Tales Of The Lavender Menace: A Memoir Of Liberation

Tales Of The Lavender Menace: A Memoir Of Liberation
by Karla Jay

Tales Of The Lavender Menace: A Memoir Of Liberation
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Book Summary Information

Author: Karla Jay
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000-03-02
ISBN: 0465083668
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Basic Books

Book Reviews of Tales Of The Lavender Menace: A Memoir Of Liberation

Book Review: Feminism 101
Summary: 5 Stars

Oh, what a fun read! This is one person's perspective, one person's story. Karla Jay does not claim to speak for all feminists, and it is important that those willing to take the time and energy to write their experience do so -- it is in so doing that herstory manifests. We all have our own perspective on the time in which we live -- just note how many people yell at the TV while watching the news!

I loved reading this book. It helped me to remember my own time during the 60s in which I missed out on much of the fun Ms. Jay experienced, but have certainly benefited from the work she and her cronies did. For that, I am truly grateful.

I loved this book. It captures a sense of "being there" that too many books lack. Her history of family dysfunction is far from uncommon, given the numbers of traumatized children and that trauma, without treatment, tends to be intergenerational. It's part of the story, certainly. After all, isn't Patriarchal madness part and parcel of the history of the world?

Karla Jay chose not to avail herself of therapy. On the other hand, she had access to Academia that escaped me, and it supports her today. I probably have more confusion around that. Interestingly enough, we both managed to live our lives without ever driving a car. I know there are more of us out there!

A great book, again, a fun read. Definitely a "Feminism 101" reader.

Summary of Tales Of The Lavender Menace: A Memoir Of Liberation

A fast-paced memoir, serious and hilarious in turn, of the struggles and scandals, politics and personalities that made up the women's and gay liberation movements of the 1960s and '70s

Karla Jay, a direct participant in the dramatic history of the women's and gay liberation movements, brings on stage a dazzling cast of unforgettable characters and gives voice to the sweeping tale of the activists who struggled for their vision of social justice and sexual liberation.

"Karla Jay's intimate account of life in the early years of feminism and gay liberation is as irresistible as a novel, but as credible, humorous, and unexpected as real life." -Gloria Steinem

"A glorious guide to the perplexed seeking the complex, a history that illuminates a way out of passivity and despair." -Tony Kushner


Lesbian scholar and activist Karla Jay's memoir is rich in sexual detail and family trauma, but may be enjoyed best as a personal history of the turbulent era in which its author came of age. She brings fresh first-hand reports on some of the most pivotal events in the rise of the New Left--from the 1968 student riots at Columbia through the Stonewall riots to the 1970 feminist takeover of the Ladies' Home Journal, which Jay describes as "without a doubt the most successful one-day action taken by the Women's Liberation Movement."

At times nostalgic, at other times clear-eyed and critical, Jay recounts her close involvement with both the Gay Liberation Front and radical feminist groups. In an atmosphere of increasing paranoia (Jay's own phone was tapped, and there is evidence of FBI infiltration of the meetings she attended), she came to terms "with the likelihood that I would spend some part of my life in prison." Enlivened, here and there, by waspish recollections of Rita Mae Brown and other activists, Jay's memoir takes its place beside Jan Clausen's recent Apples and Oranges in tracking the inception of the gay rights movement and the glory days of women's lib. --Regina Marler

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