[.ca] Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (ISBN 0805042024)

A Mixed Bag:
Like so much feminist writing, Gloria Stienem's Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions is a very mixed bag of thought. On the one hand, there are many important issues addressed in this book. Equal pay for equal work, sexual harrassment, the glass ceiling, good health care, and the objectification of women are among some of the topics covered. As this book was written more than a decade ago, it is a shame to see that these issues are still as relevant as they ever were. Gloria Steinem does an excellent job in illustrating these issues with her personal stories. She also has the ability to be very funny as an author, making her reader laugh at the sad ridiculousness of so many things. Unfortunately, like most feminist literature, this work confuses the liberation and equality with doing whatever one wants. Abortion, of course, is the worst example of this. The author is always careful to defend a woman's right 'to choose' but never actually comes out to say what she is 'choosing'. The choice is to end a human life - even science argees with that! An embryo (because pro-abortionists claim that an embryo is not a fetus, and therefore not human, until after the first trimester(and even that they cannot agree upon, some say it is earlier some say later)) has a separate DNA code from either it's mother or it's father, or any other human being on the planet. Using high-resolution imaging, at three weeks from conception (when most women would be finding out that they are pregnant and arranging for thier abortion, if that is their 'choice') you can visibly see a head, eyes, ears, body, spine, and the beginning of hands and feet. Scientists have tried, and failed, to come up with a specific date at which the fetus becomes human (therefore creating a date at which it is inhuman before that). There is no longer any scientific doubt as to whether a conception is human. Clearly abortion is killing. Feminism will never do women any good until we stop this evil thing. Abortion does not only kill babies, it hurts women. Over and over studies have shown that women who have had abortions wish that they had not. Many are seriously damaged both mentally and emotionally. Abortion also hurts women's bodies. Every abortion a woman has doubles her chance of premature birth with subsequent pregnancies. Abortion also damages the uterus and can make it impossible for a woman to conceive. Abortion is also implicated in some types of reproductive cancers. How can this be good for women? This book, like much feminine work, also encourages a 'do what you wanna do' type philosophy. Anything that makes a woman feel good is no longer disallowed. Sex outside of marriage, working when you have small children, easy divorce, etc. The author's justifications for these things seem to be two-fold 1.The 'everyone else is doing it' mentality. Didn't our mothers teach us better than that? 2.Men have been getting away with it, so we should, too! I would like to hope that just because men do something that is wrong (like have sex outside of marriage) that this doesn't make it ok. Doing something bad, just because we can, doesn't help us. It only brings us down to their level. Finally, one of the most disturbing things about this book is the question that isn't asked - What rights to children have? In the midst of battling so hard for women's rights (which is a good thing) we don't ask what right our children have. Don't children have a right to a safe development before birth? Don't children have a right to be cared for by their mothers, instead of by daycares and schools (which we know to be substandard at best, and dangerous at worst)? This book, in it's excellent quest for women's liberation, and it's horrible desire to free women from any sort of moral code or responsibility what-so-ever, NEVER stops to think about what children are entitled to expect. They are so unimportant that they are never mentioned. Whatever feminists think should be done with children, you cannot realistically address women's issues without addressing children's issues - they are inseparable! I appreciate the work of the suffargists, the early feminists, and the later/current feminists as well. I even appreciate what Gloria Steinem and others of her ilk believe they are doing to 'help' women. But I am beginning to wonder if the time hasn't come to create a new word to replace feminist. A word that women like myself can use proudly, without the squirmy feeling that we are aligning ourselves with those who kill babies, toss out all morality, and have zero care for the rights of children. Until feminists like Gloria Steinem learn to hear these issues, many women will never be able to proudly call ourselves feminists. That is the real tradgedy of this book.

Unfair perspective on our social climate:
I came across this book on my wife's bookshelf and out of curiosity I picked it up and read a good half of it and skimmed the second half. I just can't agree with Steinem's perspective that women are treated so unfairly in America. Granted, there have been problems in the past with jobs and pay scale, but these days young attractive women have just as many opportunities in the job market as men. Instead of highlighting her percieved injustices in America, it would have been great if Steinem could have provided more solutions for women to achieve success in today's business world. I am a liberated male and I want nothing more than to see more women around my workplace.

Thank god for Gloria.:
There was often grumbling in certain circles that Gloria Steinem had so much attention paid to her because she was pretty. If that was the only factor, Steinem's popularity would have waned, not because she lost her looks (she never did) but because of the fickleness of the media and the "next pretty face." Steinem is smart, brave, funny and a damn good writer. "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions", her 1983 book of collected essays proves it in spades. In early 1993, I had the privilege of seeing Gloria Steinem speak at Mount Holyoke College. I had to take the bus from UMASS to get there, and the place was packed. They closed the doors at one point saying it was too full, but they ended up letting most people in. When Ms. Steinem took the stage, she urged all those who were standing in the back to come up and join her onstage so that they could sit. This is the kindness and warmth that Steinem raidates. Many people in the audience were clutching copies of her books for her to sign. As this was the era of "Revolution from Within," that book was everywhere. But I also saw many copies of "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" as well. By then the book was 10 years old, but I can understand why people held onto it. This is a great book of essays written over the years. The book touches upon topics such as abortion rights, Jackie Onassis, Alice Walker, Steinem's college reunion, Steinem's own relationship with her mother and the famous expose of Steinem's undercover work at the Playboy Club in the early 60's. Having a journalism background, Steinem's prose is clear and concise. This is no rhetoric-filled theory-based polemic, but a balanced and fair look at the world from the perspective of an extraordinary woman. Also included in this collection is the wonderfully wry, "If Men Could Menstruate." The second edition of this book has some updated comments from Steinem that reflect on the essays more than a decade after the book was published. For all those who condemn feminism yet really know nothing about it, read this book. For those who are looking for a book of unique, well-written and enlightening essays, read this book. For those of us who discovered this book long ago and have fond memories, read it again.

I'm a Steinem fan, and this book is why!:
This was the first book I read by Gloria Steinem (but not the last!), and I loved it!! I took it on vacation and found it to be the perfect book for a trip. You can read one essay at a time or a few of them in one sitting. They range in tone and style from the more humorous to the dead serious. And reading about Steinem's experience as a playboy bunny, and then Hugh Hefner's response to her expose on Playboy was worth the price of the book. This book is for anyone and everyone, it's awesome!

Excellent:
I love this book, it is by far the best book about rebellion ever. I recommend it to all my special friends. Huggs and kisses to my friend Gloria.