"But Much of What the Second Wave Accomplished or Helped to Accomplish Now Seems as if It Has Always Existed. It Hasn't."

"Most of these things would not exist at all if not for the feminists of the 1970s, and they don't benefit middle-class women alone. Some have offered lifelines to women from many backgrounds when they needed it most. That second-wave feminism accomplished all this, despite its shortcomings and divisions, ought to be seen as an encouraging sign."

Laura Miller in Slate tries to save 1970s feminism from the enormous condescension of posterity.