Feminisms in the Women's Liberation Movement

Identifying Oppressions and Imagining Liberation
This week we’re continuing our exploration from last week of the Women’s Liberation Movement that occurred from approximately the late 1960s through, roughly, the early 1980s. This is typically known as “Second Wave Feminism,” although, as you know from our class last week, there are some theoretical and conceptual problems with dividing up feminist movement into “waves.”

Still, though, the feminist theorists who were writing during this time tended to share several overarching concerns, which we began to enumerate by making a list on the board during class last week. Broadly, their project was to identify oppressions and then to imagine liberation, and this is the title of the part of our course.

This week, we will expand the list of oppressions they identified while also addressing the three quite different ways by which feminists during this period imagined liberation. As you know from Jenainti & Groves, there were many FEMINISMS during this period, but your reading and our class discussion will focus particularly on LIBERAL, SOCIALIST, and RADICAL feminist approaches and theories. As you’re preparing for class this week, be sure to take note of the similarities and differences between these three feminisms and be ready to talk about them: What oppressions did each of these feminisms identify, and how did they imagine liberation? Into which feminist approach do each of our readings this week fall, and why?

As you’re reading, it’s always important to think about historical context: When was the “now” for each author? This matters for lots of reasons (some of which we’ll talk about in class on Friday), not the least of which is that one of our most crucial projects in this course is to track the evolution and development of feminist thought and action in Western Europe and North America. One of the best ways to do that is to read and think about feminist theories in chronological order so that you can start to see how one set of arguments, approaches and perspectives is connected to and builds upon others. To help you do this (and in addition to your Weekly Reading Worksheet), I've posted some general strategies for reading and note-taking that will help you not only prepare for our class discussion, but also for assignments and your final exam.

In the case of our materials this week, the work of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (1967-1970) was completed just before Bonnie Kreps wrote her piece in 1972 claiming that RADICAL FEMINISM was the best way to solve the problems women were experiencing. Then, in 1977, Robin Morgan, also a radical feminist, argued that women are a colonized people and, in 1981, SOCIALIST FEMINIST Heidi Hartmann decided that neither socialist nor radical feminist analysis could, by themselves, make sense of the existence of PATRIARCHY and women’s low social, economic and political status within CAPITALISM. After that, in 1985, June Jordan, who’s also typically considered a socialist feminist, moved feminist analysis into a new direction in which fluidity of power based on contexts and identities (particularly at the intersection of race, class and gender) became salient.

This is where we’ll start next week when we jump into our next section on “Theorizing Intersecting Identities.” But, for this week, focus on how all these different theorists built on the arguments, goals and strategies of those that came before them.

Administrative Stuff
• As you know, the Weekly Reading Worksheets are intended to help guide you through our reading materials each week. In addition, I’ve posted some general strategies for reading and note-taking that will help you not only prepare for our class discussion, but also for assignments and your final exam. You can also access this guide via the link on the right under "Important Course Info."
• Please remember that given the technological difficulties that we’ve had with the Blackboard Dropbox, remember that we won’t be using it anymore this semester. From now on, with the exception of your Discussion Questions, please submit all your work in hard copy by the beginning of class on the date that it’s due. The only exception to this is the Discussion Questions, which should be submitted to me via e-mail by 5 PM on Thursday evening the day before we’re scheduled to discuss your readings.
• You should already be well into researching your Term Project, so please start thinking about when you’d like to meet with me about it. Meeting with me by October 29th is a requirement of the assignment, so don’t let that slip by. Of course, I’d love to talk to you about your project as many times as you’d like, but we’ve got to have at least one conversation in which you come prepared as described in the Term Project assignment sheet. Please make that appointment as soon as possible.
• On that note, one of my favorite parts of being a professor is getting to know my students, so if you have any questions or concerns at any point about anything this semester, please don’t hesitate to stop by to chat during my office hours or, alternatively, e-mail me to arrange an appointment.