These twenty-one inspiring young activists and intellectuals recast the ideals of feminism to reflect their own personal experiences and convictions, determined to expand the bounds of feminism to include social, political, and economic equality for all humankind. They speak out, inspired by activist and writer Rebecca Walker, questioning many of their preconceptions about the women's movement and urging readers to see a new link between the personal and the political. They bravely express their release from feminist "ideals" that contradict with the reality of who they are, unveil "shocking" truths, and admit long-hidden accommodations and abnormalities, black and white, male and female, homosexual and straight. To Be Real is a roadmap for the formation of a new political force that is both controversial and provocative.
For many of us it seems that to be a feminist in the way that we have seen or understood feminism is to conform to an identity and way of living that doesn't allow for individuality, complexity, or less than perfect personal histories. We fear that the identity will dictate and regulate our lives, instantaneously pitting us against someone, forcing us to choose inflexible and unchanging sides, female against male, black against white, oppressed against oppressor, good against bad.
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