This book is a feminist memoir about political activism and scholarship over the last 50 years to enable us to reclaim feminism, given its resurgence in endangered neoliberal public spaces. Quite clearly, we women now have a place in politics, public life, in education, higher education, employment, and in personal ‘family’ life, including in sexual and social relationships.

Just five decades ago, feminism was barely on the public agenda. Today, by contrast, we see feminism in countless media, public and political places, although as women, we are still treated as ‘other’ and different from men, especially those in power. There has been an increase in patriarchy, sexism and misogyny in various media, particularly with the rise in social media – the ‘selfie’ generation – within a sharply competitive global economy. So what have been the obstacles to and opportunities for change, which have led to the resurgence of feminism in the 21st century? In this book, I argue about the importance of feminism to women’s lives, even if equality, respect, fairness and social justice for women remain a distant prospect. Despite the everyday misogyny experienced by women, we feel empowered by feminism.

I started writing this reflection some time ago, returning to it after my 70th birthday. Given continuing ageism and sexism in society today, I find this both scary and daring to admit, but necessary. My children gave me badges to wear: Toby’s an ‘outrageous older woman’ (along with a Seneca Falls Women’s Rights scarf), while Charlotte’s was a massive ‘70 years young’, with both children thinking of me as a ‘champagne socialist-feminist’. So what can I say to them, to their children, and to future generations?

At this juncture, the long march of history has led us to changed personal and political lives, from where feminism was occluded in public places to a time when feminism seems to be everywhere and yet nowhere. This is a good time for me to ‘take stock’, as Penny Tinkler and Alexandra Allan (2015) did in a special issue of the journal Gender & Education, considering what has happened to gender equality in education across the globe over the last 25 years. I wrote a commissioned piece for this special issue where I focused on academic developments (David, 2015), while also looking at the part played by political activism in creating the Gender & Education Association (GEA).