Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (Re-Reading the Canon) 1st Edition

by Mimi Reisel Gladstein (Editor), Chris Matthew Sciabarra (Editor)

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ISBN-13: 978-0271018317

ISBN-10: 0271018313

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This landmark anthology is the first to engage critically the writings of Ayn Rand from feminist perspectives. The interdisciplinary feminist strategies of re-reading Rand range from the lightness of camp to the darkness of de Sade, from postandrogyny to poststructuralism. A highly charged dialogue on Rand's legacy provides the forum for a reexamination of feminism and its relationship to egoism, individualism, and capitalism. Rand's place in contemporary feminism is assessed through comparisons with other twentieth-century feminists, such as de Beauvoir, Wolf, Paglia, Eisler, and Gilligan. What results is as provocative in its implications for Rand's system as it is for feminism.

Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand (Re-Reading the Canon)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Too often, Rand is either revered as a prophet or dismissed as a crank. Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand approaches her as a writer and thinker of profound insights and equally profound contradictions, who offered an important and inspiring but flawed and limited vision of life. . . . Such a serious approach can ultimately end Rand’s intellectual marginalization. This volume takes a major step in that direction. In the process, it addresses issues of sexual equality and difference that are more relevant than ever today.”

—Cathy Young, Reason Magazine

About the Author

Mimi Reisel Gladstein is Associate Dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas, El Paso. She is the author of The Ayn Rand Companion (1984; forthcoming revised edition, 1999) and The Indestructible Woman in Faulkner, Hemingway, and Steinbeck (1986).

Chris Matthew Sciabarra is Visiting Scholar in the Department of Politics at NYU and is the author of Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical (1995) and Marx, Hayek, and Utopia (1995).

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Product details

Series: Re-Reading the Canon
Paperback: 480 pages
Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press; 1st edition (February 4, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0271018313
ISBN-13: 978-0271018317
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.2 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,692,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #969 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Criticism
- #989 in Books > Literature & Fiction > History & Criticism > Women Authors
- #1266 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Women's Studies > Women Writers

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Top Customer Reviews

Fantastically Interesing Rand Commentary

ByJoshua Zaderon February 11, 1999

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Some browsers might be interested in an open letter that Nathaniel Branden <NathanielBranden@compuserve.com> wrote to Chris Sciabarra concerning this book:
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Dear Everyone, Now that it's in the bookstores (or available through amazon.com), I urge you to buy and read FEMINIST INTERPRETATIONS OF AYN RAND. The collection is fantastically interesting--and important. (Forget the fact that I am one of the contributors; this is not self-serving.) Naturally, one likes some essays more than others, and some of the pieces are anything but friendly to Rand, and that's all right too, because what matters is that the average intellectual level of the pieces is very high--and the editors are to be saluted for assembling this marvelous collection and for taking another step in closing the gap between AR and the academy. I have no words to convey the rush I experienced while reading this book. Those poor souls at ARI do not understand that this book, criticisms of Rand and all, will do more to advance the cause of Rand's work than all their true-believer praise and idiotic adulation. Have fun. I did. And (if anyone cares) you can quote me. Nathaniel

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Fun read whether you love Rand or hate her

ByPaul E Crideron December 30, 2016

Format: Paperback

This was a lot of fun, and it somewhat rekindled my old flame for Atlas Shrugged even as it confirmed my basic dislike for the Fountainhead. I never did read We the Living.

As with any multi-author collection, this volume has good and bad elements. Barbara Branden's contribution humanizes Ayn Rand with a really powerful grace. It's good that the book begins with this.

Another favorite was Karen Michalson's Who is Dagny Taggart?, which makes a persuasive case for Dagny as a feminist hero. Michalson draws attention to Rand's use of clever inversion in three superficially sexist or misogynistic scenes (Francisco slapping Dagny, Dagny acquiring and donning the Rearden Metal bracelet, and Dagny performing domestic work for John Galt) that, in context and with the particular construals of the characters, reveal enlightened feminist ideas. In each case, the sexist trope (abuse by a man, wearing jewelry from a man, and domestic work for a man) involve Dagny acting with self-respect according to her own rationally chosen values.

I also appreciated Sharon Presley's essay on Rand and individualist feminism. One concern I often have with libertarian feminists is that they often only discuss feminists from a century or more ago, leaving one puzzled as to whether they find anything of value in modern feminist thought. But Presley engages thoughtfully with Carol Gilligan and her ethics of care, finding (correctly, in my view) that there is a synthesis possible with care ethics and individualist values, and that a healthy individualism is pro-social.

This is a fun book to read for anyone interested in feminism who has read a little bit of Rand, whether you love or hate her or, like me, are decidedly ambivalent.

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A FASCINATING COLLECTION OF ESSAYS THAT ILLUMINATES RAND

BySteven H ProppTOP 100 REVIEWERon April 5, 2012

Format: Hardcover

Mimi Reisel Gladstein is also the author of books such as The New Ayn Rand Companion, Revised and Expanded Edition,Atlas Shrugged: Manifesto of the Mind, and Ayn Rand (Major Conservative & Libertarian Thinkers); Chris Matthew Sciabarra is also the author of books such as Ayn Rand: The Russian Radical,Ayn Rand, Homosexuality, and Human Liberation, and Ayn Rand : Her Life and Thought.

They wrote in their Introduction to this 1999 book, "Feminism is not a monolith. It is composed of a variety of approaches in both method and content. This volume reflects that proposition... several individuals who remain within the Randian circle ... were not willing to contribute to any volume whose premise is feminism... As co-editors of this volume, we hope to have contributed to a critical rereading of Rand's works as 'works of philosophy in their own right.' That this discussion of an influential woman thinker of the Western canon takes place in the context of feminism is both appropriate and long overdue." The book contains essays by writers such as Barbara Branden, Susan Brownmiller, Camille Paglia, Wendy McElroy, Nathaniel Branden, Joan Kennedy Taylor, etc.

Barbara Branden's essay begins by noting that, as feminists began making increasing demands for laws, etc., "Ayn Rand turned ever more violently against feminism. She seemed unaware of the growing pro-individualist concept of feminism---of which her own books were a significant source." (Pg. 25-26) Susan Brownmiller calls Rand "a traitor to her own sex" (largely because of the infamous rape scene in The Fountainhead; pg. 65). Nevertheless, Wendy McElroy asks, "what heterosexual woman hasn't fantasized about being swept into the strong impetuous arms of Rhett Butler and conveyed up a curving staircase to the satin sheets of ravishment?" (Pg. 169)

An essayist asks, "So why are there so few women in Galt's Gulch, and why didn't Rand create more strong women in 'Atlas Shrugged'?" (Pg. 215) Another notes that Rand was known "proudly to proclaim" that she was not a feminist, but suggests that her gender assumptions, "arising from emotional needs that she did not acknowledge, are in conflict with her rational view of women as individuals and the equals of men." (Pg. 293) Still another suggests that Rand's project "has been prohibited from reaching its full potential because of flaws and inconsistencies in her notions of gender." (Pg. 351)

These essays will be of great value to students of Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

This volume's few exceptions to ignorance don't compensate for myriad content that should have not gone beyond editors' review

This anthology is a diverse -- perhaps motley is a better word -- collection somewhat unified by the editors' intention to have its multiple contributors discuss Ayn Rand "in the...Read more

Published on May 31, 2011 by David P. Hayes

Rembrandt confetti

Rand's morphing in a feminist is the entire object of the book; hence the new term "Randian-Feminism."Read more

Published on August 16, 2003 by A. Morrow

N. Branden's comments silly and layered with irony

Nathaniel Branden writes in his review: "...this book, criticisms of Rand and all, will do more to advance the cause of Rand's work than all their (actual Objectivists)...Read more

Published on December 6, 2001

Excellent wide-ranging scholarly discussion

I'm a contributor to this anthology. This book covers a lot of new ground, bringing together people and perspectives all over the map, from different disciplines and backgrounds,...Read more

Published on March 6, 2001 by Thomas Gramstad

Many disciplines brought to bear ...

This anthology includes a marvelous variety of perspectives on Rand's philosophy as well as her fiction; to criticize this work based on the all-or-nothing behavior of the ARI or...Read more

Published on February 14, 2001 by T. Bank

CULT?

The following of Ayn Rand is a not a "cult." As rational people, we should be able to draw the distinction.Read more

Published on March 27, 2000 by Luke Thomas

FEMINISM IN SEARCH OF THE FEMALE?

It is very good to see such interest in Rand, and as a canonical feminist no less. People are getting away from arguing about her ideas and seeking to understand them.Read more

Published on December 27, 1999 by Michael "MG" Gilson

Warning: This is not AYN RAND.

Like any great artist, Ayn Rand has her share of people who are trying to cash in on her success. This book is a shining example of that.Read more

Published on December 23, 1999

Great book

I have no idea what book Mats Landstrom read... but it seems to me that he is criticizing Objectivism, and not saying ANYTHING about this volume.Read more

Published on March 11, 1999

There is nothing of value to interpret

I believe Ayn Rand's writings are very destructive. And this isn't because of her highly un-original philosophy.Read more

Published on March 8, 1999

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