Firestone, Shulamith

Shulamith Bath Shmuel Ben Ari Firestone (born Feuerstein; January 7, 1945 – August 28, 2012) was an American radical feminist writer and activist. She was a prominent figure in the early development of radical feminism and second-wave feminism and a founding member of three radical feminist organizations: New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and New York Radical Feminists. Within these movements, she was referred to by some as "the firebrand" and "the fireball". In 1967, she spoke at the National Conference for New Politics in Chicago. In 1968, she organized a symbolic event referred to as "The Burial of Traditional Womanhood" and participated in the Miss America protest later that year. She protested sexual harassment at Madison Square Garden, organized abortion speakouts, and disrupted abortion legislation meetings. In 1970, Firestone published The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution. Released in September of that year, the book became an influential text within feminist theory. The ideas presented in The Dialectic of Sex later became relevant to the development of cyberfeminism and xenofeminism, with Firestone’s arguments considered precursors to discussions about technology and gender. In addition to her work as an author, Firestone contributed to and helped edit the feminist magazine Notes. Following her retirement from activism, Firestone was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a condition she lived with until her death in 2012. Her final published work was Airless Spaces, released in 1998. The book is a collection of short stories based on her experiences with mental illness. A documentary titled Shulie was produced that depicted Firestone during her time as a student and traced her trajectory as a feminist thinker and writer. The original documentary, which featured Firestone herself, was never released; however, a recreation of the original was later produced.