Book review

摘要

The seeming paradox in the title The Vulnerable Empowered Woman: Feminism, Postfeminism, and Women's Health is an incredibly apt preface to the seeming paradox author Tasha Dubriwny first describes and then attempts to deconstruct in her 2013 book. One might think of the paradox like this: In the midst of medical advances and much rhetoric about the choices women have and in their supposed empowerment in the face of breast cancer and other health concerns, on what grounds can such an optimistic story be criticized? How can that criticism be expressed in a way that is valid and can gain traction in the media and the general awareness of women's health? Because Dubriwny is positioning herself early on in the tradition of activist feminist scholarship, the book's challenge is not just to critique, but to turn what could be an esoteric argument into something that can change the lived experiences of women.