Right-Wing Women: The Politics of Domesticated Females

wow. published in the 80s and more relevant than ever reading it for the first time in 2025. andrea dworkin has this ability to write a sentence that hits you like a train and you just have to kind of sit back afterwards like Huh. and process for a bit. that's what was the most rewarding from this read—it didn't matter if i ultimately agreed with her analysis or theory in any given chapter bc at the end of the day she was presenting me with questions i hadn't been asking myself yet, new perspectives that i didn't consider before, and THAT is super fulfilling as a feminist text. i want to be challenged and see my own understanding of feminism evolve and this provided that. i wish i could thrust this into the hands of every young woman show more today as we watch conservatism rise, trending tradwives and the many pipelines into the ultra-right. i wanted to end with a quote but there were too many bangers to choose from show less

Honest and compelling!

Dworkin dissects, with great precision, the roots of male dominance and female subordination. Whether or not you agree with her, you have to admire her courage and passion. She also does a great job of conveying the thinking behind the views of right-wing women and explains why they don't support feminists' struggle for female equality. Her writing is first-class: clear, smart, sophisticated, and above all, honest.

Unfortunately, this book, first published in 1983, has been out of print for some time. I hope the publisher reissues it soon. Dworkin was ahead of her time, and her book has barely aged at all.

Not to be missed.

Two biggest takeaways from this book: Compassion and Self-reflection.

Self-reflection is something that the Left lacks and I think it incredibly brave of Dworkin to encourage leftists to engage in self-reflection (or even self-awareness!). Perhaps a better title for this book would be Left Wing Men, because it's important to hear these criticisms coming from a leftist if the Left is to have any lasting power. We need to solve our internal issues of misogyny if we're ever going to confront them in society at large... The fact that there's so much misogyny in the movement is terribly depressing!! I would definitely recommend leftist men to read this & try to learn to do better.

The thing that surprised me in this book was how much show more compassion Dworkin writes with, about women who would almost definitely disagree with her on every issue. Take a look at this:

"It does mean that the fate of every individual woman - no matter what her politics, character, values, qualities - is tied to the fate of all women whether she likes it or not. On one level, it means that every woman’s fate is tied to the fate of women she dislikes personally. On another level, it means that every woman’s fate is tied to the fate of women whom she politically and morally abhors. For instance, it means that rape jeopardizes communist and fascist women, liberal, conservative, Democratic, or Republican women, racist women and black women, Nazi women and Jewish women, homophobic women and homosexual women."

She obviously doesn't make excuses for right-wing women and the harm they do, but still has enough sympathy for them as victims of a patriarchal system which is a nuance that very few writers these days can manage. I guess the one weakness of this book is that it doesn't provide many solutions making it sort of depressing and hopeless, but the idea of "we're all in this together" (she literally says this I'm not even quoting High School Musical!!) is there.

Anyway after having read four Dworkin books this is the one I would recommend people start with. It's a lot easier to read than the other three I read, because there's no extensive literature reviews, and it's not dense and philosophical, and she incorporates her own personal experiences (in the chapter "Jews and Homosexuals" she talks about the intersection of being a Jewish Lesbian for example). Anyway this book makes me want to become the Joker. show less

A magnificent in-depth analysis of positions of the Right on gender. Thirty years old, but not dated yet at all

andrea dworkin is mother

The last segment, ‘Antifeminism’, is required reading.

Incredible, as ever. Definitely one of her key texts. Hard to review for a non-enthusiast, but I'll try at some point (too much travelling to do right now so no time).