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Discussion 1
2. Throughout the movement, race remained an issue that divided activists, especially as “it was very difficult for middle-class white women to have any conception about what was going on in communities of color…during a period when black women did not particularly identify with the women’s movement.” (She’s Beautiful (2014) 36:20-36:47) This once again ties in with the idea of intersectionality, as while the feminist movement dealt with the issues of being a woman, African American women had to deal with being both black and a women and felt that the feminist movement did not adequately address the issues brought by both identities. Lesbian women, derogatively referred to as a “lavender menace”, were also excluded from the greater feminist movement as activists such as Betty Friedan thought it would destroy the movement. As lesbians were kicked out of feminist organizations, they began to question “why are we reviled by what should be our own people?” (41:08-41:11) These issues divided women as they fought for their rights, and were a weakness of the women’s movement in the 70s. Extremely ideological views also alienated other activists, with one stating that “I remember being pregnant with Eric…when the Furie’s announcement came that male infants were the enemy” (1:06:20-1:06:30)
Note however, that even as they were somewhat divided, these groups of women were still able to win some victories and introduce more radical ideas, as “radical feminists were really the first to argue that women’s emotional and sexual needs should be equally important to men’s” (43:56-44:04) As women became more educated and wanted to learn more about their history, themselves, and their bodies shows that a strength of the women’s movement was using books, magazines, and other means of propagating information to unite women and help them realize that the problems they faced were not personal, but societal, and helped the movement grow as many women joined.
3: The women’s movements of the 70’s helped create a modern America where women had more freedom in their lives, and information about sexuality and women’s history is now more easily acceptable. Though, even today, especially with the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, abortion remains an issue that activists fight for just as they did in the 70s. As abortion is still illegal in many states today, we can look to the past to see the effects it can have. As Judith Arcana notes that when she volunteered in part of an illegal abortion service as a “Jane” in the 70’s, “women are sometimes desperate and they are going to hurt themselves in order to end their pregnancies” (57:53-57:56) At the time, women who were victims of rape had no recourse, especially as blame was placed on victims and abortions were seen as equivalent to felony murder. As Susan Ware summarizes, “ongoing debates, which really are as much about women’s rights as about abortion, show that many of the changes associated with second wave feminism are still being contested decades later.” (American Women’s History 111)
5: During the play in the beginning of Newsreel #48, one of the participants in the consciousness-raising session describes how a woman who had lost two children to lead-poisoning and gas was told “there’s nothing wrong with the apartment…the welfare people and whatnot whom she went to for assistance to try and get back into apartment [sic] did nothing for her. So she lost everything and there she was, destitute with two kids, on the day her husband died. Yet somehow what’s that got to do with boyfriends and soap suds and she [sic] makeup…that the two things can exist in the same society at the same time is unbelievable…It’s a rotten system” (5:33-5:57) Her quote shows two sides of the struggles facing women at the time, with her story about the mother showing the lack of child welfare and support systems for poor widows who need to raise and protect their children. It also reveals the differences between women across race and class lines, with her mention of boyfriends being in reference to a prior comment about how men expect women to behave a certain way. Her last comment acknowledges that both problems, the lack of support poor women face and the societal expectations placed on middle-class women, are rooted in society. Her participation in this consciousness-raising session shows how the women’s rights movement at the time allowed women to reflect on how many of the different problems they faced all had the same cause and shows some cooperation across class lines.
Discussion 2
After viewing the documentary: what was ‘new to you’ history or information about the women’s movement? Identify and discuss at least 2 ‘new to you’ elements with examples from the film/s.
Watching the Documentary “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” made me realize a few different things about this movement. For one, I hadn’t realized how many separate organizations there were that were all working for this common goal. For some reason it had always been one big movement in my head. The documentary also mentioned the connection between the women’s movement and the other movements of this time. Some interviewees referred to this movement as an extension of the Civil Rights movement, which I think gives it important context. But the most striking realization that I had while watching this documentary was how revolutionary women found it to gather and discuss their experiences (roughly 15:32 in film). The women mention that the problems and concerns that they had with their everyday lives were seen (by themselves) as a personal issue–something in them that needed to change. In her interview, Alix Kates Shulman mentions hearing about a women’s meeting while watching her children at the park. After attending the meeting, Shulman was shocked by how women shared their lives and struggles with each other. The very fact that this type of vulnerability and open communication was unheard of was pretty shocking to me.
What was a strength of the women’s movement and what was a weakness that you observed in the account of the movement during the 1960s & 1970s covered by the documentary? Please provide specific examples from the film/s.
One strength of the women’s movement was their passion. One interviewee actually mentions (46:50) that it was their youthful energy and perseverance that made everything that they accomplished possible. The women felt like they had what it took to change things, and they weren’t going to stop until they succeeded. On the other hand, the women’s movement’s weakness was a lack of an overall organization. In one interview (55:18), Vivian Rothstien discusses Chicago’s many movements. She says that there were so many women who were passionate, or who wanted to contribute, but there was not an umbrella organization that they could contact in order to get involved. This fact limited the movements’ reach and abilities.
Consider the newsreel recording of the political play, “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry.” As a historian, what do you think this primary source shows about radical feminism in 1969? For whom might this play be instructive and politicizing? For whom might it be too radical? Does anything in the play still speak to today’s college students (however you might define this group)? Provide specific examples from the play and its preparation or the voiceover narration in the film.
The newsreel “She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry” shows that radical feminism in 1969 was battling people and messages that women faced everyday. The play features stereotypes, the mother, the boyfriend, each putting the women into a role that the play portrays as harmful. Each of these representations are supposed to show how the feminists were constantly surrounded by people who sent them the same messages. On the one hand the play was an effort to convince people that the role women were playing was demeaning. But the play also was an illustration of why women so often found themselves in this situation, The repeated and incessant messages from the woman’s family made it clear that she saw no other life for herself other than the one presented to her here. This play was aimed to be instructive and eye opening to women who might see themselves as the bride (representing the typical women). This play may appear radical to someone who was pleased with her social and familial role. She may even find the bride to be a demeaning portrayal of herself and her choices. Finally, although college students may relate to the message of women having the right to choose the life they want to live, I think many women today would have difficulty relating to the women of this era, who grew up with the expectation that they would slide into the same life as their mother before them.
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