Shulamith Firestone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Shulamith Firestone
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Firestone c. 1970
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| Born |
Shulamith Bath Shmuel Ben Ari Feuerstein
January 7, 1945 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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| Died | c. August 28, 2012 (aged 67) New York City, U.S.
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| Burial place | Long Island, NY |
| Nationality | Canadian-American |
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Notable work
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The Dialectic of Sex (1970)
"Airless Spaces" (1998) "Pour l'abolition de l'enfance" (2002) |
| Movement |
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| Relatives | Tirzah Firestone (sister) |
Shulamith Firestone (born Feuerstein; January 7, 1945 – August 28, 2012) was an important writer and activist from Canada and the U.S. She was a key leader in the early days of radical feminism and second-wave feminism. These movements worked to make women's lives better and more equal. Shulamith helped start three important feminist groups: New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and New York Radical Feminists. People called her "the firebrand" or "the fireball" because she was so passionate about her beliefs. She joined protests, like speaking out at a big conference in Chicago. She also helped organize a protest at the Miss America Contest and a symbolic "funeral" for old ideas about women.
In 1970, Shulamith wrote a very important book called The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution. This book shared new ideas about women's rights. Her ideas in The Dialectic of Sex were important for later types of feminism, like cyberfeminism and xenofeminism. This is because she thought about how technology and gender could connect. Shulamith also helped write and edit a magazine called Notes. Her last book, Airless Spaces, came out in 1998. It was a collection of short stories about her experiences with mental illness.
A documentary film called Shulie was made about her when she was a student. It showed her journey to becoming a famous feminist writer. Shulamith struggled with a mental illness called schizophrenia after she stopped her activism. She lived with this illness until she passed away in 2012.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Shulamith Firestone was born in Ottawa, Canada, on January 7, 1945. She was the second of six children. Her mother, Kate Weiss, was a German Jew who escaped the Holocaust. Her father, Sol Feuerstein, was a salesman from Brooklyn. Shulamith's parents were Orthodox Jews.
When Shulamith was a baby, her father helped free people from a concentration camp in Germany. Later, when she was a child, her family changed their last name to Firestone. They moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was very strict with his children. Shulamith's sister, Tirzah, said their father often got angry with Shulamith. Shulamith did not like the sexism in her family. For example, her father expected her to make her brother's bed "because you're a girl." Another sister, Laya, remembered Shulamith and her father sometimes threatening each other.
Shulamith's mother believed that Jewish women should be passive and follow traditions.
Education and Early Activism
Shulamith Firestone went to Washington University in St. Louis. In 1967, she earned a degree in painting from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While she was in Chicago, she started her first women's liberation group. It was called Westside.
Feminist Activism
Radical Feminist Ideas
Shulamith Firestone was known as a radical feminist. This means she believed that women were treated unfairly as a group. She thought that women could only be truly free if the whole system of male power was changed. She used ideas from thinkers like Karl Marx and Frederick Engels. But she also said they didn't focus enough on women's problems.
In her book, The Dialectic of Sex, she wrote that feminists must question all of culture and even how nature is organized. Her ideas in this book also helped lead to cyberfeminism. Her actions with feminist groups were seen as radical because they talked about women's issues that people usually didn't discuss.
Westside Group
In 1967, when she was 22, Firestone went to a big conference in Chicago. There, she met Jo Freeman. They both felt angry because women's issues were ignored at the conference. They suggested a plan for fair laws about marriage and property. They also wanted women to have "complete control of their own bodies." But they were told their ideas were not important enough to discuss.
Eventually, they got their statement added to the end of the meeting's agenda. But the director, William F. Pepper, would not let any women speak. When Firestone and four other women went to the stage to protest, Pepper patted Firestone on the head. He said, "Cool down, little girl; we have more important things to talk about than women's problems."
Soon after, Firestone and Freeman started a meeting that led to the first women's liberation group in Chicago. It was called the Westside group. It met weekly at Freeman's apartment. After a few months, Freeman started a newsletter called Voice of the Women's Liberation Movement. This newsletter spread across the country and gave the new movement its name. Many women from the Westside group went on to start other feminist groups.
New York Radical Women
In October 1967, after starting the Westside group, Firestone moved to New York. There, she helped start the New York Radical Women group. This was an early second-wave radical feminist group. Other members included Robin Morgan, Carol Hanisch, and Pam Allen. This was the first women's liberation group in New York City.
The group wrote a statement called the New York Radical Women's Principles. It said that the group's members rejected history that only focused on men. It explained how women's history had been ignored. The group believed that all feminists should work together to fight this unfairness. The principles also clearly stated that the group did not believe in using violence to make changes.
The New York Radical Women's group also had a program to help women feel stronger and more independent. They believed this would help women not be seen as just serving men. It would also fight against society's negative views of women.
Redstockings and New York Radical Feminists
The New York Radical Women group started "consciousness raising groups." In these groups, Firestone and Ellen Willis helped create a new radical feminist group called Redstockings. The name came from an 18th-century women's literary group. Other members included Kathie Sarachild and Carol Hanisch.
The Redstockings believed that women's stories should be told. They thought that female writers could help protest male power. The women of the Redstockings saw consciousness raising as a way to change history. It was their way of resisting. They learned about women's lives by studying their childhoods, jobs, and motherhood. In their groups, they talked about their own experiences. They also used theories to understand their real feelings. They believed that consciousness raising could help change old ideas and bring new ones to society. They hoped that more awareness would lead to bigger actions. However, the group did not want to become a large organization.
In their Redstockings Manifesto, the group said that women were an oppressed group. They stated that women's problems affected every part of their lives. They believed that women were used as servants and cheap labor. They also said that women's humanity was denied.
The manifesto explained that women had lived closely with their oppressors, men. This made it hard for women to see their personal suffering as a political problem. It made it seem like a woman's relationship with a man was just between two people. But the Redstockings said that every such relationship was a class relationship. They believed that conflicts between men and women were political. They could only be solved if women worked together.
The Redstockings group also believed that society needed a psychological revolution. They wanted women to explore their own unique selves to resist male control. They thought that if individuals could take back their power, it would spread to affect all of society.
The group also published a journal. They protested a Miss America contest to highlight how much society focused on women's looks. The women threw out things linked to the pain women suffered for "beauty," like high heels. This protest was important because it helped start the Women's Liberation Movement. The Redstockings group broke up in 1970.
In 1969, Firestone and Anne Koedt left the Redstockings. They then co-founded the New York Radical Feminists (NYRF).
Other Actions
Firestone took part in many protests and political actions for feminist issues. In March 1969, she convinced twelve women to share their personal stories about a certain issue at a "speak out" event. The feminist groups Firestone helped start also held protests and street performances. The women also took part in the "Burial of Traditional Womanhood" in 1968. This was a mock funeral for a dummy dressed like a typical housewife. Another action was releasing mice at Madison Square Garden during a bridal fair.
Writing Career
The Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.A.: New View
In 1968, Firestone published an essay called The Women's Rights Movement in the US: A New View. In this essay, Firestone wrote about her belief that the women's movement could become revolutionary. She said that the women's rights movement had always been radical. She gave examples of 19th-century women who challenged the church, white male power, and the traditional family. Her essay argued against downplaying women's struggles and the unfairness they fought.
The Dialectic of Sex
The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970) became a very important book for second-wave feminism. This was Firestone's first book, and she published it when she was only 25. In the book, Firestone wanted to create a historical view based on sex. The book also describes Firestone's ideal society, where women are not oppressed.
The Dialectic of Sex was seen as a dream-like plan that looked at problems in the United States at the time. The book was both praised and criticized, and it even became a best-seller. Firestone combined ideas from thinkers like Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, and Simone de Beauvoir. She used these ideas to create her radical feminist theory. She also mentioned the influence of other books about population.
In her book, Firestone said that modern society could not have true equality between sexes until women's biological traits were separated from their identity. The Dialectic of Sex was greatly influenced by the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir. Firestone believed it was important to recognize the history of the feminist movement. So, she dedicated her book to Simone de Beauvoir.
Firestone also argued that Freud and Marx had ignored what she called the "sex class." This was the idea that women were controlled because of their biological differences. She expanded on Marx's ideas about class to say that a sex-class system existed. She believed this system was created by biological differences related to having babies. Just as Marx linked class differences to how labor was divided, Firestone linked sex-class differences to the sexual division of labor. This division happened both in and outside of having children.
Unlike some feminists of her time, Firestone did not believe that women could be free by saying they were naturally better. Firestone also said that to be human means to grow beyond nature. She wrote that society could no longer use nature as an excuse for an unfair sex-class system. She also said that women must take control of how babies are made. This was similar to Marx's idea that workers must take control of how goods are produced. Firestone also praised the Black Power movement. She was inspired by many other radical activists and used similar strategies for her feminist ideas.
Firestone also criticized how heterosexual parents raised children. She argued that children's development was held back by their education and their lower place in society compared to adults. Parents controlled these parts of their children's lives. This also increased what mothers were expected to do. Firestone wanted society to move past this. She dreamed of solving these problems by having children raised by a group, not just families. She especially wanted to get rid of "nuclear families," which are households with a husband, wife, and their children. She believed these families created inequality because children were seen as less important than their parents.
Airless Spaces
By the time The Dialectic of Sex was published in 1970, Firestone had mostly stopped being politically active. She left politics in the early 1970s and worked as a painter. From 1978 to 1980, she taught art workshops at a prison in New York City. She also created murals for a nursing home and an outdoor wall.
In the late 1980s, she became mentally ill.
In 1998, she published Airless Spaces. This book was a collection of fictional short stories. They were based on her experiences being in the hospital for schizophrenia. The book shows the lives and struggles of different characters in New York City who are dealing with mental illness and poverty. Each story talks about the difficulties of mental illness. It also covers feelings of "shame, humiliation, fear, loneliness, and anxiety" that come with it. The characters often have unstable lives in terms of money, social status, and mental health. Airless Spaces is seen as a reflection of how Firestone felt left out because of her radical feminist ideas. It also shows the difficulties people face in escaping the harsh parts of the mental health system.
Struggle with Mental Illness
In May 1974, Firestone went home to St. Louis after her brother Daniel died. After his death, her parents planned to move to Israel. This led to an argument that caused Shulamith to stop talking to her parents.
In 1987, Shulamith's sister Tirzah said that Shulie's mental illness started when their father died. She felt that he had provided some stability for her.
Firestone was officially diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She was hospitalized many times. Her psychiatrist, Dr. Margaret Fraser, said that Firestone had a very serious form of Capgras delusion. This made her believe that the people in her life were "hiding behind masks of faces."
Friends and acquaintances, with help from her psychiatrist, tried to care for Firestone as her mental health got worse. But when her psychiatrist moved and a close friend became ill, the group of women stopped helping. This left Firestone alone with her illness until her death.
Death
On August 28, 2012, Firestone was found dead in her New York apartment. She had been living alone and was in poor physical and mental health.
A few months after her death, an essay by Susan Faludi in The New Yorker magazine gave more details. It said that her long struggle with schizophrenia and possibly not eating enough were likely reasons for her death. A memorial service was held for her.
Legacy and Impact
The Dialectic of Sex
The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution is still used in many women's studies programs today. Its ideas, like raising children in a way that doesn't focus on gender, are similar to what Firestone wanted to achieve. Shulamith Firestone's work is seen as a starting point for combining science and technology with feminist thinking. Her ideas are still discussed, including her belief that more women should work in engineering and science.
Cyberfeminism and Xenofeminism
The Dialectic of Sex also has an important place in a type of feminism called cyberfeminism. Firestone thought about what is now known as "cyborgian feminism." Her book was an early idea for what cyberfeminists do today. Specifically, Firestone argued that women needed technology to free themselves from the duty of having babies. Firestone was an important thinker who linked gender inequality to the idea of women only as child bearers. She pushed for more technology to end gender oppression.
The ideas Shulamith presented about technology were different from many other writers at her time. She saw technology as a tool to start a feminist revolution, not as a form of male violence. Firestone's work helped spread discussions about the general ideas of cyberfeminism. Shulamith Firestone also influenced Donna Haraway and her cyberfeminist writings. Both of their works have similar views. They both talk about biology and want to change it using technology. These two women imagined a future where people are more gender-neutral. They also wanted to change how the female body is seen. Their works also connect how these changes affect work roles. Shulamith's book helped people understand gender transformation. These ideas are still a basis for cyberfeminist writing today.
Ideas in The Dialectic of Sex are also connected to xenofeminism. Firestone wanted to free women from the burden of having children. She also wanted to stop using sex organs to define a person's identity. These ideas are similar to what xenofeminists want. They want a society where people are not given traits based on their supposed sex. Helen Hester, who helped write The Xenofeminism Manifesto, said her ideas were related to Firestone's ideas about feminism and technology. She even said Shulamith was one of the main thinkers who contributed to xenofeminism.
"Shulie" Documentary
When she was studying at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Firestone was the subject of a student documentary film. In the film, she answers questions about her thoughts on education, art, relationships, religion, and politics. It also shows her painting, taking photos, and getting feedback on her art from professors. She is also shown working part-time at a post office.
The original film was never released. But in the 1990s, filmmaker Elisabeth Subrin found it. She then remade the documentary frame-by-frame. It was released in 1997 as Shulie. It won two awards, including the 1998 Los Angeles Film Critics Association award. The film shows Firestone as a young student. It also shows her journey to becoming one of the most famous second-wave feminists and feminist writers of the 20th century. In 1998, the film won an award for Independent/Experimental Film and Video. Two years later, it won the "Experimental Award" from the New England Film & Video Festival. The New Yorker praised the documentary. They liked how it used a concept from Firestone's own work to make a film set decades before it was filmed.
Works by Shulamith Firestone
- (1968). "The Women's Rights Movement in the U.S.: A New View". Notes from the First Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1968). "The Jeanette Rankin Brigade: Woman Power?". Notes from the First Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1968). "When Women Rap about Sex". Notes from the First Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1968), ed. Notes from the First Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1970), ed. Notes from the Second Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1970). The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution. New York: William Morrow and Company.
- (1971), with Anne Koedt, eds. Notes from the Third Year. New York: New York Radical Women.
- (1998). Airless Spaces. New York: Semiotext(e).
Images for kids
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Firestone c. 1970
