On Women

April 10, 2023
This incisive compilation of previously published essays and interviews by cultural critic Sontag (1933–2004) showcases her striking intelligence and continued relevance. The seven pieces contemplate feminism and women’s roles in society, as in “The Third World of Women” when she urges the women’s liberation movement to focus on transferring institutional and economic power from men to women, writing that “all women live in an ‘imperialist’ situation in which men are colonialists and women are natives.” In “Fascinating Fascism,” she condemns Nazis’ “contempt for all that is reflective, critical, and pluralistic” and criticizes the depiction of women as “breeders and helpers” in the photos and films of Nazi director Leni Riefenstahl. The most revealing pieces are Sontag’s interview with Salmagundi magazine and her exchange with Adrienne Rich in the New York Review of Books, in which Sontag mounts nuanced critiques of what she saw as the feminist movement’s “demands for intellectual simplicity, advanced in the name of ethical solidarity.” Though the selections date from the 1970s, the insights remain topical and serve as a window into a brilliant mind whose analysis continues to provoke. Over 40 years after their initial publication, these selections have a lot to offer.