Redstockings

Last updated
Redstockings
Predecessor New York Radical Women
FormationJanuary 1969;55 years ago (1969-01)
Founder
Founded atNew York City
Type Nonprofit
HeadquartersNew York City
Location
  • United States
Website redstockings.org

Redstockings, also known as Redstockings of the Women's Liberation Movement, is a radical feminist nonprofit that was founded in January 1969 in New York City, [1] whose goal is "To Defend and Advance the Women's Liberation Agenda". [2] The group's name is derived from bluestocking , a term used to disparage feminist intellectuals of earlier centuries, and red, for its association with the revolutionary left. [3]

Contents

History

The group was started by Ellen Willis and Shulamith Firestone in January 1969, after the breakup of New York Radical Women. [4] Other early members included Kathie Sarachild, Patricia Mainardi, Barbara Leon, Corrine Grad Coleman, [5] Lucinda Cisler, [6] Irene Peslikis, [7] and Alix Kates Shulman. [8] Firestone soon split with the group to form New York Radical Feminists, along with Anne Koedt. [9] Rita Mae Brown was also briefly a member during 1970. The group was mainly active in New York City, where most of the group's members resided, and later also in Gainesville, Florida. A group called Redstockings West was started in San Francisco in 1969 but was independent of the East Coast group. Redstockings went through several phases of activity and inactivity; they first split up in 1970 and were formally refounded in 1973 by Sarachild, [10] Carol Hanisch, [10] Mainardi, and Leon. (Willis was involved only peripherally with the re-formed group.)

One of the group's earliest actions was on February 13, 1969, when members stormed a hearing of the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Public Health, which was considering abortion law reform. They objected to the hearing, asking: "Why are 14 men and only one woman on your list of speakers—and she's a nun?" [11] The committee chairman countered that these were the experts on the subject, which further enraged the Redstockings women, whose position was that there were no better experts on abortion than women and that abortion law needed to be repealed rather than reformed.

About a month later, Redstockings soon held its own "hearing", an open meeting in the Washington Square Methodist Church, where twelve women testified about their experiences with illegal abortion. The March "speakout" was Redstockings' opportunity to hear testimony of those they felt were the experts: "We are the true experts, the only experts, we who have had abortions," one of the twelve said. [12] One of the women in attendance was Gloria Steinem, who would years later identify the meeting as a milestone in her feminist activism. [13]

In the early 1970s, Redstockings were noted for their "speakouts" and Zap (action) and street theater on the issue of abortion rights. (This style of protest was emulated by an early-1980s pro-choice group, No More Nice Girls, one of the founders of which was Redstockings veteran, Ellen Willis.)

On March 3, 1989, Redstockings met again at the Washington Square Methodist Church to commemorate the 20th anniversary of their 1969 meeting, at a speakout called "Abortion: Women Tell it Like it Is, Was, and Ought to Be...1969-1989."

More recently, the group leads a project to make available, through the Women's Liberation Archives for Action, radical feminist papers and original source organizing material building on their concept "History for Activist Use"; the project also puts out new theory on women's oppression and what to do about it. In 2001, they released a book called Confronting the Myth of America: Women's Liberation and National Health Care. As of 2006, the group is active and operates a website, though Sarachild is the only original member still active with the group.

Ideology

The group is a strong advocate of consciousness raising and what they refer to as "The Pro-Woman Line" – the idea that women's submission to male supremacy was a conscious adaptation to their lack of power under patriarchy, rather than internalized "brainwashing" on the part of women, as was held by some other radical feminist groups. Consciousness raising was the act by which the theory of "the personal is the political" met practice, and was more essential to Redstockings' feminism than organizational membership. [14] Redstockings holds the view that all men oppress all women as a class and that it is the responsibility of individual men to give up male supremacy, rather than the responsibility of women to change themselves.

Redstockings' relationship to other strands of feminism of the 1970s was complex. Like many other radical feminists, they were critical of liberal feminist groups like the National Organization for Women, whom they viewed as advancing women's liberation only as a type of institutional reform while ignoring the interpersonal power of men over women. The Redstockings were more influenced by Marxism than other radical feminist groups. However, they strongly rejected socialist feminism (which they referred to as "politico" feminism) as subordinating the issue of women's liberation to class struggle. On the other hand, Redstockings were against cultural feminism, which in their view substituted the building of a separatist women's culture for political engagement. (In Redstockings' view, most other tendencies of radical feminism, especially after 1975, were expressions of "cultural feminism".) Brooke Williams was a member of the group who critiqued this tendency strongly. [15]

Redstockings were strongly opposed to lesbian separatism, seeing interpersonal relationships with men as an important arena of feminist struggle, and hence seeing separatism as escapist. (Like most radical feminists of the time, Redstockings saw lesbianism primarily as a political identity rather than a fundamental part of personal identity, and therefore analyzed it primarily in political terms.) Redstockings were also opposed to male homosexuality, which they saw as a deeply misogynist rejection of women. Redstockings' line on gay men and lesbians is often criticized as homophobic. [16]

Writings

Notable essays associated with the group include "The Redstockings Manifesto" [17] and "Program for Consciousness-Raising", as well as "The Politics of Housework" by Pat Mainardi. [18] "The Redstockings Manifesto" and "The Politics of Housework" were included in the 1970 anthology Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From The Women's Liberation Movement , edited by Robin Morgan. [19] The Manifesto contains seven sections. The first section briefly introduces women's recent unity in the struggle for freedom from "male supremacy" The second section claims women as an "oppressed class", and expands upon the class and political implications of women's relationships with men. The third section names "[m]ale supremacy [as] the oldest, most basic form of domination." The fourth section addresses the role of institutions in women's oppression, claiming that institutions are "tools of the oppressors". Additionally, this section argues against the claim that women permit or are responsible for their oppression. Instead, the Manifesto claims that men must be changed but that "any man is free to renounce his superior position provided that he is willing to be treated like a woman by other men." The fifth section sets forth Redstockings' primary goal, which is "to develop female class consciousness through sharing experience and publicly exposing the sexist foundation of all our institutions." In order to accomplish this task, honesty is required in order to raise consciousness regarding women's oppression by men. The sixth section briefly outlines Redstockings' assertion that its members "identify with all women" and aim to minimize barriers between women both outside of and within the movement. The final section is the Manifesto's call to action. In these final six sentences, the Manifesto calls on women to unite to break from male oppression, and on men to forgo their privilege and endorse the freedom of women from male supremacy. [20]

The refounded group published a journal, Feminist Revolution. A nearly complete anthology of articles from the journal was published in 1979 by Random House. [21] The republished anthology, however, omits a controversial report on Gloria Steinem's involvement with a liberal youth group that was later revealed to have been funded by the CIA. [22] The anthology's publication, however, created a lasting rift between members of Redstockings and feminists who were close to Steinem. [23]

Related Research Articles

Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation. The ideology and movement emerged in the 1960s.

The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism. It emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s, primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great change throughout the world. The WLM branch of radical feminism, based in contemporary philosophy, comprised women of racially and culturally diverse backgrounds who proposed that economic, psychological, and social freedom were necessary for women to progress from being second-class citizens in their societies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shulamith Firestone</span> Jewish radical feminist activist (1945–2012)

Shulamith Bath Shmuel Ben Ari Firestone was a Canadian-American radical feminist writer and activist. Firestone was a central figure in the early development of radical feminism and second-wave feminism and a founding member of three radical-feminist groups: New York Radical Women, Redstockings, and New York Radical Feminists. Within these radical movements, Firestone became known as "the firebrand" and "the fireball" for the fervor and passion she expressed towards the cause. Firestone participated in activism such as speaking out at The National Conference for New Politics in Chicago. Also while a member of various feminist groups she participated in actions including protesting a Miss America Contest, organizing a mock funeral for womanhood known as "The Burial of Traditional Womanhood", protesting sexual harassment at Madison Square Garden, organizing abortion speakouts, and disrupting abortion legislation meetings.

<i>Sisterhood Is Powerful</i> 1970 feminist anthology by Robin Morgan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Radical Women</span> American feminist group (1967–1969)

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Anne Koedt is an American radical feminist activist and author of "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm", a 1970 classic feminist work on women's sexuality. She was connected to the group New York Radical Women and was a founding member of New York Radical Feminists.

Kathie Sarachild is an American writer and radical feminist. In 1968, she took the last name "Sarachild" after her mother Sara. Kathie coined the phrase "Sisterhood is Powerful" in a flier she wrote for the keynote speech she gave for New York Radical Women's first public action at the convocation of the Jeannette Rankin Brigade. This was a slogan that would become synonymous with the radical feminist movement in the years which followed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The personal is political</span> Political slogan and argument of second-wave feminism

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Corrine Grad Coleman (1927–2004) was an American writer and women's rights activist. She was a founding member of the women's liberation organization Redstockings and helped to write the group's manifesto. She was also a member of New York Radical Women. She participated in the 1968 Miss America protest and the occupation of the offices of Ladies' Home Journal in 1970. She was a co-founder and editor of the literary magazine Feelings: A Journal of Women's Liberation. As a freelance writer, her works were published in the Village Voice and The Brooklyn Phoenix. Coleman graduated from New York University and taught English in New York public schools.

Celestine Ware was a radical and Black feminist theorist and activist. A member of the New York Radical Feminists, she authored Woman Power: The Movement for Women's Liberation.

References

  1. ↑ Schneir, Miriam (1994). Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 125–126.
  2. ↑ "Redstockings Inc". GuideStar. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  3. ↑ "About Redstockings of the Women's Liberation Movement". Redstockings.org.
  4. ↑ Ellen Willis, "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism", p. 124.
  5. ↑ Koppel, Lily (July 11, 2004). "Corrine Grad Coleman, 77, Radical Feminist and Writer". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ "Consciousness-Raising Papers 1968-72". www.redstockings.org.
  7. ↑ Rosalyn Baxandall, Irene Peslikis: Too Soon: A Loss for Feminism and Art, Veteran Feminists of America, accessed online 11 July 2007.
  8. ↑ Biography, alixkshulman.com, accessed online 11 July 2007.
  9. ↑ Willis, "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism", p. 133.
  10. 1 2 Willis, "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism", p. 144.
  11. ↑ "Women Break Up Abortion Hearing". New York Times. February 14, 1969. p. 42.
  12. ↑ Brownmiller, Susan (March 27, 1969). "Everywoman's Abortions: 'The Oppressor is Man'". Village Voice. The Village Voice.
  13. ↑ Schneir, Miriam (1994). Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. New York: Vintage Books. p. 126.
  14. ↑ Stansell, Christine (2010). The Feminist Promise: 1792 to the Present. New York: Modern Library. p. 244.
  15. ↑ Redstockings (1979). Feminist Revolution. New York: Random House. ISBN   0-394-73240-5.
  16. ↑ Echols, Alice (1989). Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967–1975 . Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN   0-8166-1787-2.
  17. ↑ The Redstockings Manifesto. 1969.
  18. ↑ Mainardi, Pat (1970). "The Politics of Housework". cwluherstory.com. Archived from the original on 2006-08-11.
  19. ↑ Sisterhood Is Powerful : An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement (Book, 1970). [WorldCat.org]. OCLC   96157.
  20. ↑ Schneir, Miriam (1994). Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. New York: Vintage Books. pp. 127–129.
  21. ↑ Redstockings (1979). Feminist Revolution . New York: Random House. ISBN   0-394-73240-5.
  22. ↑ Redstockings (1979). Gloria in Excelsis. Archived from the original on 2009-07-30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) Includes part of Redstockings 1979 statement on Gloria Steinem.
  23. ↑ Willis, Ellen (1984). "Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism". No More Nice Girls: Countercultural Essays. Wesleyan University Press. p. 145. ISBN   0-8195-6284-X.

Further reading

See also

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