The Women’s Revolution—How We Changed Your Life
By Muriel Fox
Reviewed by Victoria Starr Marshall
For me, born in the 50s, growing up through the 60s, and coming of age in the 70s, the birth of the feminist movement in the United States is part of my lived experience. I remember the slights of being subordinate to men. I could not get credit in my own name, there were jobs I could not apply to, college was billed as the way to land a good, professional husband, and as a businesswoman, I was often the only woman in the room and subjected to overt sexual harassment. Fortunately, during that time there was a group of dedicated women leading the fight for equality and in that pursuit founded the National Organization for Women (NOW).
Most of us can easily recall a few of their names such as Gloria Steinem, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Betty Friedan, who wrote The Feminine Mystique. But there were many other courageous women whose names aren’t on the tip of our tongues, who brought the fight to Congress and organized a movement to ratify The Equal Rights Amendment. “A number of us had succeeded in overcoming some of the barriers,” Fox writes, “We managed to attain fairly good jobs, somewhere in the middle of the system. But we still faced obstacles.” Muriel Fox is one of these women, and she wants us to know and remember the others and the work they did for us all.
I found The Women’s Revolution—How We Changed Your Life to be a fascinating read. Fox’s exciting first-person account reminded me about the slow but real progress women have made, the heroines who put themselves out at front and at personal risk, and the danger of the current backsliding we are experiencing.
Fox’s frontline account is candid and revealing. She acknowledges the vision and progress made, but does not shy away from recounting the women’s movement’s mistakes, betrayals, defeats, and infighting. “I was privileged to play a role in this revolution,” she writes. “I’ll share with you, truthfully, the good and bad things we did.”
She reminds us that the founders of NOW and others were the second wave of feminists, continuing the work of their suffragette sisters. Fox wrote this book for our daughters and granddaughters, not us. There is still much work to be done and she implores the next generation to pick up the mantle and continue the fight. The journey is ongoing.