The new feminists: still fighting

"Feminism as been a cultural force of epic proportions. As vision or as critique it has touched the lives of everyone. It has been the touchstone for modernity.

In the west, the women's movement has influenced all of our lives. It has transformed education, how we bring up our sons, acceptable sexual practice; it has enabled us to listen to children and be part of a trend in which personal experience as a testimony is appreciated for what it tells us about all of our lives.

Outside the west, as women have taken up education or earning money for themselves, social and sexual relations have been threatened. Sexual violence has increased, becoming an instrument of social control and terror. In the west, the right hails Sarah Palin as feminist heroine. The capacity of ideology to trim itself to the latest fashion can appear inexhaustible. But are we fooled? I think not. These magnificent interviews remind us of the need to ensure change for women (and men) around the world. And not only change, but the transformative nature of collective action."