March 4, 2016

The Cure, Not the Disease: "Lean Out" by Dawn Foster



When I first read the Sandberg book that this takes its name from, I was excited. 

Basically, here was a feminism that someone can do on your own. No mass movement needed. 

But I was thinking in context of the world that Sheryl brought us into. It was one of privilege and one that couldn’t be changed, so it must be navigated. It’s actually a really pessimistic book, and one that only will work for the educated white-collar classes who have some say in the terms of their own exploitation under capitalism –those so deep in their own exploitation that they don’t see their chains.

So it has been refreshing to see antidotes to the leaning in. I first saw it in part of Aschoff’s book “New Profits of Capital” (cited in this work), and in other more radical publications that don’t take the establishment view for granted. I came across this text because the Verso blog called it one of the best books of 2015 (Even though it wasn’t published in the states until early 2016, which to me is a recommendation to get into publishing and criticism if only for early access to crucial texts). I like this book. It is a call for the mass movements and a justification for them. It touches on that other book early on, but becomes more general on what is needed for women to do (still!) in terms of making the world work better in gender terms. It is a short but meaningful read, and one that should be undertaken. It will help explain why feminism is necessary (still!)

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