In the late 60s and early 70s, radical feminists socially organized into small activist or community groups to promote consciousness and achieve specific goals. Groups differed in both their theory and actions. These are a few examples of Radical Feminist Groups from the height of radical feminism in America:
Westside Group
This Chicago group was founded in 1967 as one of the first American women’s liberation groups. The group's members had varying degrees of commitment to women's liberation. Many members identified strongly with the New Left, particularly with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a student activist movement. The group consisted mostly of politicos, “organizing itself around non-gender-related issues and events, specifically the Democratic National Convention" (Echols 68). Their critique of patriarchy focused on the oppressive qualities of capitalism, specifically the ways in women are exploited through consumerism. It was the member’s political experience with the left that taught these women how to effectively organize, and located them within political networks. This political experience and positioning is what Jo Freeman claims is “responsible for the growth of the early women’s movement” (Echols52-68).
As members of Westside Group, Shulamith Firestone, featured in the Radical Feminists section of this site, and Freeman were exceptions to the typical Westside politicos, lacking long-term experience with the American left. Shortly after the group's founding, Firestone moved to New York and organized the New York Radical Women with Pam Allen. Freeman disassociated with the group in 1968 claiming the women in the group were too invested in accommodating the men in their lives and the left's agenda (Echols 65-68)
New York Radical Women
The New York Radical Women (NYRW) were especially known for their consciousness-raising groups. Although these groups began as a way to plan the New York Radical Women's course of action they became a cornerstone of the women’s movement that helped women verbalize their experiences. This group, which existed from 1967-1969, was founded by Shulamith Firestone and Pam Allen and grew out of political groups who were protesting the Vietnam War and fighting for civil rights.
During the short existence of NYRW, in addition to the legacy of consciousness-raising groups, these feminist activists staged several significant protests. Their most significant social action was the 1968 protest of The Miss America Pageant. With national media coverage, this event helped put Women's Liberation in the public consciousness. The group organized "approximately one hundred women's liberationists from [several U.S. cities] to protest the pageant's exploitation of women" (Echols 93). They criticized the pageant as a "cattle auction" judging contestants on outrageous beauty standards.
Several members of the group, including Carol Hanisch and Kathie Sarachild, managed to hang a banner reading "Women's Liberation" over the balcony and shout, "Freedom for Women" during the crowning of Miss America. A particularly interesting strategy was the group's refusal to speak with unsympathetic male reporters, forcing papers to assign women writers typically relegated to the society pages.
Image found at mediamythalert.wordpress.com with credits
At the Freedom Trash Can, 1968 (Duke University, special collections)
Another well-known NYRW social action was the burial of a dummy of "Traditional Womanhood" at the all-women's Jeanette Rankin Brigade demonstration against the war in Vietnam in Washington, D.C. Organized protests like these raised social consciousness and brought radical women together.
The group split in 1969 because of disagreements over the direction the movement needed to take. Members went on to form several groups including the Redstockings, a pro-woman radical group who advocated for continued consciousness raising, and WITCH, a group who stressed political rather than personal action.
Redstockings
Shulamith Firestone and Ellen Willis founded Redstockings after the dissolution of the New York Radical Women. The name Redstockings is a combination of the derogative label "bluestocking," used in earlier centuries to dismiss feminists or female intellectuals, with the word "red" associated with the revolutionary left. Although this group was strongly influenced by the new left and sympathetic to Marxism, they critiqued social feminism for prioritizing class struggle over women's liberation. This group rejected cultural feminism and lesbian separatism for creating a seperatist culture and their separatist tendencies. Redstockings believed the feminist struggle should integrate interpersonal relationships with men. This group did not put blame on women for their oppression and believed it was men who needed to change. This group has been criticized for being homophobic because of their beliefs about lesbians as well as their opposition to male homosexuality, which they viewed as a misogynist rejection of women (Echols).
In the Redstockings’ Manifesto it is clear that this group believed women, as an oppressed class, could not be liberated using liberal tools of reform. This group used consciousness-raising and group protests to reject the exploitative structure of male-dominated society. Their slogan was the now familiar statement “sisterhood is powerful.”
An early Redstockings protest was the 1969 abortion speak-out in New York, New York. The women protested a legislative hearing on abortion at which all the speakers were male with the exception of one woman, who was a nun. The Redstockings held their own separate hearing where women for the first time publicly acknowledged their then-illegal abortions. These women were able to publically "testify" about thier personal and dangerous abortions. This speak-out sparked others around the nation, catalyzing the radical feminist voice in the debate over abortion and eventually helped lead to the victory in Roe v Wade.
"We are the ones that have had the abortions . . .
This is why we're here tonight, to make things come home . . .We are the only experts."
Redstockings now exists as a grassroots think tank working on Women's Liberation issues. http://www.redstockings.org/
WITCH
WITCH, The Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, was the name independent action-based groups created after the dissolution of NYRW. This group consisted of politicos who wanted to further the women's movement through social action rather than consciousness-raising groups. The groups across the country loosely associated with WITCH used guerrilla theatre called “zaps” as political protests. Because these theatrical protests, hexing symbols of oppression, could be staged by small groups and had elements of humor, actions spread quickly across the country. JoFreeman.com claims "Chicago women zaped everything"
University of Chicago WITCH Hex Copyright Jo Freeman
for more pictures visit Jofreeman.com
WITCH targeted corporate America, trademarks and brand names, as the enemy. One of the first “zaps”was aimed at Wall Street on Halloween 1968. Wearing rags and witch makeup women from WITCH “hexed” this symbol of capitalism.
New York Bridal Fair hex, image from Jofreeman.com
In 1969, with the slogan “Confront the Whore-makers,”a play on "Confront the Warmakers," WITCH targeted bridal fairs held simultaneously in New York City and San Francisco. To no surprise, the message of this protest was resented by the women attending the fair. Some saw this protest expressing WITCH's contempt for the women not involved in the movement more than the patriarchal or corporate system. This type of action was not endorsed by all radical feminists because many believed they only alienated the movement from its natural constituency. By 1970, sometime after the bridal fair protest, the group moved away form social action and towards consciousness raising (Echols 96-98).
Cell 16
This militant feminist organization founded by Roxanne Dunbar in 1968 was one of the first separatist groups, advocating women's personal and political withdrawal from men. In addition to separatism, the group is also known for promoting karate as well as celibacy. Cell 16 recommended "that some women remain single and that married women take periodic leaves of absence from their marriages" (Echols 64). By temporarily detaching from their oppressors, this group believed that the liberation movement and bonds between radical women would be strengthened. They also hoped to set an example for the possibility of a new society.
The group attributed women's behavior, including interests in fashion, children and sex, to sex-role conditioning. They believed the extent of a woman's behavior was typified by this sex-role conditioning was evidence of the woman's damage and her collaboration with the system. Cell 16 believed women needed to become aware of their dependence on men and the attitudes, social structures, and situations that make their oppression possible. Putting the responsibility on women is a much different stance than than taken by groups such as Redstockings who did not believe women consent to or are responsible for their own oppression.
Most mainstream feminists considered this organization the "movement heavies"(Echols 158) and many believed they were too extreme. The group published the periodical No More Fun And Games until 1973 when the they disbanded. Cultural historian Alice Echols credits Cell 16 for advancing the concept of separatist feminism and laying the theoretical groundwork for lesbian separatism.
The Furies were established in the summer of 1971 as a living collective. The group was anti-capitalist, but their belief that heterosexuality was a cornerstone of male supremacy was certainly not typical of socialist- feminists. In fact, before the group formally took the name The Furies they called themselves "Those Women." This was a nod to heterosexual feminists referring to the group as "those women" because of discomfort with the term lesbian. When the group began to publish The Furies, a newspaper which promoted the lesbian feminist politics and separatism, they changed their name to The Furies.
The collective was a short-lived experiment and one of several well-known communal living groups located on 11th Street in Washington DC. Twelve women from various socio-economic backgrounds lived and worked together as an experiment in making their political and social beliefs a day-to-day reality. This group believed the only way to undermine patriarchy was through coming out as lesbians. "For the Furies, 'coming out' became the equivalent of 'picking up the gun,' the barometer of one's radicalism" (Echols 233).
Although the collective dissolved in the spring of 1972, members continued to publish their ground breaking newspaper until mid-1973. This nationally distributed newspaper was a voice for lesbian theorists, journalists and creative artists. You can find all but one of the original newspapers online.
We highly recommend you browse at least the first issue of The Furies. There is a variety of information included in the issue including the story of the Greek Furies, who the group is named after and well information about the diversity of the group members. The article “how a female heterosexual serves the interests of male supremacy,” is critically addressed to Roxanne Dunbar a member of Cell 16. You will also find instructions complete with illustrations for exercise and karate. January 1972, Volume 1 No. 1
For additional information about the collective and issues of The Furies visit here.
