Barbara Ehrenreich ( /ˈɛrɨnraɪk/; born August 26, 1941) is an American feminist, democratic socialist, and political activist who describes herself as "a myth buster by trade", and has been called "a veteran muckraker" by The New Yorker. During the 1980s and early 1990s she was a prominent figure in the Democratic Socialists of America. She is a widely-read and award-winning columnist and essayist, and author of 21 books. Ehrenreich is perhaps best known for her 2001 book Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. A memoir of Ehrenreich's three month experiment surviving on minimum wage as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing-home aide, and Wal-Mart clerk, it was described by Newsweek magazine as "jarring" and "full of riveting grit", and by The New Yorker as an "exposé" putting "human flesh on the bones of such abstractions as 'living wage' and 'affordable housing'".
Read more about Barbara Ehrenreich: Early Life, Career, Awards, Personal Life and Family, Essays, Translations
Famous quotes by barbara ehrenreich:
“Like many other women, I could not understand why every man who changed a diaper has felt impelled, in recent years, to write a book about it.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“Take motherhood: nobody ever thought of putting it on a moral pedestal until some brash feminists pointed out, about a century ago, that the pay is lousy and the career ladder nonexistent.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“There seems to be no stopping drug frenzy once it takes hold of a nation. What starts with an innocuous HUGS, NOT DRUGS bumper sticker soon leads to wild talk of shooting dealers and making urine tests a condition for employment—anywhere.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)
“My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan’s life. It is for the most part sweetish, with a tart edge of rebuke, but disappointingly free of dirt or particulate matter of any kind.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)