Daughters of Eve was published in 1979 and is the story of an all-girls high school secret society. It follows the lives of each member as they navigate life in high school, while battling against the patriarchy of their world. They are full of potential and each one has a plan for their lives after school. Leading them in their crusade for equality among their fellow students is teacher, Irene Stark, who is the staff member sponsoring the club. She provides advice and encouragement to her students, even offering her home as sanctuary for one member who is experiencing a violent home life. She encourages them to follow whatever means to reach their goals. Males, whether guilty or not of seeing women as lesser, are all judged the same by the club, and all are punishable for any and all crimes, real or perceived. As a young adult book, Daughters of Eve tackles the tough issues including domestic violence, sex, teen pregnancy and abortion, without offering judgement on what the female characters chose to do.
This is a problematic read for me for a variety of reasons. I am quite familiar with the author's body of work, having read them pre-modernisation.
As this story was written in the late 70s, the adaptations of the text made it jarring. References in the story to emails and mobile phones interrupt the reading experience. The out-dated views of male characters relating to the role of females is now not as relevant as those other issues that the book discusses and is disruptive to a book that tries to be modern, but failed to bring a smooth reading experience.
It isn't a subtle read. The message is clear from the first meeting of the Daughters if Eve: females are as powerful as men, but the men are just keeping them down. It takes feminism to the extreme, where assault and vandalism are used to achieve some end, without fear of recrimination or punishment.
