Feminism Backwards is part memoir, part documentary. A founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement Rosita Sweetman gleefully recalls the triumphs – and the tribulations – of trying to drag a reluctant Ireland into the 20th Century, crucially, re-appraising Chains or Change the IWLM's famous pamphlet, detailing what life was like for women in 1970s Ireland - appalling. 











Feminism Backwards is also a howl of despair at how women have been treated worldwide down through the centuries, and how misogyny and sexual repression got such a stranglehold on Ireland. Having a survived a marriage break up Rosita re-found her feminism sadly buried, along with her chutzpah. She passionately believes feminism is not about blaming men, or pushing a few women to the top so they can be 'she-men' for the patriarchy. It's about creating a world fit for everyone.



Born into a big political/legal family in Dublin Rosita began writing when she was 10. She's worked as a journalist with the Irish Press, the Irish Times, the Sunday Independent, as a 'runner' and secretary at BBC TV in London, and as a research assistant on RTE TV in Dublin. She has published three best selling books, On Our Knees (1972), On Our Backs, Sexual Attitudes in a Changing Ireland (1979) and a novel Fathers Come First (1974) recently re-published by the Lilliput Press (2015). In 2004 she co-produced an allergy cookbook with her children Chupi and Luke, What To Eat When You Can't Eat Anything. She is a critic for the Irish Times, the Sunday Independent, and the Dublin Review of Books. Having a survived a marriage break up Rosita re-found her feminism sadly buried, along with her chutzpah. She passionately believes feminism is not about blaming men, or pushing a few women to the top so they can be 'she-men' for the patriarchy. It's about creating a world fit for everyone. Of everything she has created her two adult children Chupi and Luke are way and above the most precious.