I Belong Only to Myself: The Life and Writings of Leda Rafanelli by Andrea Pakieser (review)

Abstract

Indochinese counterparts. These conferences were organized by older, maternalist peace organizations (such as the United States– based Women Strike for Peace, the Canadian Voice of Women, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom), women’s liberation activists, and women of color based in both Canada and the United States. Interestingly enough, these conferences allowed the disagreements among Western women organizers to be aired out; paradoxically, these divisions fostered an even more vibrant women’s movement in the United States and Canada. But most importantly, as Wu astutely notes, the Vietnamese women initiated and cultivated connections with their Western counterparts, acted as political mentors, and promoted their political vision in which women of extremely different backgrounds could exchange ideas and build broad coalitions. Wu’s account helpfully complicates the history of international sisterhood as a feminist concept; in this revised narrative, at the International Women’s Conferences, international sisterhood did not mean that third world women needed to be “rescued” by their Western sisters, but instead they served as educators and political models to a factionalized, yet thriving, women’s liberation movement. This well-written book can be recommended reading in graduate and advanced undergraduate courses in history, African American studies, women’s studies, and international studies. In addition, given its fluid style and the measured use of academic jargon, the book can also be of interest to a general readership interested in the history of the Vietnam War.