Read more
"For more than a century, women have been fighting for equal rights and losing. Time and again, our battles for equality fall short, no matter the domain, no matter the issue. Even when "equality" is codified in the law, it is rarely, if ever, enforced. Yes, we can blame this failure on the policies that are full of loopholes, and on a justice system that is mechanically reliant on a biased bureaucracy. But the greater problem, the one that stands between women and true progress, is in the notion of equality itself. In Breaking Free, culture writer Marcie Bianco persuasively argues that the very concept of equality is a fallacy, a misleading ideal that cannot and will not resolve historic forms of discrimination and oppression. With passion and precision, Bianco breaks down the fabricated structure of equality: Starting with the inception of the ERA and traveling through modern history, she shows us how equality is a patriarchal value designed to keep women and other disenfranchised communities chasing an intangible, unobtainable goal. With the facade of equality dismantled, Bianco goes on to champion a reclamation of freedom to transform the feminist movement. Bianco will inform and guide readers in an essential pivot to a new hope for the future of the feminist movement, gender justice, and women in general. What happens if we free ourselves of equality? Controversial and thrilling, Breaking Free fearlessly takes us where we need to go"--
About the author
Marcie Bianco is a writer, editor, and cultural critic. She has written, taught, and lectured about feminism, ethics, literature, and culture for more than fifteen years. A 2013 Lambda Literary Fellow, her writing has appeared at CNN, NBC Think, and Vanity Fair, among other outlets and academic publications. Bianco is a columnist at the Women’s Media Center and a SheSource expert. She currently is an editor at Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), an award-winning quarterly print magazine.
Summary
A bold argument that “equality” is a racist, patriarchal ideal that perpetuates women’s systemic oppression and limits the possibilities of feminism—with a plan to transform the movement
For more than a century, women have fought for equality. Yet, time and again, their battles have fallen short. Even so-called constitutionally-protected equal rights can be withdrawn by judges and undermined by legislators. But the greater problem is in the notion of equality itself.
In Breaking Free, culture writer Marcie Bianco persuasively argues that the very concept of equality is a fallacy, an illusory goal that cannot address historic forms of discrimination and oppression. Starting with the campaign for women’s suffrage and traveling through modern history, she shows us how equality has been designed to keep women and disenfranchised communities chasing an unobtainable goal. Conditioned for generations to want equality, it has become an insidious mindset locking us into the gender binary and reductive identity politics. Bianco calls upon a long-overlooked lineage to argue that only freedom can liberate feminism from these constraints, and proposes three freedom practices for women to reclaim their bodily autonomy and power.
What happens if we free ourselves of equality? Controversial and thrilling, Breaking Free guides readers toward new hope for the future of the feminist movement.
Foreword
A bold argument that "equality" is a racist, patriarchal ideal that perpetuates women's systemic oppression and limits the possibilities of feminism-with a plan to transform the movement
