The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization That Transformed America
國家婦女組織：女權主義者如何建立改變美國的組織
內容介紹
★《衛報》發表了一篇熱烈的評論，稱其“出色”。《經濟學人》也對其進行了報導，而《基督教科學箴言報》則將其選為了八月最佳圖書之一。
在1966年夏天，28名女性擠在華盛頓特區一家酒店的套房裡，策劃了一項革命性的計畫。著名《女性迷思:女性自覺大躍進》(The Feminine Mystique)一書作家貝蒂·傅瑞丹(Betty Friedan)，以及在民權運動前線工作的律師保利·默里(Pauli Murray)，召集了年度州婦女委員會大會的與會者參加了這次充滿叛逆性的會議。她們對政府行動的拖延感到厭倦，於是提出了成立一個團結所有婦女並為她們的權利而戰的組織構想。她們時而自我懷疑，時而充滿活力，在深夜裡討論著這個想法。不到二十四小時，國家婦女組織（National Organization for Women，簡稱NOW）誕生了。
在《國家婦女組織：女權主義者如何建立改變美國的組織》一書中，歷史學家凱薩琳·特克（Katherine Turk），透過三位相對不知名但後來成為領袖的成員記錄了這個組織的發展和持久影響，這三位分別是牙買加裔美國人的聯邦官員愛琳·赫爾南德斯（Aileen Hernandez），芝加哥天主教工會組織者和工人階級人士瑪麗·珍·科林斯（Mary Jean Collins），以及密西根州的共和黨人、藝術家和前選美皇后派翠西亞·希爾·伯內特（Patricia Hill Burnett）。從這個組織大膽成立開始到動盪不安的20世紀70年代，國家婦女組織的女權主義衝擊了整個國家，永久改變了美國的文化和政治，並與保守派勢力發生衝突。這些婦女建立了一個在當時被認為是激進的組織，但足夠靈活以成為主流的一部分。這本書是這群女性如何建立這個組織的故事，以及如何讓這個組織永續經營的故事。
作者介紹
凱薩琳·特克(Katherine Turk)是《Equality on Trial: Gender and Rights in the Modern American Workplace》一書的作者，該書獲得了美國歷史組織（Organization of American Historians）頒發的瑪麗·尼克利斯美國女性和/或性別歷史獎（Mary Nickliss Prize in U.S. Women’s and/or Gender History）。她是北卡羅來納大學教堂山分校（University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill）歷史系的副教授，兼任性別研究副教授。
書評
"Superb history . . . Turk has done a much-needed service, writing the first full history of NOW . . . As Turk deftly guides her readers through NOW’s roller coaster of victories and defeats, we come away with a clear blueprint for change–replete with cautionary tales–as we face new challenges to women’s freedom and equality. The Women of NOW can show today’s feminists the path forward. It is a must-read." ―Clara Bingham, The Guardian
“Turk’s true subject is NOW’s early years. Her account reveals a uniquely ambitious political organization, one that achieved remarkable successes while struggling with divergent feminist visions, competing egos, and insufficient funds.” ―Moira Donegan, The New Yorker
“[A] nuanced understanding of [NOW's] institutional history . . . Establishing and maintaining NOW has been hard and valuable work, Turk amply demonstrates.” ―Carl Rollyson, The New York Sun
"The Women of NOW gives an in-depth look at a vital part of feminism in America. The perfect read for those interested in women’s history, American history, and politics." ―Booklist
"[A] smart, clear-eyed history . . . a timely addition to the history of 'second wave' feminism that illuminates today's debates about women's rights." ―Publishers Weekly
"Turk tells a lively story of the development of the National Organization for Women . . . A thoroughly researched and well-balanced history." ―Kirkus Reviews
“Finally, we have a book that centers a diverse array of women leaders who built NOW, a singularly important American organization formed to end male supremacy. The Women of Now is an excellent work of history and essential reading for those who continue to fight for a society that values the experiences, recognizes the rights, and supports the aspirations of all women.” ―Tomiko Brown-Nagin, author of Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality
“Katherine Turk’s The Women of NOW: How Feminists Built an Organization That Transformed America is popular history at its most captivating: The story of a vital and complex moment in time, told with sensitivity, nuance, and an eye to the future. Anyone interested in America will be fascinated by this book. For a new generation of feminists, it is necessary reading.” ―Kate Bolick, author of Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own
“A rich and textured account of the way NOW came together and came apart. Turk provides a deeply researched history of complex organizational politics and a vivid portrait of a group of remarkable women who devoted their lives to achieving equality. Turk’s description of NOW’s significant accomplishments and its disappointing failures offers important lessons that may guide us as we face the challenges of a post-Dobbs world.” ―Drew Gilpin Faust, author of Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury
“Katherine Turk’s The Women of NOW charts the emergence, growth, and endurance of one of the twentieth century’s most important organizations engaged in the struggle for equality. To tell this story, Turk introduces us not only to NOW’s famous founders but to many of the forgotten women who built the organization―women like Aileen Hernandez and Mary Jean Collins, whose ethnic and class backgrounds challenged NOW’s early assumptions that gender alone defined a woman and shaped her goals. Throughout the narrative, Turk demonstrates a profound understanding of the larger social context in which NOW arose and the growth of identity politics that threatened NOW’s survival. Beautifully written and remarkably well-researched, this is a book that should be read by every American committed to the ongoing campaign for equality, in which NOW still plays a critical role.” ―Carol Berkin, author of Revolutionary Mothers: Women in the Struggle for America’s Independence
“Katherine Turk’s rigorous archival research and groundbreaking cross-country reporting have culminated in this essential contribution to the history of feminism in America. The Women of NOW tells the story of a group of women, and three of their unsung leaders, who tried to change the world―and in so many ways, did.” ―Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can't Sleep
“Katherine Turk’s masterful The Women of NOW offers a long overdue and definitive look at the pathbreaking National Organization for Women and how it transformed both American feminism and American life. This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand what feminism is―or could be.” ―Mary Ziegler, author of Roe: The History of a National Obsession
“Illuminating, unflinching, and galvanizing above all, The Women of NOW is more than a fascinating and accessible guide to the most influential American women’s political organization. It is a timely call-to-arms in a post-Roe society that reminds us that history may rhyme but it does not need to refrain. This will certainly be a favorite among activists, teachers, and students for many years to come, but, more importantly, it’s the kind of work that gives us hope in the fierce urgency of NOW.” ―Charlotte Clymer, writer and activist
“I lived through the history inscribed in this book but I never understood it anywhere as richly as I do now, having had it all laid out for me with impressive clarity and imagination, as Katharine Turk has done.” ―Vivian Gornick, author of Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader
"With The Women of NOW, Katherine Turk offers vivid prose and dramatic stories about the central role the National Organization of Women has played and continues to play in advancing American women’s rights through robust action―underscoring issues as urgent in the 1960s as they are now." ―Daniel Horowitz, author of Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique
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