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REVIEWS

Divided Loyalties: Dilemmas of Sex and Class Anne Phillips Virago Press London, 1987 ISBN 0 86068 553 5£5.50 Pbk

Nancy Cott (1986) has recently drawn attention to a paradox in the contemporary feminist movement: that at a time when the movement itself seems to be increasingly frag­mented and disjointed, a particu­larly intense assertion of the

IS THE FUTURE FEMALE?

Is the Future Female?: Troubled Thoughts on Contemporary Feminism Lynne Segal Virago Press London, 1987 ISBN 0 86068 697 3 £4.95 Pbk

solidarity and essential unity of 'all women' is being posited within feminist theory.

Of course there have always been tensions and contradictory ten­dencies within feminism and the more we know of the history of the

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108 Feminist Review

women's movement the more we recognize their complexity and per­sistence. Perhaps, in moments of great optimism and enthusiasm such as in the early 1970s, the contra­dictory nature of our enterprise was less obvious. Today, however, diffi­cult questions can no longer be ig­nored. It seems to me no accident that a number of books have recently been published that self-consciously reflect upon the difficulties we face in constructing a coherent feminist theory and practice. These two books are useful contributions to this debate, and in different ways ask us thoughtfully to examine aspects of contemporary feminism and debate our differences honestly and openly

Divided Loyalties explores the tensions within feminism generated by class divisions amongst women. It draws upon a wide range of his­torical and contemporary literature to demonstrate how class has always constituted a problem for women's policies but that it need not constitute an insurmountable barrier to a feminism 'united-in­difference'. Though class, Anne argues, is 'real', it can and has been used by those opposed to feminism both to divide women and to devalue the development of women's politics more generally. She asks us to think more clearly about what class means to us; to take seriously the grounds upon which we disagree; but at the same time to be wary of using class in a dogmatic and un­thoughtout way which often results in unnecessarily dividing women and preventing the development of potential understanding and col­lective endeavours. I found particu­larly useful the sections where she explores the various ways in which class has been defined and how it has shifted its meaning for women over time. Her clear and lucid account is refreshing given that so much of the literature on sex/gender and class has been so abstract and theoretical in the worst sense that it has flJ.iled to engage those to whom

it purports to speak. This book will not satisfy those who

hope for easy solutions to what are in reality difficult and complex prob­lems. It does, however, pose a series of important questions which could serve as a basis for debating and thinking about the future of feminism.

lf class poses dilemmas for femi­nists, Lynne Segal's book, Is the Future Female? goes to the heart of the problem of constructing a unified feminist project. Basically, the book provides a very witty and persuasive critique of that particularly influen­tial and dominant brand offeminism which posits fundamental and essen­tial differences in the 'nature' of women and men (whether that 'nature' is socially constructed or biologically given); which sees the world as irrevocably divided and polarized around gender difference, and which often celebrates that difference and evaluates women or femininity as superior.

Drawing upon a wide selection of contemporary feminist literature, she charts the ways in which, in little more than a decade, the major focus of the women's movement has shifted from one where feminists challenged the social construction of gender to a feminism that appears to affirm that same gender ideology as the basis for feminism itself. As well as providing a devastating critique of some of the doyens of cultural feminism, there are thoughtful and perceptive chapters on sexuality and violence, motherhood, and war and militarism, all of which demonstrate both the complexity of these issues and the inadequacy of particular popular feminist theory. I find myselffunda­mentally in agreement with Lynne on the dangers for feminism of using a simplified and unproblematic con­cept of 'womanhood' which draws upon a particular concept of'feminin­ity' that has undoubtedly, been con­structed within particular male­dominated social formations. I share the view that such literature is blind

to issues of class and race and other divisions which determine women's lives and is therefore coercive. I am critical of its idealistic as opposed to materialistic understanding of gender construction, as though male power exists only in 'our heads', and I fear its reactionary political impli­cations.

At the same time I think that the shift towards a more 'woman-centred analysis' has served a fruitful pur­pose. As Sandra Harding has recently written, a feminist project should not attempt to substitute one set of gender loyalties for another -'woman-centred' for 'male-centred'­but, 'it is true that first we often have to formulate a "woman centred" hy­pothesis in order even to comprehend a gender free one' (Harding, 1986: 138). Some of the recent feminist writing that Lynne is critical of- for example the literature on mothering - has served to make us think more clearly about our feminist politics and about what sort of change we want: what it is that binds us together and what keeps us fragmented and apart. It has also made us think more carefully about such terms as 'nature' and 'culture' and their interrelation­ship with science and technology.

Reviews 109

. It should not really surprise us that feminist thought is contradictory. It is roote~ in the real contradictory experiences of women and faces the same tensions and contradictions. It is to the credit of both Anne and Lynne that they both recognize this, and that they are acutely aware that the worst thing we can do is to deny that such tensions exist. In the con­tinuing absence of any public forum in which to discuss our differences, it is to be hoped that these books will serve the purpose of renewing and revitalizing the debate amongst femi­nists, socialist, radical or otherwise, which is urgently needed if the move­ment is to develop and flourish.

Sarah Perrigo

References

COOT, Nancy (1986) 'Feminist Theory and Feminist Movements: The Past Before Us' in MITCHELL and OAKLEY Cl986J.

HARDING, Sandra (1986) The Science Question in Feminism Milton Keynes: Open University Press.

MITCHELL, Juliet and OAKLEY, Ann C1986J What Is Feminism? Oxford: Blackwell.

The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830-1980 Elaine Showalter Virago Press London, 1987 ISBN 0 86068 869 0£6.95 Pbk

Here is feminist history with a difference - a tale of the changing representation of women and mad­ness in which the men protagonists are as much celebrated as deplored.

It begins with the Romantic 'mad­woman in the attic' era of British psychiatry in which, writes Sho­walter, the insane, portrayed as deranged animals, were physically restrained in private homes and