and freedom—of a better society—has usually been deeply satisfying. This aspect of women’s movements
has been widely ignored and deserves emphasis. We are social animals, and the camaraderie and
friendships formed in collective effort meet many needs, emotional and intellectual. Many considered the
rest of their lives better for having participated in movements for social change, and many looked back on
those years as among the richest and most fulfilling in their lives.
Feminism is neither a marginal cause nor a movement seeking benefits for a minority. It is a cause for
everyone. It has taken many forms, always responding to changing historical circumstances, and will be
reinvented by future generations. As Feminism Unfinished reveals, what it means to be a feminist is
constantly under construction.
- See, for example, http://www.gallup.com/poll/127559/education-trumps-gender-predicting-support-abortion.aspx, accessed May 14,
2013; Pew Research Center, release of May 4, 2010, at http://www.people-press.org/files/legacy-pdf/610.pdf, accessed May 6, 2013.