{{short description|American libertarian feminist (1943–2022)}} {{use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{use American English |date=November 2022}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Sharon Presley | honorific_suffix = | image = presley8.jpg | caption = Sharon Presley | image_size = 200px | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|03|23}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|10|31|1943|03|23}} | death_place = | nationality = | spouse = | partner = <!-- unmarried life partner; use ''Name (1950–present)'' --> | political_party = | relatives = | children = | alma_mater = City University of New York | occupation = | known_for = Writer, libertarian feminism | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Sharon Presley''' (March 23, 1943 – October 31, 2022) was an American libertarian feminist, writer, activist,<ref name=Congress>{{cite web |title= Presley, Sharon |url= http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr2001027741.html |publisher= Library of Congress |accessdate= 13 July 2014 |quote= (Sharon Presley; b. Mar. 23, 1943; Ph.D., social psych., City Univ. of N.Y.; founder and exec. dir., Resources for Independent Thinking) }}</ref><ref name="traps">{{cite web | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JiAqAAAAIBAJ&pg=4950,2172163&dq=sharon-presley&hl=en | title=Of traps, trade-offs and women | work=The Milwaukee Journal | date=July 25, 1980 | accessdate=July 26, 2013 | author=Brookmire, Paula}}{{dead link |date=November 2022 |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> and lecturer in psychology.<ref name="C-Vita">{{cite web |url=http://www.sharonpresley.net/vita.html |title=Curriculum Vita |website=SharonPresley.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150610223501/http://www.sharonpresley.net/vita.html |archive-date=2015-06-10 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Education and work == Presley received a B.A. in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in psychology from San Francisco State. In 1981, she received a Ph.D. in social psychology from City University of New York.<ref name="traps"/><ref name="about Sharon Presley 2016">{{cite web |url=http://www.sharonpresley.com/about.html |title=Sharon Presley: About |website=SharonPresley.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104140543/http://www.sharonpresley.com/about.html |archive-date=2016-11-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Between 1982 and her retirement in 2009, she had a succession of instructor, adjunct, and visiting, positions at thirteen different schools,<ref name=C-Vita/> including California State University, East Bay where she was a lecturer.<ref name="Laissez Faire">{{cite web|last=Laissez Faire Club|title=History of Laissez Faire Books|url=http://lfb.org/about-us/|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20161119100616/https://lfb.org/about-laissez-faire/|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 19, 2016|accessdate=21 December 2013}}</ref> According to {{ill|Rebecca Klatch|qid=Q91265617}}, much of Presley's research focuses on "issues of power, obedience, and resistance to authority".{{sfn |Klatch |1999 |p=[https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat/page/286 p 286]}}
==Activism== left|thumb|Muller and Presley at Laissez Faire Books Presley was apolitical until she read Ayn Rand at the age of nineteen.{{sfn |Klatch |1999 |p=[https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat/page/69 69]}} She was radicalized when her boyfriend, who was leader of the Cal Conservatives for Political Action, was arrested in Berkeley, California. She joined the Free Speech Movement, Students Opposed to Conscription, and the Alliance of Libertarian Activists (ALA).<ref>Doherty, Brian, ''Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement'', PublicAffairs, 2007, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BOrT8tMMS5AC&pg=PA354 p354], {{ISBN|1-58648-350-1}}</ref>{{sfn |Klatch |1999 |p=[https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat/page/118 118]}}
In 1972, Presley helped owner John Muller launch Laissez Faire Books, a libertarian store in Greenwich Village, New York. She worked on promotional materials there until 1977.<ref name="Laissez Faire"/><ref>{{cite web | url = http://libertyunbound.com/archive/2008_01/ramsey-lf.html | title = "Laissez Faire": R.I.P.? | accessdate = 2011-03-31 | last = Ramsey | first = Bruce |authorlink = Bruce Ramsey| work = Liberty | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080118075744/http://www.libertyunbound.com/archive/2008_01/ramsey-lf.html | archivedate = 2008-01-18}}</ref>{{sfn |Klatch |1999 |p=[https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat/page/273 273]}} Presley was a founder of the Association of Libertarian Feminists (ALF).<ref name="Ditz 1983">{{cite news |last=Ditz |first=Elizabeth |title=Feminism has forgotten its roots |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112544801/feminism-has-forgotten-its-roots/ |newspaper=Telegraph-Forum |publication-place=Bucyrus, Ohio |date=June 13, 1983 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name="RIP">Brown, Elizabeth Nolan (November 14, 2022) [https://reason.com/2022/11/14/bankrupt-crypto-exchange-ftx-under-investigation/ " Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX Under Investigation. Plus: Democrats retain control of Senate, RIP Sharon Presley and Martin Wooster, and more... " ]. ''Reason''.com. Retrieved November 22, 2022.</ref> In the mid-1970s, Presley was the national coordinator,{{sfn|Klatch|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat/page/273 273]}} then later became the executive director for ALF.<ref name="ALF News Fall 2013">{{cite journal|title=ALF Officers|journal=ALF News |volume=85 |date=Fall 2013|url=http://www.alf.org/ALF-news85final2.pdf|publisher=Association of Libertarian Feminists |accessdate=28 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233553/http://www.alf.org/ALF-news85final2.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-30 |url-status=dead |page=2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first1=Tim |last1=Cavanaugh |first2=Paul |last2=Detrick |url=http://reason.com/blog/2012/05/26/sharon-presley-on-libertarian-feminism |title=Sharon Presley on Libertarian Feminism |work=Reason TV |date=May 26, 2012 |accessdate=May 18, 2014}}</ref>
==Views== In 1982, Presley and Lynn Kinsky wrote that government laws and regulations had created a crisis in child care due to the restrictions in zoning, licensing, and health and safety regulations.<ref name="Majors 1983">{{cite news |last=Majors |first=Bruce Powel |date=April 16, 1983 |title=Do government regulations create baby-sitting prolbms? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112547111/do-government-regulation-create-baby-sit/ |newspaper=The Des Moines Register |publication-place=Des Moines, Iowa |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>{{sfn |Presley |Kinsky |1982 |p=79}} In 2013, Presley said that libertarian feminism is not different from mainstream feminism except in the unwillingness of libertarians to resort to government solutions to social problems. She said she prefers "a hand up" from private sources such as mutual aid societies "rather than a handout" from government.<ref name="Transadvocate">{{cite journal |url=http://www.transadvocate.com/5-questions-libertarian-feminism-and-trans-people_n_10038.htm |title=Libertarian Feminism and trans people |last=Williams |first=Cristan |date=August 21, 2013 |journal=The Transadvocate}}</ref> Earlier in 1980, she said that libertarian feminists "don't believe in seeking government solutions to women's problems".<ref name="traps" /><ref name="ALF">{{cite web|last=Association of Libertarian Feminists|url=http://www.alf.org/about.php|title=About ALF|accessdate=22 December 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140615144657/http://alf.org/about.php|archivedate=15 June 2014}}</ref>
Presley rejected the view that transgender women are not women, or that they should not take part in the feminist dialogue. She maintained that transgender people should be judged on their merits, like other people. Presley once stated, "Depending on distant bureaucracies run by white men who have no understanding has been problematic for women; there is no reason to assume that trans people will be any better served by those bureaucracies.<ref name="Transadvocate" /> Presley believed that the government should not subsidize abortion for the poor, nor make any laws limiting or banning abortion; she maintained that abortion should be available as a choice.<ref name="Transadvocate" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Right to Abortion: A Libertarian Defense |last1=Presley |first1=Sharon |last2=Cooke |first2=Robert |author3=Association of Libertarian Feminists |author4=Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture |publisher=Association of Libertarian Feminists |year=1979}}</ref> Likewise, she believed that birth control pills should not be subject to government subsidy or restriction.<ref name="Enemy" />
Presley contended that the government should not make any laws regarding prostitution. She also opined that the customers of prostitutes should not be prosecuted. In this regard, Presley differs from feminists who wish to restrict prostitution.<ref name="traps" /> She maintained that, despite the general agreement among feminists that violent pornography is degrading to women, there should be no government laws limiting such pornography, which she describes as a symptom of a societal problem. Instead, she suggested that the problem's cause should be identified and treated with education.<ref name="traps" /> She disagreed with Susan Brownmiller that anti-obscenity laws would solve the problem.<ref name="Enemy">{{cite book |chapter=Government is Women's Enemy |last1=Presley |first1=Sharon |last2=Kinsky |first2=Lynn |page=[https://archive.org/details/extremisminameri00sargrich/page/252 252] |url=https://archive.org/details/extremisminameri00sargrich |url-access=registration |title=Extremism in America: A Reader |editor=Lyman Tower Sargent |publisher=NYU Press |year=1995 |isbn=9780814780114 }} Originally [http://www.alf.org/womensenemy.php published in 1976] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924190355/http://www.alf.org/womensenemy.php |date=September 24, 2014 }} by the Association of Libertarian Feminists.</ref>
In her 2010 self-help book, ''Standing Up to Experts and Authorities: How to Avoid Being Intimidated, Manipulated, and Abused'', Presley cited scholarly studies to describe how people may unknowingly disengage their critical thinking in the face of apparent authority. This reaction masks the possibility that the authority's assertions may be challenged. Presley gave the reader pointers on how to overcome their initial reaction and regain a calm and assertive footing.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/authorities-278748-most-section.html |title=Alan W. Bock: How to stand your ground with authorities |last=Bock |first=Alan |date=December 3, 2010 |work=Orange County Register }} Article updated on August 21, 2013.</ref>
==Death== Presley died on October 31, 2022, after struggling with various health issues.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sciabarra |first=Chris Matthew |authorlink=Chris Matthew Sciabarra |title=Sharon Presley (1943-2022), RIP |website=Notablog |date=2022-11-03 |url=https://notablog.net/archives/3156 |access-date=2022-11-04 |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204172744/https://notablog.net/archives/3156 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=RIP/>
== Selected bibliography ==
=== Books === *{{cite book |last1=Presley |first1=Sharon |last2=Kinsky |first2=Lynn |editor-last=McElroy |chapter=Government Is Women's Enemy |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/freedomfeminisms00mcelrich/page/76/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |editor-first=Wendy |editor-link=Wendy McElroy |series=Paul Avrich Collection (Library of Congress) |title=Freedom, Feminism, and the State: An Overview of Individualist Feminism |publisher=Cato Institute |publication-place=Washington, DC |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-932790-32-3 |oclc=8937344 |via=Internet Archive}} * {{cite book |last=Presley |first=Sharon |chapter= Ayn Rand's Philosophy of Individualism: A Feminist Psychologist's Perspective |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/feministinterpre0000unse_o1t1/page/250/mode/2up |chapter-url-access=registration |editor-last=Gladstein |editor-first=Mimi Reisel |editor-link=Mimi Reisel Gladstein |editor-last2=Sciabarra |editor-first2=Chris Matthew |editor2-link=Chris Matthew Sciabarra |title=Feminist Interpretations of Ayn Rand |publisher=The Pennsylvania State University Press |publication-place=University Park, Pennsylvania |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-271-01830-0 |oclc=1310591549 |pages=251–273 |via=Internet Archive |ref=none}} * {{cite book |last=de Cleyre |first=Voltairine |author-link=Voltairine de Cleyre |editor-last=Presley |editor-first=Sharon |editor-last2=Sartwell |editor-first2= Crispin |editor2-link=Crispin Sartwell |title=Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre — Feminist, Anarchist, Genius |url=https://archive.org/details/exquisiterebeles0000decl |url-access=registration |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-4237-4860-1 |oclc=1091017127 |ref=none |via=Internet Archive}} * {{cite book | last = Presley | first = Sharon | title = Standing Up to Experts and Authorities: How to Avoid Being Intimidated, Manipulated, and Abused | publisher = Solomon Press | location = New York, New York | year = 2010 | isbn = 978-0-934623-87-2 |oclc=694395027 |ref=none}}
=== Ph.D thesis === * {{cite book | last = Presley | first = Sharon | title = Values and attitudes of political resisters to authority (Ph.D thesis) | publisher = City University of New York | location = New York, New York | year = 1982 | oclc = 313314438 |ref=none}}
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
===Sources=== *{{cite book |last=Klatch |first=Rebecca E. |title=A Generation Divided: The New Left, the New Right, and the 1960s |publisher=University of California Press |publication-place=Berkeley |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-520-92234-1 |oclc=45843350 |url=https://archive.org/details/generationdivide0000klat |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}
==External links== {{commons}} *{{youTube|u=SharonPresleyWriter}} *{{cite web |title=Sharon Presley |url=http://www.sharonpresley.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014055548/http://www.sharonpresley.com/ |archive-date=2016-10-14 |url-status=dead}}, Presley's political professional site. *{{cite web |title=Sharon Presley |url=http://www.sharonpresley.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207084135/http://www.sharonpresley.net/ |archive-date=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead}} Presley's political activist site.
{{subject bar|portal1=Feminism|portal2=Libertarianism|portal3=Biography|portal4=United States}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Presley, Sharon}} Category:1943 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century American women Category:21st-century American women Category:American book editors Category:American feminist writers Category:American libertarians Category:American psychology writers Category:American businesswomen Category:California State University, East Bay, faculty Category:Feminist studies scholars Category:Individualist feminists Category:American women science writers