Breaking Free: The Lie of Equality and the Feminist Fight for Freedom

A bold argument that "equality" is a racist, patriarchal ideal that perpetuates women's systemic oppression and limits the possibilities of feminism--with a plan to transform the movement

For more than a century, women have fought for equality. Yet, time and again, their battles have fallen short. Even so-called constitutionally-protected equal rights can be withdrawn by judges and undermined by legislators. But the greater problem is in the notion of equality itself.

In Breaking Free, culture writer Marcie Bianco persuasively argues that the very concept of equality is a fallacy, an illusory goal that cannot address historic forms of discrimination and oppression. Starting with the campaign for women's suffrage and traveling through modern history, she shows us how equality has been designed to keep women and disenfranchised communities chasing an unobtainable goal. Conditioned for generations to want equality, it has become an insidious mindset locking us into the gender binary and reductive identity politics. Bianco calls upon a long-overlooked lineage to argue that only freedom can liberate feminism from these constraints, and proposes three freedom practices for women to reclaim their bodily autonomy and power.

What happens if we free ourselves of equality? Controversial and thrilling, Breaking Free guides readers toward new hope for the future of the feminist movement.


Publisher: PublicAffairs
Published: 09/05/2023
Pages: 336
Weight: 1.2lbs
Size: 9.49h x 6.35w x 1.17d
ISBN: 9781541702424


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 07/15/2023
Publishers Weekly 07/17/2023

About the Author

Marcie Bianco is a writer, editor, and cultural critic. She has written, taught, and lectured about feminism, ethics, literature, and culture for more than fifteen years. A 2013 Lambda Literary Fellow, her writing has appeared at CNN, NBC Think, and Vanity Fair, among other outlets and academic publications. Bianco is a columnist at the Women's Media Center and a SheSource expert. She currently is an editor at Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), an award-winning quarterly print magazine. Bianco lives in California.