Bitching

In the early 1970s, the national conversation regarding feminism was very different. Public discussions of womanhood—single life, marriage, workplace harassment, rights, gripes—were often channeled through movement spokeswomen and always refracted through the lens of talking to men about men. Little was shared about the chats happening behind closed doors where everyday women talked to women without the threat of men listening in. But, all that changed with the book Bitching.

Originally published in 1973, Bitching is journalist and author Marion Meade’s deep and insightful investigation into the real dialogue happening inside coffee klatches, consciousness-raising groups, and therapist’s sessions. Using excerpts from real taped conversations, Meade presents the frustration, anger, resigned acceptance, and scathing humor that make up the female experience from birth to grave.

For the first time, male chauvinist behavior goes fully examined and unexcused, and the roles men force upon women get broken down to their sometimes ridiculous component parts. A snapshot into a key time in the feminist movement, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in how far we have come . . . or how much we have stayed the same.

Marion Meade studied at Northwestern University in Illinois and later received a master’s from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She worked as a freelance writer and her articles have appeared in leading magazines and newspapers, including the New York Times, McCall’s, the Village Voice, Ms. Magazine, and Cosmopolitan. Meade has written novels, biographies, and nonfiction books. Bitching was a significant contribution to the second phase of development in the feminist movement. She has written biographies of Victoria Woodhull (Free Woman), Eleanor of Aquitaine, Madame Blavatsky, Buster Keaton (Cut to the Chase), Woody Allen (The Unruly Life of Woody Allen), and Dorothy Parker (What Fresh Hell Is This?). She has published two historical novels: Sybille, which narrates the life of a woman troubadour in thirteenth century southern France, during Europe’s first great holocaust, the Albigensian crusade; and Stealing Heaven, The Love Story of Heloise and Abelard. She lives in New York City.