Burn It Down!: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution

by Breanne Fahs (Editor)

A comprehensive collection of feminist manifestos, chronicling rage and dreams from the nineteenth century to the present dayA landmark collection spanning two centuries and four waves of feminist activism and writing, Burn It Down! is a testament to what is possible when women are driven to the edge. The manifesto—raging, demanding, quarreling and provocative—has always been central to feminism, and it’s the angry, brash feminism we need now. Collecting over seventy-five manifestos from around the world, Burn It Down! is a rallying cry and a call to action. Among this confrontational sisterhood, you’ll find the Dyke Manifesto by the Lesbian Avengers, The Ax Tampax Poem Feministo by the Bloodsisters Project, The Manifesto of Apocalyptic Witchcraft by Peter Grey, Simone de Beauvoir’s pro-abortion Manifesto of the 343, Double To Be Black and Female by Frances M. Beal, and many more. Feminist academic and writer Breanne Fahs argues that we need manifestos in all their urgent rawness, for it is at the bleeding edge of rage and defiance that new ideas are born.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Politics, Essays, Philosophy, Womens, Theory

676 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 24, 2020

About the author

Breanne Fahs is Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University. She is the author of Performing Sex, Valerie Solanas, Out for Blood, and Firebrand Feminism, and co-editor of The Moral Panics of Sexuality, and Transforming Contagion. She is the Founder and Director of the Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at Arizona State University, and also works as a Clinical Psychologist.

Reviews

[Rhiannon Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

⁠I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.


I have a minor in Women's Studies from the University of Georgia (almost a dual English/Women's Studies degree) so when I first saw this book my eyes lit up. I loved learning about feminist theories and reading works by feminist authors but in all of my studies and personal reading I've never seen a collection of feminist manifestos before this. ⁠

Author Breanne Fahs describes a feminist manifesto as "impolite by nature, refusing the very qualities--politeness and deference in particular--that women are socialized to cultivate in themselves; it is frankly impatient, unmotherly, irritated, revolutionary, nasty, ambitious, bossy, and at times violent--all of which constitute traditionally 'unfeminine' qualities." I marked up this collection (yes, *gasp* I write in my books) just like I used to do in college with underlining, marginalia, and dreamy questions to myself. Organized into 8 themes (Queer/Trans, Anticapitalist/Anarchist, Angry/Violent, Indigenous/Women of Color, Sex/Body, Hacker/Cyborg, Trashy/Punk, and Witchy/Bitchy, this book is easy to read straight through or to skip around at your will.
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I think this book is a must-read (and if possible own for the sake of reference) for everyone. It is absolutely exploding with reflections, challenges, and suggestions to open your mind and keep you thinking. ⁠

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[Claudia Cortese · Rating 5 out of 5]

The manifesto is an underrated genre. Manifestos are subversive, unruly texts that seek not publication, accolades, or career advancement. Rather, they seek to change the world. The manifestos in the anthology are wide-ranging in their tone, focus, and topics, and some are stronger than others, but they all intrigued me. My favorites were the Queer Nation manifesto and the Pajama Femme manifesto. Essential read for anyone interested in activist texts and history.

[sage e · Rating 4 out of 5]

really comprehensive collection of feminist manifestos across different eras and intersections

[madalena · Rating 4 out of 5]

From Breanne Fahs’ introduction:

Burn it Down! approaches its content as sites of eruption, where knowledge is not assembled as a collection of facts but as a diverse set of affects, histories, styles, and ideologies that circulate through complex networks of oppression and dissent. These manifestos represent the patterns and paradoxes that have emerged - and continue to emerge - in the wake of radical social upheavals. Some of these texts will feel especially relevant and alive in this cultural moment, while others might feel out of place or even dated. Some will feel fresh while others won’t; some speak directly to you while others invite you to consider new modes of feminist solidarity you had not previously considered. Some you might hate. The collection is designed to present bodies of work - individually and together - to think about radical social thought and its expression. It should, in one way or another, hit a nerve.”

As expected, there were some sections I found more relevant and interesting (Queer/Trans; Anticapitalist/Anarchist; Indigenous/Women of Color; Sex/Body) than others (particularly the Angry/Violent and Hacker/Cyborg sections). There were texts that made me cry, texts that made me laugh, texts that made me proud, texts that made my eyes role, texts that made me angry (at the world) and texts that made me angry (at the text). I could’ve gone without some of the terfy ideas from a couple of manifestos, but the author’s introduction made it easier to accept that they were included. Although imperfect, I think this is, all in all, a valuable collection that I will definitely revisit.

[Umi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably more like a 3.5, parts of this were neat and reminded me of the excitement of reading about feminism in high school, but a lot of the selections felt really dated already (less so the already-dated 60s stuff with 😬 language and more things like an essay from Grimes’s blog (really)). I feel like having all of these manifestos in one place is probably a good resource for educators and academic settings, but for dilettantes like me who want a compilation cd sampling of work by people with whom they aren’t yet familiar but find intriguing so they can go back to the sources and get super obsessive, it may not be ideal if you’re already familiar with a lot of the better-known work and chronically averse to any writing from this century.

[brisingr · Rating 5 out of 5]

heart constantly breaking while reading this book, bc most of these manifestos are *decades* old and yet still they feel as actual, needed, impactful and important as if they were written yesterday. a bit heartbreaking to know we've been fighting, as feminists, for so long and so little change has happened. to many more rights, and to eventual true equality.

highly recommending this for anyone curious to know feminist history, as it's been written in its most urgent texts.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edgy and, at times, crazy, these manifestos rocked my summer. They took me right back to Women's Studies classes and all the ideas I needed back in my head.

[Renee Eshel · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this !! was quite hefty to get through but had some really cool manifestos in it. some i knew some i didn’t some i agreed with less/ more. i just am not that interested in some shit e.g hacker stuff but like i sooo wish i was just too much coding & like tech for my brain. i’m just a girl uwu ❤️

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone should write a manifesto, as a treat

[Jenny (bookishjenx) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five months later here we are.

Life-changing. Messy. Angry. Lovely. Tear-jerking. Frustrating. Important. Inspirational. Important. Eye-opening. Imperfect. Rage-inducing. Vital.

[Tami · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hefty but inspiring read for the most part though I wasn’t particularly sold on some of the curatorial choices. While I appreciate the attempt to have a little something for everyone in the wide array of voices and writing styles it’s natural that some of them just didn’t jive with me.

I probably would have given it 4 stars just for being a nice go to encyclopedia of feminist manifestos of sorts but I just can’t do that with the glaring omission of any even minor reference to veganism. With sections for all different themes of manifestos related to feminism there is somehow not even a single animal rights related essay let alone a section for it. For a book that tries to cover all the different viewpoints of feminism it’s just shocking and disappointing to leave out such a giant topic that has so many pointed feminist writings (see oh I don’t know THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEAT!?).

I can just imagine someone saying “oh but veganism is such a divisive issue” about a book called Burn it Down about FEMINIST MANIFESTOS and it makes me want to fucking scream.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the individual manifestos/essays/poems were good, but the compilation of the book did not feel well put together, and I question the editor's decision to include some TERFs as prime feminist writers. I also was disappointed that plain text was not included alongside images of some of the manifestos, as I had a lot of difficulty reading the images.

Probably doesn't help that I have recently read a better compilation of feminist essays.

[Re · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is an interesting way of exposons yourself to diferent opinions. I had the ebook and some of the original extrait were hard to Read. It is hard to d’au about the quality of writing as it a collection of different actors.
I would like to have more of the long manifestos. And more different on time. Mostly from the 60s. It took me a really long time to finish this book, as some sections interested me more than others. I put aside several time for months.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

A collection of feminist manifestos, covering a range of different topics, views & insights

Some fall flat but within most of the essays (some more than others) there are definite questions, answers and statements that put into words a lot of the anger, frustration at the current and past world, and dreams of what a truly equal society could be.

[Sarah Keig · Rating 4 out of 5]

For various reasons I really struggled to get into this book. However, once I decided that I didn’t need to read it from cover to cover and I could just dip in and out if the various manifestos I thoroughly enjoyed it. So many different themes made it a really thought provoking read.

[liv · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked this up at one of my favorite bookstores about a month ago and wanted to slowly read and take my timr with it. i thoroughly enjoyed the sections on queer/trans women, indigenous/poc/black women, and sex/the body the most. very educational and interesting! i highly recommend

[Grace Elrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

such a comprehensive collection of feminist rage, a great one to dip in and out of! i don’t agree with all of the manifestos but that’s the whole point. by offering so many ideas and perspectives it encourages you to challenge your own.

[Christine Hahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to have in your library for reference.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a manifesto. Good collection. One to keep in the library.

[Jennie Mather]

Need to come back when I can concentrate on this.

[Mira Elzanaty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Develop, changed and reaffirmed many of my views and philosophies. Made me think

[michaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing amazing beautiful simply the best. saw many authors i like in here

[giulia ⚢ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t give it less than five stars since it’s a really good source if you want to read feminist manifestos.

[Logan Tunick · Rating 5 out of 5]

informative

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for Women & Gender Studies class.

[Ester]

for gender studies!

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection of manifestos, was pleasantly surprised at the intersectionality, fantastic writing on queer rebellion

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s hard to review this book as a whole, as the essays were all across the board. Some essays you’ll jive with, some will make you uncomfortable, some will introduce you to something you’ve never considered before — and some will radicalise you. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking to expand their understanding of feminism.

[aleema garfinkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

literally my bible. a must-read for every feminist.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My appreciation for manifestos just keeps growing. Such an underrated genre.