Reviewed by:

• That Woman: The Making of a Texas Feminist by Nikki R. Van Hightower
• Mary Beth Rogers

Nikki Van Hightower's memoir is a welcome addition to the growing body of work about the second wave women's movement. Founder and former executive director of the Houston Area Women's Center, Van Hightower tells an engaging story of her own growth and development in the raw world of Texas politics when, as late as the 1970s, women still faced enormous legal and cultural barriers to full participation in public life. Her personal story has particular poignancy when she writes about growing up in Montana after she was abandoned by her mother and raised [End Page 498] by her indomitable grandmother, who supported her efforts to secure an education and move beyond the circumstances of her upbringing.

After earning a Ph.D. in political science from New York University with a dissertation on the politics of female socialization, Van Hightower moved to Texas and launched a career in public service. In 1976, Houston Mayor Fred Huffines recognized the power of the growing women's movement for equality and appointed her to be the Women's Advocate for the City of Houston. But her fierce advocacy for the rights of women soon got her into hot water. Her outspoken speeches made her a focal point for controversy, and many leaders in the business community saw her as a threat. So did the all-male city council that controlled her budget. They cut her salary to $1 a year. Yet she endured when the mayor simply added her to his own staff.

While in the mayor's office, she managed Houston's role as host city for the huge 1977 International Women's Year Conference, which drew thousands of feminist and anti-feminist activists. But Mayor Huffines's successor promptly fired her on his first day in office. The move made national headlines and established Van Hightower as a leader in the feminist movement. She solidified her reputation by investing her time, energy, and ideas into the creation of the Houston Area Women's Center, which provided significant support for victims of domestic abuse. She taught physicians how to recognize domestic violence suffered by their female patients and worked with social service agencies to deal with the impact of violence on families. While recognized as vital today, Van Hightower's work on the prevention of domestic abuse was considered revolutionary in the 1970s and 1980s.

The key public events in Van Hightower's life reveal her to be a risk-taker who seemed undaunted by the controversy and criticism she generated. A lesser soul might have retreated. Yet she persisted and even hosted a call-in radio show that expanded the number of her fans as well as detractors. "That woman" became a celebrity. She waged a winning political campaign to become Harris County treasurer and a losing campaign to become Texas state treasurer. She taught college level political science courses in the Texas prison system and courses on women's rights and politics at Texas A&M University.

Most importantly, Van Hightower places her personal stories within the historical context of the struggle for women's rights, providing capsule histories of the suffrage movement as well as the first glimmerings of the modern women's movement.

After her retirement, Van Hightower had time to reflect on the way she had conducted her life and career: "I readily admit I have made mistakes, but I am confident I have been on the right side of history in my struggles for equal rights for women. … I have had the unique luxury of being part [End Page 499] of a movement to bring about the kind of change that opened new doors for people's lives" (138, 140). Van Hightower's stories show that she was on the right side of history.

审核人：

• 那个女人：妮基·范·高塔（Nikki R. Van Hightower）
• 玛丽·贝丝·罗杰斯（Mary Beth Rogers）

Nikki Van Hightower的回忆录是关于第二波女性运动的不断壮大的工作成果中令人欢迎的补充。范·高塔尔（Van Hightower）是休斯顿地区妇女中心的创始人兼前执行董事，讲述了自己在得克萨斯州政治原始世界中的成长与发展的迷人故事，当时直到1970年代，妇女仍面临巨大的法律和文化障碍，无法充分参与在公共生活中。当她被母亲抛弃并由不屈不挠的祖母抚养长大[End Page 498]时，她的个人故事特别令人痛苦，她在蒙大拿州长大，这名祖母支持她为确保学业和超越自己的成长环境而付出的努力。

获得博士学位后 纽约大学（University of New York University）政治学专业的女性社会化政治学博士，范·高塔（Van Hightower）移居德克萨斯州，从事公共服务事业。1976年，休斯敦市长弗雷德·霍芬斯（Fred Huffines）认识到不断发展的妇女运动争取平等的力量，并任命她为休斯敦市妇女倡导者。但是她对妇女权利的激烈倡导很快使她陷入了困境。她直言不讳的演讲使她成为争议的焦点，许多商界领袖都将她视为威胁。控制预算的全男性市议会也是如此。他们把她的薪水削减到每年1美元。然而，当市长简单地将她添加到自己的员工手中时，她就忍受了。

在市长办公室期间，她负责休斯敦作为1977年国际妇女年会议的主办城市的角色，该会议吸引了成千上万的女权主义者和反女权主义者。但是，霍芬斯市长的继任者在上任的第一天迅速解雇了她。此举成为了全国头条新闻，并使范·高塔尔（Van Hightower）成为女权运动的领导者。她通过投入时间，精力和思想来建立休斯顿地区妇女中心，从而巩固了自己的声誉，该中心为家庭虐待的受害者提供了重要支持。她教医生如何识别女性患者遭受的家庭暴力，并与社会服务机构合作应对暴力对家庭的影响。范·高塔（Van Hightower）虽然今天被认为至关重要，

范·高塔尔（Van Hightower）一生中的主要公共事件表明，她是一个冒险家，似乎对她所引起的争议和批评毫不畏惧。较小的灵魂可能已经退缩了。然而，她坚持不懈，甚至主持了一个电话广播节目，扩大了粉丝和反对者的人数。“那个女人”成为了名人。她进行了一场胜利的政治运动，成为哈里斯县的财务主管，而失败了，成为德克萨斯州的财务主管。她在得克萨斯州监狱系统教授大学一级的政治科学课程，并在得克萨斯州A＆M大学教授有关妇女权利和政治的课程。

最重要的是，范·高塔尔（Van Hightower）将她的个人故事置于争取妇女权利的历史背景下，提供了选举权运动的胶囊历史，以及现代妇女运动的第一波曙光。

退休后，范·高塔尔（Van Hightower）有时间反思她的生活和事业方式：“我很容易承认自己犯了错误，但是我有信心在争取平等权利的斗争中处于历史的正确位置妇女…………我非常荣幸地成为一项运动的一部分（[第499页]），以实现那种为人们的生活打开新门的变革”（第138页和第140页）。范·高塔（Van Hightower）的故事表明她处于历史的右边。