It always amuses me when Caucasian males discuss feminism. Noah Berlatsky (“Power to the Clueless,” March 2) makes a perfect example of cluelessness himself by beginning his review of a book on bisexuality with the line, “A largely bourgeois liberation struggle, feminism has always linked the pursuit of justice with the pursuit of self-actualization [. . .] offer[ing] the fuzzier prospect of personal transformation and utopian bliss.”
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Excuse me, but isn’t offering “utopian bliss” what all social movements do? Didn’t Dr. King offer us his vision of a world where racism was eliminated? Didn’t the peace movement offer a vision of a world where love replaced hatred? Why wouldn’t a movement offer an alternative to the system they are trying to dismantle?
“Women’s Lib” has suffered from this false claim of white middle classism for almost 50 years. Mr. Berlatsky offers nothing new to the managed media discussion of the efficacy of the women’s liberation movement, now relegated to the term “second wave.” In fact, it is a movement that has grown to influence international geopolitics. Women around the globe have used the movement as a model and inspiration. This is manifested in the UN-sponsored international conferences in recent years, bringing women from around the world together to strategize and share their struggles.
W. Armitage
