Feminist Research: Prospect and Retrospect

The six parts of Feminist Research: Prospect and Retrospect parallel the female life cycle, highlighting themes such as the increasing power of medical definitions of female experience - including conception, pregnancy, childbirth - and the nature of depression in women. New perspectives are offered on the specificity of the female approach to both learning and teaching and are emphasized in considering problems such as dealing with alcohol abuse and wife-battering. For example, Margaret Eichler opens the initial section, "Reproduction and Maternity," with an analysis of the new reproductive technologies. Making use of interviews and quantitative material, Ann Quénairt and Jane Gordon take up the theme of the medicalization of reproduction, suggesting that it has encouraged women to see the foetus as taking priority over the needs of the mother during pregnancy. This section is completed by Martin Thomas' interesting approach to gender distribution. Feminist Research: Prospect and Retrospect offers a thorough look at the problems of women today, suggesting that society is encountering a period of strong reaction to the feminist movement of the late sixties and early seventies. Marguerite Anderson argues that only the "dynamite of research" will allow construction of a positive route forward. This collection includes essays in both English and French.