The Furies: Women, Vengeance, and Justice

By Elizabeth Flock and Elizabeth Flock

Book Overview

Across mythologies and throughout history, the stories of women's lives frequently end in tragedy - their bodies the sites of vulnerability, hurt, or even death. But here, in The Furies, Elizabeth Flock investigates what few dare to confront, or even imagine: the role and necessity of women getting violent in return, and in response to systems built against their survival. The Furies examines how three women have used violence to fight back and gain power, safety, and freedom when the institutions meant to protect them -government, police, courts-utterly failed to do so. Here are the stories of: Brittany Smith, a young woman from Stevenson, Alabama, who killed a man she said raped her, but was denied the protection of the Stand Your Ground law, Angoori Dahariya, the leader of a gang in Uttar Pradesh, India, dedicated to avenging victims of domestic abuse, Cicek Mustafa Zibo, a Kurdish Syrian fighter in a thousands-strong, all-female militia that battled ISIS, With exquisite nuance, Elizabeth Flock explores whether the fight for women's safety is fully possible without force and how views of women who defend themselves are often distorted by their depictions in media and pop culture. Each of these women has been criticized by those who believe that violence is never the answer, even when it's their only choice. Do these women's acts of vengeance help or hurt them and their communities? Did they create lasting change in entrenched misogynistic and paternalistic systems? And ultimately, what would societies in which women have real power look like? The Furies provokes questions about how to achieve true gender equality and offers profound insights in the quest for answers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063048795
• ISBN13: 9780063048799
• Release Date: January 2025
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"