SOURCE: “Feminism Interruptus,” in The New Republic, May 21, 1984, pp. 32-5.

In the following review, Ehrenreich offers unfavorable evaluation of Sex and Destiny.

Apostasy is the last resort of the political writer. Angry, provocative best-sellers do not lend themselves to sequels, for, as editors and agents are quick to remind us, it is novelty that oils the wheels of commerce. So writers who would like to sell books and at the same time hold on to their followings are driven at least to revisionism. For example, four years ago Betty Friedan published The Second Stage, in which she announced—a bit prematurely for some of us—a d‚tente in the battle of the sexes. Then last year, Susan Brown-miller, author of the powerful 1974 treatise on rape, Against Our Will, came out with a far fluffier book, Femininity, which allowed her, among other things, to express her ambivalence about...