Examines the influence of the notorious American anarchist “Red Emma” on the shifting social geography of sex and gender at the turn of the twentieth century.
Winner of the 2017 Everett Lee Hunt Award presented by the Eastern Communication Association
Silver Medalist, 2017 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Women’s Issues Category
In this book, Donna M. Kowal examines the speeches and writings of the “Most Dangerous Woman in the World” within the context of shifting gender roles in early twentieth-century America. As the notorious leader of the American anarchist movement, Emma Goldman captured newspaper headlines across the country as she urged audiences to reject authority and aspire for individual autonomy. A public woman in a time when to be public and a woman was a paradox, Goldman spoke and wrote openly about distinctly private matters, including sexuality, free love, and birth control. Recognizing women’s bodies as a site of struggle for autonomy, she created a discursive space for women to engage in the public sphere and act as sexual agents. In turn, her ideas contributed to the rise of a feminist consciousness that recognized the personal as political and rejected dualistic notions of gender and sex.
Donna M. Kowal is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at The College at Brockport, State University of New York.
