(no subject)
So I was in a local library today (you can use your card at any library in the state) dropping off some pamphlets for my place of work. I stopped by the FREE BOOKS table on the way out, because you never know, right?
There were twelve or fifteen books of feminist scholarship on that table. Some were in bad repair, but many looked to have years of usable life. They were a bit dated, on the whole - 60s through 80s for most - but there were some important authors in there: Shere Hite, Betty Friedan, Kate Millett, Shulameth Firestone, Marcia Cohen. Whether or not you like those women's work (and there's a lot to criticize in second wave/radfem scholarship) they are important figures historically.
Still, I went inside the library to check out their women's studies section, in case they'd replaced the discards with more current books.
There was nothing.
I asked the Reference Librarian - who referred me to a university library.
It feels like our history is being erased.
I took a lot of those books home.
There were twelve or fifteen books of feminist scholarship on that table. Some were in bad repair, but many looked to have years of usable life. They were a bit dated, on the whole - 60s through 80s for most - but there were some important authors in there: Shere Hite, Betty Friedan, Kate Millett, Shulameth Firestone, Marcia Cohen. Whether or not you like those women's work (and there's a lot to criticize in second wave/radfem scholarship) they are important figures historically.
Still, I went inside the library to check out their women's studies section, in case they'd replaced the discards with more current books.
There was nothing.
I asked the Reference Librarian - who referred me to a university library.
It feels like our history is being erased.
I took a lot of those books home.