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In this article I would like to put forth my perspective on feminism. I do not claim to hold a universally acceptable vision nor do I claim to hold the solution to the undeniable gender gap that exists in many dimensions of our daily life. I simply want to present my ideas concerning this multidimensional issue as they stand today within the framework of my personal experiences.

The development of the Czech feminist movement was inextricably linked with nationalism. Nationalist ideology recognised the power of women as mothers and their consequent claim to equality within the context of the nation. Having implicitly acknowledged the justice of feminism, nationalists then had to accommodate women's demands. As nationalism changed from a cultural to a political force, feminine patriotism slowly became a feminist movement. These links with nationalism stimulated the development and self-confidence of the Czech women's movement but they also engendered in feminists an unjustified belief in the instinctive feminism of Czech nationalists. The movement's development reflected that of feminist movements elsewhere. Demands for education led to attempts to obtain for women a place In social and political life, culminating in the demand for the vote. In the Czech case, however, such political demands produced tensions In the feminist movement. They raised the question of whether feminists' first allegiance should be to women, or whether they should merge their campaigns with those of the nationalist movement, as represented by the many political parties which had women's rights on their programmes. Much of the energy of the movement in the last ten years of this period was absorbed by this debate and the more general issues of what feminists wanted to achieve and how they should do it. Even the non-feminist women's movements attached to the Social Democratic and National Socialist parties had similar-difficulties. All these groups of women, feminist and non-feminist were concerned to define their place and establish themselves as an identifiable force. This led to an intense and fruitless preoccupation with organisation, which was only brought to an end when the First World-War changed the assumptions of Czech political life.

Woman is goddess and devil . . .. She can bring man to salvation or drag him down with her to hell. On the face of it, the pedestalgutter syndrome appears to reflect views that are diametrically opposed: woman is good, woman is bad. But in fact these views represent a single attitude: woman is different.

Female liberation and socialism, an interview/ Caroline Lund -- Are feminism and socialism related?/ Mary-Alice Waters -- Women and political power/ Betsey Stone -- Double jeopardy, the oppression of Black women and Chicanas: Why women's liberation is important to Black women/ Maxine Williams ; Chicanas speak out--new voice of La Raza/ Mirta Vidal -- Issues before the abortion movement/ Cindy Jaquith -- Questions and answers on the Equal Rights Amendment/ Betsey Stone -- The family/ Dianne Feeley -- A reply to Dr. Spock on child care/ Ruthann Miller -- Why red-baiting hurts the feminist movement/ Carol Lipman -- Sexual politics, a Marxist appreciation: A revolutionary perspective on the oppression of women/ Kipp Dawson ; In defense of Engels on the matriarchy/ Evelyn Reed ; Women and the Russian Revolution/ Dianne Feeley ; Women's oppression, the literary reflection/ Eva Chertov -- An answer to Norman Mailer's Prisoner of Sex/ Linda Jenness -- A socialist program for women's liberation: Towards a mass feminist movement

THIS ARTICLE IS AN ARGUEMENT AGAINST JULIET MITCHELL'S BOOK "PSYCHOANALYSIS AND FEMINISM". THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT MITCHELL MISUNDERSTANDS THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF FREUD'S VIEW OF FEMINIST PSYCHOLOGY, AND CONTESTS IN PARTICULAR HER CONTENTION THAT THIS VIEW IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO CAPITALIST AND PRE-CAPITALIST SOCIETIES. HE EMPHASIZES THE BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF FREUD'S ACCOUNT OF SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT.

Juliet Mitchell (Psychoanalysis and Feminism, New York: Pantheon, 1974) offers a reading of Sigmund Freud's ideas as explaining, rather than justifying, the subordinate status of women, & as offering guidance to liberation for feminists. Mitchell argues that the patriarchal nuclear family, which she sees as the source of the problems Freud describes in women's development, is not biologically necessary, but can be overthrown through a specific cultural revolution. At the same time, Mitchell does not take into account Freud's argument against the possibility that equality can be attained through collective action, which is based on the irrational motives that dominate such action. Given the role of penis envy as a source of inequality, Freudian theory leads to the conclusion that women's liberation requires the abolition of the family. What is needed is a model that offers genuine chances for the attainment of equality, & that is at least as consistent & compatible with reality as psychoanalysis. W. H. Stoddard.