Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference [Hardcover]

Introduction Part I: The historical dilemma 1. The nineteenth century: equal but different 2. The split (part I): equalitarian versus reform feminism 3. The split (part II): ultra versus new feminism 4. The 1960s resurgence: from equal rights to post-feminism Denouement Part II: Current controversies Prologue 5. Equal versus special treatment 6. Protective legislation and industrial health hazards 7. Sex discrimination and affirmative action 8. Divorce, custody and Baby M 9. The sexuality debates 10. The construction of Women Conclusion

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Are women the same as or different from men? Should women seek equality with men or admit their difference? First published in 1990, Same Difference explores these highly-charged political questions by examining how the womens movement has engaged with them over time and in three countriesAustralia, Britain, and America. Case studies include disputes about maternity leave, protective legislation, affirmative action, custody, pornography, rape, and womens supposed metaphysical differences from mentheir greater nurturing and caring capacity.

Challenging a common view of the womens movement as perpetually riven into sameness and difference camps, Same Difference highlights the political conditions which impel some feminists to argue in these terms. The implication of the analysis is that debates about sexual difference divert attention from important social issues such as how society is to reproduce itself and what kind of society we wish to create.

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