Summary

Abandoned by her father as a toddler and raised in a patriarchal household, Allende awakened to feminism early on. She does not recall a happy childhood nor did she consider her mother a role model. For the only girl of three siblings, the girls and women in her grandfather’s household seemed unfairly treated. Allende was a stubborn and defiant child, which puzzled her mother. That she may have suffered from the absence of her father, Allende only realized when she saw how kindly her stepfather behaved towards her own daughter, but never sought out her biological father. His abandonment was not unusual in Chile where for lack of legal divorce, fathers often left their families without any explanation. Embracing feminism should not, however, be equated with a hatred of men. Patriarchy is a rigid system which, imposed by force, perdures by excluding...