The Word of a Woman

Feminism from the front lines

A founder of the contemporary global women’s movement, Robin Morgan is widely known as one of feminism’s strongest, most persuasive activists. As a writer, she is unique in her ability to distill ideas into smart pieces of nonfiction that can transform a reader’s worldview forever.

The Word of a Woman follows Morgan’s journalism and shorter prose from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Originally published in 1992, this second edition adds five new essays. An annotated version of her famous, fiery “Goodbye to All That” is here, as are essays that expose the connections between violence against women and pornography, explain the effects of female genital mutilation, and show how sexism and racism are intimately connected. She tells inside stories about having organized the first Miss America Pageant protest, writes poignantly about being a feminist raising a son, and pens a letter to be read one thousand years in the future. She reports on her work with Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip, with Filipina prostitutes in South Asia, and with village women in South Africa—and celebrates finding indigenous feminism wherever she goes. Morgan unveils creative, visionary yet pragmatic ways for women to unite, regardless of barriers. Her message of defiant hope will inspire any woman—and man—who reads it.

“With Morgan’s passion and honesty, this book of selected short prose pieces may be the only source that combines the history of the recent Women’s Movement with a vision of the future. It leaves a trail of light.” —Gloria Steinem

“No writer in America has traveled the entire distance of modern feminism with writings as provocative or with greater range or talent.” —Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton

“Robin Morgan’s ideas are hers: they don’t date and they don’t pall, their wording merely shifts with the years. She is devoted, disciplined, poetic, businesslike, tough on her sisters as well as her brothers, and (may I say it?) almost innocent in her candor. I’m not a fool, and I’m much older than she—yet she taught me most of what I know, and all of what I feel, about feminism.” —Ned Rorem

“An interesting look back at the feminist wave [Morgan] helped start 20 years ago.” —Kirkus Reviews Award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, and feminist leader Robin Morgan has published more than twenty books, including the now-classic anthologies Sisterhood Is Powerful and Sisterhood Is Global and the bestselling The Demon Lover: The Roots of Terrorism. Her work has been translated into thirteen languages, among them Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Persian. A recipient of honors including a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, and former editor in chief of Ms., Morgan founded the Sisterhood Is Global Institute, and with Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, cofounded the Women’s Media Center. She writes and hosts Women’s Media Center Live with Robin Morgan, a weekly program with a global audience on iTunes and WMCLive.com—her commentaries legendary, her guests ranging from grassroots activists to Christiane Amanpour, Anita Hill, and President Jimmy Carter.