ABSTRACT
This chapter examines what a feminist perspective on the American Dream can offer the authors and how the Dream can be more inclusive and incorporate the connections between individual-level experiences and structural-level barriers. It uses original empirical data to analyze the American Dream from a feminist perspective. The chapter pinpoints two primary types of inequality identified by participants. This individual and collective nature is what makes the feminist American Dream unique, one in which acknowledgement of gender and intersectional inequality is at its core. The feminist American Dream addresses the fact that social and economic mobility is not equally available to all people. It demonstrates that our society is not inherently fair as it challenges the assumption that hard work alone can propel a person forward. To be sure, the feminist American Dream satisfies the definition of the traditional American Dream: freedom, economic security, hope, and optimism.
