The Women’s Revolution

How We Changed Your Life

Muriel Fox, New Village Press (JUN 18) Hardcover $28 (320pp), 978-1-61332-244-4

In her memoir, cofounder of the National Organization for Women (NOW) Muriel Fox celebrates thirty crusaders in the women’s movement whom history shouldn’t forget.

Fox shares perspective on the movement in which she played a key role. From the 1950s to today, she outlines progress in education, sexual harassment, women’s health and reproductive freedom, and financial and economic opportunities; she highlights court cases that transformed US laws and personnel practices, and marches and creative political action that inspired people across the globe. She notes successes and challenges the movement faced, the people who undertook these efforts, and work that remains in a quest for equality.

The book includes intimate insights into the movement’s key players, including Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug, and Gloria Steinem. And there are profiles of historical figures including Ann Scott, who put teeth into affirmative action; Alice Paul, who pushed for the Nineteenth Amendment, lobbied to include Title VII in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and introduced the ERA; and Barbara Seaman, who championed women’s health.

Besides Fox’s personal files and memories, interviews with colleagues produces rare insight on a profound transformation of the last century. Fox confesses regrets, oversights, and failures, and her personal knowledge corrects previous inaccuracies about the movement and reveals how discrepancies emerged. She notes divisions within the movement and how they fostered new organizations to tackle practices, language, and perceptions that create obstacles for people of all kinds. Included are photographs, letters, press releases, and NOW’S statement of purpose.

The Women’s Revolution is a revealing memoir about the feminist movement’s vast accomplishments, spurring continued action in the fight for equality for all.