Lorna N. Bracewell

Why We Lost the Sex Wars from Lorna N. Bracewell is a thorough reassessment of the "sex wars" with an eye toward changing the discourse about it from a two-sided "cat fight" to a far more nuanced inclusion of liberalism as well as Black and Third World feminisms. To this end Bracewell is both very convincing and presents her ideas quite clearly.

While this is not really too academic in the sense of information little known outside the academy, it does require some baseline of understanding of both feminisms before and after second wave feminism as well as of the "cat fight" narrative she is targeting. So while this is not an ideal introductory text it does need to be read shortly after beginning to understand the "sex wars" so that the reader will have these perspectives available before forming any strong opinions. It is also equally, or maybe more, important because of the way our current environment is framed in her final chapter. Ultimately this is a call for us to return to some more radical positions rather than defaulting to the liberal/conservative stance of carceral feminism.

If you remember the sex wars and had strong feelings at the time, this book will be an eye-opener in the sense that we have all tended to gloss over the fine points as time has marched on and unfortunately remember the debates as a two-sided affair rather than a multi-sided one. While there will likely be some new information for most readers in the book (definitely was for me) the strength is in shedding new light on events and people that we may not have known about but did not associate within the "sex wars" discourse.

Highly recommended for readers with an interest and some knowledge of feminist history, especially second wave feminism and the period known as the "sex wars." The reading is dense in spots but nothing that should keep most readers from appreciating the argument.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (lisätietoja)