~ By Taylor Blaire Mosher, student writer for the College of Arts and Humanities
Dr. Tina Fernandes Botts, a Fresno State assistant professor of philosophy, has published the fifth edition of “Feminist Thought” with co-author Rosemarie Tong, professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
The book, published by Westview Press, provides a comprehensive roadmap of contemporary feminist theory, addressing many different areas including, but not limited to, liberal feminism, eco-feminism and psychoanalytic feminism.
Among other changes and additions, the fifth edition of the book offers a new chapter on third-wave feminism and queer theory and expands the discussion of women of color feminisms into two chapters, addressing these approaches to feminist theory as they apply in the United States and on the world stage.
Previous editions of the book have warranted praise from reviewers across the country including other professors from several universities such as Vanderbilt, Penn State and the University of Oregon as well as from academic journals including the Women’s Philosophy Review. The third edition of “Feminist Thought” won a Choice Outstanding Academic Titles award for 2009.
Together with Tong, Botts wrote the chapter on Women of Color Feminisms for the fourth edition.
“Westview invited me to co-author the fifth edition of Rosemarie Tong’s Feminist Thought, after they were happy with my contributions to the fourth edition, which included co-writing the chapter on Women of Color Feminisms,” Botts said. “I was pleased to accept their offer. In the fifth edition, I wanted to update the text by including a fuller account of women of color feminisms, as well as adding sections on queer theory, and third wave feminism. Rosie and I worked really hard to make these additions, as well as to update the rest of the chapters with some new original content, including acknowledgment of the key role intersectionality now plays in feminist theory.”
Botts has published a number of previous works and is the former chair of the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on the Status of Black Philosophers. She published a second book in 2016, “Philosophy and the Mixed Race Experience” (Lexington), which has received outstanding reviews, including reviews by CHOICE and Hypatia.
Botts, who joined the Fresno State Department of Philosophy in 2016, is in the process of completing a third book, “The Concept of Race, Aristotle’s Proportional Equality, and Equal Protection under the Law” (Lexington).
The College of Arts and Humanities at Fresno State 
Which feminist theory did the leaders of the National Organization for Women (NOW) use to deny voting rights to hundreds of thousands of its own members?
July 2017 saw the election of a new president and vice president for NOW. Only NOW members who had the money, transportation, time, and substitute care for children, parents, and/or spouses to attend the national conference had voting rights. NOW leaders chose Orlando, Florida in the middle of the Florida peninsula for this election conference. Orlando is about as far away from the rest of the country as is possible to get. No absentee voting. No voting through state chapters. One of the candidates for president was a Florida resident. Guess who won?
Fewer than 500 members had voting rights to elect a president and vice president for an organization with hundreds of thousands of members. Which feminist theory justified that kind of voter suppression?
The National Organization for Women is THE champion at voter suppression. Vote suppressing Republican politicians should take note.
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