intro to wgss midterm

Organizing for Justice (1830–1920)
What movements?

The period from 1830 to 1920 is defined by interrelated movements including Abolition, the Suffrage Movement, Anti-Lynching Campaigns, and Native and Indigenous Resistance for land sovereignty

Organizing for Justice (1830–1920)

How are the movements at the time related?

Activists often realized that their own social status (such as gender-based inequality) inhibited their ability to advocate for other causes, leading to a natural overlap between abolition and women’s rights

Angelina Emily Grimké: "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South"

Who is Angelina Grimké?

Born into a slave-holding family, her firsthand experience with the horrors of slavery fueled her activism, though she faced criticism for stepping outside the bounds of "appropriate" female behavior to speak in public

Angelina Emily Grimké: "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South"

What is her argument?

• Grimké characterizes slavery as a fundamental sin and uses biblical evidence to argue that supporting it is anti-Christian.

• Because women do not make laws, she encourages them to use "moral suasion" on the men in their lives (husbands, fathers, brothers) to convince them to end slavery.

Angelina Emily Grimké: "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South"

What does she ask people to do?

She outlines four specific ways women can participate in abolition:

• reading to understand the issue

• praying for guidance

• speaking truth to those around them

• acting by petitioning legislatures.

Seneca Falls Convention: "Declaration of Sentiments" and "Resolutions"

What was it and who was in charge?

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the 1848 convention after being restricted from participation at the 1840 World Anti-Slavery Convention because they were women.

• Modeled after the Declaration of Independence, it declares that women have a right to be free and protests a government that exists without the "consent of the governed"

Seneca Falls Convention: "Declaration of Sentiments" and "Resolutions"

What is it about?

• The document lists several grievances, including women being "civilly dead" upon marriage, deprived of property and earned wages, and denied custody of their children in cases of separation.

• The Franchise: The demand for the right to vote was the most controversial resolution and only passed after a supportive plea from Frederick Douglass.

Sojourner Truth: "1851 Speech"

What was it about?

• Truth used the intersection of race and gender to dismantle the "cult of true womanhood," which characterized women as dainty and fragile.

• She famously pointed to her own manual labor—plowing, reaping, and husking—to prove she was as physically capable as any man.

• Theological Arguments: She defended women’s rights by citing the birth of Jesus (born of God and a woman, with no part by man) and the strength of Eve, arguing that if one woman could turn the world upside down, women together could set it right again.

Sarah Winnemucca: "Petition to Congress"

What is it about?

• As a translator between the US military and Indigenous Peoples, Winnemucca petitioned the government for land restoration for the Piutes.

• She used the ideology of American liberty against the government, shaming them for holding Indigenous people in places against their will and driving them like "beasts".

• Her activism emphasized peaceful compromise while frequently traveling the country to speak on the need for land rights.

Ida B. Wells: "A Red Record"

What did she argue?

• Wells identified three fraudulent excuses used for lynching:

  • suppressing "race riots,"

  • preventing "Negro domination" in voting

  • the myth of protecting white women from assault.

• She exposed the "black male rapist" as a calculated myth designed to remove Black victims from human sympathy, noting that many charged relationships were actually voluntary.

• She used her platform as a journalist to create international pressure, arguing that the USA's claim to be a land of freedom and justice was false as long as "conscienceless outlawry" and lynching persisted.

• Her statistical evidence proved that lynching was an extrajudicial tool used to maintain white supremacy and terrorize Black citizens.

Mary Church Terrell: "The Progress of Colored Women"

What did she focus on in her writing?

• Described the progress of Black women as a"double jubilee": the emancipation of the race and the enfranchisement of women.

• She noted that Black women were succeeding as doctors, dentists, and business owners, managing milling and cotton plants and even principal ice plants.

Labor Organizing and the Equal Rights Amendment (1870–1930)

What movements were included?

• The Abolitionist Movement

• The Suffrage Movement

• The Anti-Lynching Campaign

• Native and Indigenous Resistance

Labor Organizing and the Equal Rights Amendment (1870–1930)

Prominent ideas and groups

• Women’s Trade Union League (WTUL): Formed in 1903, this organization successfully brought together factory workers, college students, and affluent allies to fight for labor reform.

• The Jewish Immigrant Influence: Much of the early labor activism was led by immigrant Jewish women with Socialist ideals, who secured laws for a minimum wage and the end of child labor.

• The ERA Conflict (1923): The introduction of the Equal Rights Amendment divided activists:

  • Labor Activists: Opposed the ERA, fearing it would strip away "protective laws" that set safety standards and limited work hours for women.

  • ERA Supporters: Argued that special laws only reinforced the idea that women were naturally inferior to men.

Housewives Revolt! (1930–1970)

What is this about?

Consumer Activism: Women leveraged their power as buyers to organize rent strikes and consumer boycotts, such as the 1935 Hamtramck meat boycott that caused massive financial losses for stores. Protested the high prices of groceries

The Personal is Political: Housework and Reproductive Choice (1960–1980)

Activists argued that individual domestic experiences were linked to larger structures of inequality, making the "private" home a site of political struggle

• Choice: White middle-class feminists focused on birth control as liberation from patriarchy.

• Justice: Women of color experienced reproduction as a site of racial oppression due to histories of forced sterilization.

The New York Times: “141 Men and Girls Die in Waist Factory Fire” (1911)

What happened?

• On March 25, 1911, a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed 146 victims, mostly young immigrant women aged 16 to 23.

• Despite being a "fireproof" building, the interior was a firetrap with locked doors, a single interior fire escape, and no exterior escapes.

• The public outrage forced the government to stop resisting regulation of private business and led to new laws protecting workers.

Pat Mainardi: "The Politics of Housework" (1970)

What was her argument?

• She used the radical feminist strategy of linking personal domestic labor to systemic exploitation.

• Argues that men use tactical excuses (e.g., "I don't do it well," "we have different standards") to maintain their privilege and leisure time.

• "The measure of your oppression is his resistance," noting that a partner's refusal to share chores is a measurable indicator of subordination.

Gloria Steinem: "If Men Could Menstruate" (1978)

What are the main points?

• Steinem uses satire to show that the characteristics of the powerful are always seen as superior; if men menstruated, it would be a "boast-worthy, masculine event".

• In a world where men menstruate, sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free, and religious rituals would celebrate the onset of menses as proof of manhood.

• Logic is irrelevant to social hierarchies; groups in power simply create "power justifications" to ensure their continued dominance.

Activism Around Sex and Sexuality, 1950–1980

Emerging ideas

cold war, activism around sex and sexuality, homophile movement, feminist movement, gay and les lib movement

Activism Around Sex and Sexuality, 1950–1980

What was the main focus of this era?

This era marks a shift from viewing non-normative behaviors as mental illnesses to demanding radical sexual liberation within the conservative landscape of the Cold War

Activism Around Sex and Sexuality, 1950–1980

The Lavender Menace:

A derogatory term used by Betty Friedan to describe lesbians within the feminist movement who were perceived as a threat to the movement's political credibility.

Anne Koedt: "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm" (1970)

What is this about?

• The biological fact that the clitoris is the center of sexual sensitivity and the only female organ equipped for sexual climax

• Koedt dismantles Sigmund Freud’s theory that labeled clitoral orgasms as "immature" and required women to achieve "mature" vaginal orgasms to be considered healthy adults.

• The argument that female sexuality has been defined solely in terms of what pleases men, leading to a lack of proper analysis of female biology.
  

Radicalesbians: "The Woman-Identified Woman" (1970)

What do they argue?

• A lesbian is defined as “the rage of all women condensed to the point of explosion,” framing lesbianism as a political act rather than just a sexual category.

• The argument that the label "lesbian" is a tool used by men to police the boundaries of the female role; any independent woman is threatened with the label to force her back into submission.

• They are pro-Separatism: A radical political stance calling for women to separate from patriarchal institutions to achieve real autonomy and cultural revolution.

Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), "Statement of Purpose" (1955)

What was their purpose?

• Founded in San Francisco in 1955, the DOB was the first lesbian civil rights organization in the United States. It is considered a cornerstone of the homophile movement.

• Unlike later radical groups, the DOB focused on an "assimilationist" approach, helping lesbians "adjust" to society rather than demanding radical social change.

• A core objective was helping individuals understand themselves through psychological and sociological resources.

• This included advocating for a "mode of behavior and dress acceptable to society"

Chicago Gay Liberation Front (GLF), "A Leaflet for the American Medical Association" (1970)

What is this about?

• Formed in 1969 following the Stonewall Uprising, the GLF represented a move away from assimilation toward direct action and radical structural change.

• The leaflet demanded that the medical community stop classifying homosexuality as a "sickness" or mental illness.

• This militant activism contributed to the American Psychiatric Association’s 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders

Leslie Feinberg, interview with Sylvia Rivera, "I’m Glad I Was in the Stonewall Riot" (1998)

What did Rivera say?

• She describes the pre-Stonewall era as a time of extreme degradation where police viewed "drag queens" as "animals," subject to frequent beatings and arrests.

• Co-founded by Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson in 1970, STAR provided food, clothing, and a safe house for homeless street youth to keep them from having to hustle.

Identity Politics and Privilege: Intersectionality, Crossing Borders, and Understanding Alliances (1970–2015)

What are the main ideas?

• The 1980s marked a shift in feminist politics toward a new era characterized by exploring simultaneous and intersecting oppressions

• : This movement emphasizes alliances between struggles and articulates a form of identity-based politics centered on shared consciousness and common contexts of struggle

Identity Politics and Privilege: Intersectionality, Crossing Borders, and Understanding Alliances (1970–2015)

Mestiza Consciousness:

Developed from the lived experience of women of color (e.g., Gloria Anzaldúa), this concept represents a new feminist theory and praxis that embraces hybridity and fluidity.

Identity Politics and Privilege: Intersectionality, Crossing Borders, and Understanding Alliances (1970–2015)

Hegemonic Masculinity:

Coined by R.W. Connell, this term is used to analyze the relations of alliance, dominance, and subordination between different types of masculinity

The Combahee River Collective: "A Black Feminist Statement" (1977)

What is it about?

• They argues that racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppressions are interlocking and combined, creating the specific conditions of Black women's lives.

• The CRC is credited with introducing this concept, asserting that the most radical politics come directly from one’s own identity.

• Unlike the Radicalesbians, the CRC rejected lesbian separatism, arguing that Black women need to work with Black men for racial liberation while also struggling with them against sexism

Jo Carrillo: "And When You Leave, Take Your Pictures With You" (1981)

What is it about?

• The poem critiques mainstream feminism's inclusion of women of color, suggesting it is often more for "show" or aesthetic imagery than for genuine substance.

• Carrillo points out that while white radical friends love to own "pictures" of struggling women of color, they are often uncomfortable with those same women "in the flesh".

National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS): "Tenets"

What is it about?

• Argues that while traditional masculinity has positive traits, it also contains qualities that have limited and harmed men

• The organization believes that feminism benefits men by allowing them to move beyond restrictive gender roles.

Sins Invalid: "10 Principles of Disability Justice"

• Sins Invalid advocates for a shift from a "disability rights" approach to "disability justice," which views ableism as intertwined with other histories of domination.

• Their framework asserts that ableism is coupled with white supremacy, capitalism, and heteropatriarchy, collectively rendering a vast majority of the world "invalid".

Tina Vasquez: "It's Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women" (2014)

What is this about?

• She identifies a history of feminist scholars and activists (such as Mary Daly and Janice Raymond) who worked against trans inclusion, sometimes viewing trans women as "dupes of the patriarchy"

• Anti-transgender feminist arguments in the 1980s informed government decisions to curtail healthcare access for transgender individuals.

• Vasquez highlights that the trans community, particularly trans women of color, faces a "state of emergency" regarding murder rates and unemployment.

The Struggle Continues: MeToo, SayHerName, The Women’s March, and Dobbs (2000–Present)

• This era is marked by fierce rage following the 2016 US election, which sparked the Women’s March in January 2017.

• The SayHerName Movement: Launched in 2014 by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), this movement uses an intersectional framework to draw attention to Black women’s experiences of police and state violence

• In June 2022, the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturned nearly 50 years of legal precedent, removing the constitutional right to abortion and returning regulation to state legislatures.

Ashwini Tambe: "Reckoning with the Silences of #MeToo" (2018)

• The movement’s viral surge shifted the "default response" to sexual misconduct from suspicion to belief, forcing the resignations of powerful men.

• A primary critique is that media coverage primarily centered the pain of young white women, leaving the experiences of women of color and low-wage workers in the "silences".

• The tools of #MeToo—public shaming and criminalization—are fraught for Black communities because of the historical legacy of lynching and the systemic unjust incarceration of Black men.

Zoe Spencer Harris: “Say Her Name”

• This is a spoken-word poem that takes up the mission of the SayHerName movement.

• The poem seeks to understand the specific ways Black women encounter state violence, which is often obscured in male-centered racial justice narratives.

• It serves to mobilize and empower communities to recognize and advocate for Black women as victims of police brutality.

Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)

• Argues that because abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution and is not “deeply rooted in U.S. history and tradition,” it is not a protected right.

• Asserts that the court should not decide abortion policy; it should be returned to states and voters.