Three decades after the remarkable resurgence of feminism, gender issues have become ubiquitous in public debate. For some, feminism is the favorite scapegoat for multiple social ills; for others, the greatest success story of the closing century. The Janus face of feminism in the media reflects the competing images of women´s lives today. Feminists themselves hold sharply opposing views on the success or failures of three decades of women´s activism. Why Feminism? looks at the shifts in feminist thinking from the brash emergence of Women´s Liberation at the close of the 1960s to the diverse and discordant feminisms of recent decades. Exploring feminism´s troubled relations with psychology and psychoanalysis, the rise of new evolutionary theory, the impact of queer theorizing on gender categories, controversies over memory and trauma, and increasing anxieties about men and masculinity, Why Feminism? illustrates the continuing provocation and significance of feminist inquiry, laying out potentialities and pitfalls for the century ahead.

Written by the author of Is the Future Female? , this work looks at the ongoing feminist pessimism about men and male power. It has been revised throughout, and has a new introduction updating the debate surrounding masculinity. Throughout the 1980s, questions concerning the changing nature of men's lives and experiences have been debated with new passion and concern. From the exploration of sex roles to the study of gender and power, the psychology of men has emerged fraught with strain and crisis. Ironically, the thoughts of those seeking sexual politics to undermine men's power over women remain consistently gloomy, while the category of masculinity seems monolithic and secure. This book approaches the problem of men in a new way by not looking at masculinity, but at specific masculinities . From tough guys and martial men to camp, gay and super-macho, their differing roles are analyzed. The author argues that men can and do change, and that if we are to move on, it is vital we recognise and build on these changes, and construct a vision of a non-repressive sexual agenda for both men and women.