margree's emphasis in the innovative materialist/dialectic though of Firestone's radical feminism.

[Kody Keckler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was very interested in Firestone's work after a brief introduction during undergrad, so when I stumbled across this book I was ready to dive in. This text provides a useful entryway to Firestone's groundbreaking feminist philosophy and gives a perspective as to what it might mean today. Margree expertly and succinctly covers topics like technological determinism, evaluating the "natural," sexism though the lens of historical materialism, and the effects of hierarchies within a family unit. As she does this, she shows how many of the underlying premises from Firestone's Dialectic are relevant to today, and considers how some aspects may be flawed. Despite the heady topics, this book flowed smoothly and was (refreshingly) easy to read.

Firestone made waves with her publication of The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution in 1970. She is maybe most widely known for her proposition to remove the reproductive process from the human body. If women are oppressed because of their biology [a questionable premise in itself], Firestone argues, perhaps the solution is to have babies undergo gestation via external technology. Margree reviews this perspective with a critical lens, but ultimately pushes past this one facet of Firestone's work in favor of a more holistic analysis. (Ironically, though, she also adorns the cover with a fetus in a gestation tube.)

Delving deeper into Firestone's work, I particularly enjoyed the discussion of the moral neutrality of technology, as well as the discussion of children's limited personhood and hierarchy within families. On the other hand, I found that Margree was maybe too forgiving in her analysis and discussion of Firestone. Margree acknowledges many arguments against Firestone and many places that her theories failed, but there were multiple occasions where I sat back and thought "hm, ok maybe I don't agree with this analysis." Most notably, Firestone's understanding of race and racism was particularly deficient, and Margree notes this in a somewhat cursory section.

Overall, I enjoyed this read and especially appreciate how Margree recontextualized Firestone within a contemporary milieu. I would love to read more nonfiction like this!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A summary and brief analysis of some parts of the Dialectic of Sex. Interesting in places - my favorite being the longest chapter analyzing Firestone's proposals for her utopian world - but pretty barebones and sometimes too much of summary. Might be best as an introduction to Firestone for somebody who is very new to Feminist theory and ideas. But I would really love to see deeper analysis and investigation into Firestone, who I find so interesting and visionary, but the main book that exists that does that is "Further Adventures."

Also - you can't really neg the book for this - but it's crazy to see Nina Power quoted on the back of this, because she has since gone completely conservative. But this inspired me to look her up. I'd always though she was more of a "Conservative Feminist" (as Firestone would put it), but apparently she was once writing essays for Libcom critically analyzing Firestone??? Which is crazy cause the most recent article I saw from her finds her arguing for a "return to a sexual difference and the family"? Like wtf happened there to bring about that complete 180?

[Kit]

Perfect chaser for Firestone's 'Dialectic of Sex'. Margree succinctly summarizes Firestone's positions while giving critical commentary all the time, and filling in the political and technological changes that have occured since the primary text came out.

I agree with Margree's conclusions, which are that though Firestone was wrong on many counts, she broke new ground and helped us to imagine a better world.