Women's Liberation: An Annotated Bibliography

GENERAL WORKS
Adams, Elsie and Mary Louise Briscoe. Up Against the Wall, Mother. Beverly Hills, Calif.: Glencoe Press, 1971. A good anthology of works, old and new.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Translated and edited by H.M. Parshley. New York: Bantam Books, 1952. A classic study of “the woman problem.”

Bernard, Jessie. The Future of Marriage. New York: World Publishing, 1972. Studies “his” and “her” marriages and concludes that marriage makes women sick. Very encouraging to single women. A scientific study by a sociologist of long standing.

Bird, Caroline. Born Female: The High Cost of Keeping Women Down. New York: David McKay, 1968. Entertaining and hard-hitting presentation of women’s perils in the marketplace.

Davis, Elizabeth Gould. The First Sex. Baltimore: Penguin Books, Inc., 1971. “Proves that woman’s contribution to civilization has been greater than man’s,” to quote cover. Scholarship speculative at points, putting it charitably, but fascinating and mind-blowing.

Epstein, Cynthia F. Woman’s Place: Options and Limits in Professional Careers. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1970. Self-explanatory.

Friedan, Betty. The Feminine Mystique. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1963. The one that started the movement this time around. Explains why the housewives were climbing the walls, and still are.

Kraditor, Ailene S., ed. Up from the Pedestal. Chicago: University of Chicago Quadrangle Books, 1968. Selections from the history of American feminism. For analysis see her Ideas of the Woman Suffrage Movement, 1890 to 1920. New York: Columbia University Press, 1965.

Mead, Margaret. Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1935. For anyone who thinks that the sexes are innately different in behavior on the basis of biology and not cultural conditioning.

Mill, John Stuart and Harriet Taylor. Essay on Sex Equality. With introduction by Alice S. Rossi. Chicago: University of Chicago Quadrangle Books; 1970: Classic writings on and example of egalitarian marriage.

Millett, Kate. Sexual Politics. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1970. Still contains the best critique of Freud, plus biting analyses of various contemporary novelists.

Morgan, Robin, ed. Sisterhood Is Powerful. New York: Vintage Books, 1970. Probably best one-volume anthology of contemporary movement.

Ms. Magazine. Subscription is a must for anyone interested in the women’s movement.

O’Brien, Patricia. The Woman Alone. New York Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1973. Impressionistic study of single women of all ages and walks of life.

O’Neill, William L. Everyone Was Brave: The Rise and Fall of Feminism in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Quadrangle Books, 1969. Standard historical treatment. Male historian, but he tries.

Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Women. New York: Norton, 1967. Originally published in 1792, in case you think women began asking for their rights in the past decade.

RELIGIOUS WORKS
Boldrey, Dick and Joyce. “Women in Paul’s Life.” Trinity Studies, 2 (1972): 1-36. Scholarly attempt to cope with Paul and still maintain an evangelical hermeneutic.

Callahan, Sidney Cornelia. The Illusion of Eve. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1965. An early Roman Catholic look at the problems of women in the church. On another relevant topic, she’s written How to Work and Be a Good Mother. New York: Macmillan, 1971.

Daly, Mary. The Church and the Second Sex. New York: Harp & Row Publishers, 1968. First work by an avant garde Roman Catholic theologian. Her writings are speculative but always stimulating.

Dayton, Lucille Sider and Donald W. “Women in the Holiness Movement.” Unpublished paper available from the authors. First prepared for Women’s Aldersgate Fellowship of the Christian Holiness Association. Details the feminist writings and actions of the 19th-century Holiness Movement.

Doely, Sarah Bentley, ed. Women Liberation and the Church. New York: Association Press, 1970. Mixed bag of essays. Perhaps most interesting is appendix on study of sexist Sunday school materials.

Ford, Josephine Massyngberde. “Biblical Material Relevant to the Ordination of Women.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 1 (Fall 1973): 669-94. Very fine biblical study including latest scholarship.

Gibson, Elsie. When the Minister Is a Woman. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1970. Studies of many members of the International Association of Women Ministers show that women, given a chance, do a great job preaching the Word and shepherding the flock.

Graham, Billy. “Jesus and the Liberated Woman.” Ladies’ Home Journal, December 1970. The classic statement of Christian male chauvinism.

Hardesty, Nancy. “Women and Evangelical Christianity.” The Cross and the Flag. Robert Clouse, Robert Linder, and Richard Pierard, editors. Wheaton: Creation House, 1972. Outline of a basic evangelical theological position to support Christian feminism.

“Women: Second Class Citizens. ” Eternity, January 1971. Roughly the same as the above but with feedback from about 10 outstanding evangelicals.

Hoppin, Ruth. Priscilla: Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. New York: Exposition Press, 1969. A rather convincing case that has been supported by other leading biblical scholars.

Jewett, Paul. The professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary will have a solidly theological book on women’s issues published within a year by Eerdmans.

Payne, Dorothy. Women Without Men: Creative Living for Singles, Divorcées, and Widows. Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press, 1969. Closest to a realistic look at the problems. Not excessively “victorious.”

Prohl, Russell. Woman in the Church. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1957. Early martyr to the movement. Public reaction to this very moderate (but on the right track) study contributed to his early death. Eerdmans should reprint.

Ryrie, Charles Caldwell. The Place of Women in the Church. Chicago: Moody Press, 1958. Read his scholarship, ignore his conclusions. A classic attempt to make the Bible and church history more chauvinist than it is.

Reumann, John. “What in Scripture Speaks to the Ordination of Women?” Concordia Theological Monthly 44 (January 1973): 1-30. Very solid treatment of all the New Testament material. Shows that there is no good case against women in the pulpit.

Sayers, Dorothy L. Are Women Human? Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 1971. Two short essays that are dated and superficial but contain one or two quotations so beautifully expressed that they’re worth the price.

Scanzoni, Letha, and Nancy Hardesty. All We’re Meant to Be: A Biblical Approach to Women’s Liberation. Waco: Word Books, 1974. In addition to covering all of the biblical material, including such esoteric topics as the Levitical blood taboos, the authors get practical about singleness, sex, motherhood, marriage, careers, church work.

Scanzoni, Letha. “Elevate Marriage to Partnership.” Eternity, July 1968. Early statement of Christian case for egalitarian marriage in contrast to the spate of hierarchy and headship fanatics who’ve followed.

“The Feminists and the Bible.” Christianity Today, 2 February 1973, 10-15. Shows that 19th-century feminists also knew their Bible.

“Woman’s Place: Silence or Service?” Eternity, February 1966. Women sometimes do have the gifts of teaching and preaching.

Starr, Lee Anna. The Bible Status of Women. Zarephath, N.J.: Pillar of Fire, 1926, 1955. Includes Harnack’s essay on Priscilla as author of Hebrews. Also deals creatively with the biblical problems concerning women.

Stendahl, Krister. The Bible and the Role of Women: A Case Study in Hermeneutics. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1986. Succinct statement of the argument for liberation centered in Galatians 3:28.

Tavard, George. Woman in Christian Tradition. South Bend: Notre Dame Press, 1973. Historical treatment that tries to show women should be given a broader role.

Trible, Phyllis. “Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 12 (March 1973): 30-48. This Old Testament scholar’s work has appeared in various places. Her work on Genesis and Song of Solomon shows great promise.

When this article appeared, Nancy Hardesty was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago and the author of a new book on Christian feminism, reviewed in this issue of the Post American.