Sharon Presley

Biography

Sharon Presley, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of the Association of Libertarian Feminists and co‐​editor of Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre. She is editor of Libertarianism and Feminism: Individualist Perspectives on Women, Men, and the Family, an anthology in progress. As a social psychologist, her specialties are gender studies and obedience and resistance to authority. A long‐​time libertarian activist, she is the co‐​founder of Laissez Faire Books. Her articles have appeared in Reason, Liberty, and other libertarian magazines.
Articles
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Sharon Presley
Feminism in Liberty

Benjamin Tucker’s individualist anarchist periodical Liberty hosted radical discussions on gender equality in the late 19th century.

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Sharon Presley
Being a Witness to What is Right

Presley discusses Albert Camus’s essay “Neither Victims nor Executioners.”

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Sharon Presley
Neither Gods Nor Masters: 19th Century American Women of Freethought, Part 1

For many women, resisting oppression meant turning a critical eye toward religious authorities.

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Sharon Presley
How to Avoid Being Manipulated, Bamboozled, and Seduced by Experts and Authorities

Presley offers advice for thinking independently.

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Sharon Presley
The Discourse of Voluntary Servitude: A Nearly Forgotten Libertarian Treatise

Presley reviews La Boétie’s classic essay.

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Sharon Presley
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper: A Short Biography

Frances E. W. Harper was an author, poet, and abolitionist.

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Sharon Presley
The Psychology of Freedom: How Sexist Language Harms Women

A libertarian commitment to individualism means taking sexism in language seriously.

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Sharon Presley
Curse Those Scrooge‐​like [fill in your favorite Grinch]: Examining the Myths about Charitable Giving

“Giving is up.… And individuals give more than corporations, foundations and bequests put together.”

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Sharon Presley
To PC or Not to PC

Political correctness isn’t a good reason to support something—or to oppose it.

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Sharon Presley
Voltairine de Cleyre

“That such a brilliant, unusual woman would be a feminist is no surprise.”

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Sharon Presley
The Psychology of Freedom: Authoritarianism, Personal and Political

Presley explains how authoritarian relationships on the person‐​to‐​person level affect a free society.

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Sharon Presley
Lydia Maria Child: A True Patriot

Abolitionist Lydia Maria Child was an author, editor, journalist, and scholar.

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Sharon Presley
A Review of Rape Culture Hysteria: Fixing the Damage Done to Men and Women by Wendy McElroy

McElroy’s book ignores important sources that would undermine her views.

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Sharon Presley
Walking the Walk: How Libertarians Need to Improve

Presley argues that libertarians will be more persuasive if they actively support private alternatives to government poverty programs.

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Sharon Presley
White Women Abolitionists: More 19th‐​Century Freedom Fighters

Having previously discussed abolitionist black women, Presley highlights some of the white women in the movement to end slavery.