Protest and personal freedom

The student protest: SDS and the New Left

What was the SDS/New Left inspired by?

What were it’s aims? Who did it want to call upon and help?

• Inspired by socialists of 1930s, beat generation and student protest in CRM.

• Called upon students to change political and social system

• Wanted to liberate the poor, EMs and ‘all enslaved by conformity’

  • Called for participatory democracy, ‘new left’ consisting of young people

    • Wanted to awake people from “national apathy”

When did the SDS/New Left first gain attention? What methods did they use?

Were they successful?

• First gained national attention in April 1965: 25,000 marched in anti-Vietnam demonstration in Washington.

• March did nothing to halt Johnson’s continued escalation of war.

What triggered the Berkely Free Speech Movement?

What aided this?

• Berkely didn’t allow fundraising/political campaigning on campus

  • Mario Salvio wanted to raise $$$ for SNCC

  • Prompted 1000s of students to protest for the right of free speech on campus.

• Student anti-war sentiment also strong on campus

What methods were used in the Berkely Free Speech Movement?

• Occupied administrative buildings before ejected

  • 800 arrests, became known as Berkely FSM

• Anti-war demonstrations 1965:

  • 8,000 clash with Oakland police

  • “Teach-ins”: lectures/debates

  • Vandalise cars/buildings

How did the Vietnam war spark student protest at Colombia university?

How did events in Harlem spark student protest at oclombia university?

• Opposed unis involvement in weapons research; felt uni was supporting Vietnam war.

• Harlem: controversy at unis relationship with the Black American and Hispanic population

  • 1958: uni expansion plan caused eviction of many from uni-owned property

  • Harlem residents segregated center through different door- students intepret as segregation

    • Slogan “gym crow”

What methods did students use at Colombia? What did they cover buildings in?

• 1000 of 17,000 students participate

  • Seize 5 buildings

  • Cover walls in Malcolm X and communist heroes.

• Police used clubs; 692 arrests

Was student protest at Colombia successful?

• Colombia acted as a trigger for protests to follow

  • Hundreds of protests follow in 1968

• Colombia shuts down for a term; abandons gym and many other contracts?

What were the aims and motivations of the counter culture?

What did Woodstock preach?

Who were Diggers and what did they want?

• Woodstock (1969): Rock festival in NY state, 400,000 attend

  • Slogan= make love, not war

• Diggers: many hippies listened to music and lived communally, but some wanted more.

  • Based in SF, sought social revolution and the end of capitalism

What methods did the Diggers use? (hint: coffin)

What did Jimi Hendrix do that sparked criticism?

• Oct 1967: Diggers proclaim the “death of hippie” and rejected counterculture

  • Felt it had been taken over by the media

• Dec 1966: paraded coffin through the streets of SF, “death of money”

• Distributed food, medical relief, transport, organised free music transport.

• Jimi Hendrix; performs rendition of “star spangled banner”

  • criticises; some felt his use of AMP mimicked bombs, turning the cover into an anti-war statement

How were the actions of the counter culture successful/limited?

• Hippies drew attention to and popularised Eastern European philosophy/religion, health, foods and environmentalism

  • Contributed towards liberalisation

• Failed by mid 70s, but did influence US society

• Helped trigger conservative reaction that helped bring Nixon to the whitehouse.

What were the aims of Betty Friedan and the NOW? What was the focus of “The Feminine Mystique”?

• “The Feminine Mystique”: focused on Equal rights + equal work opportunities for women

  • Drew attention to the dissatisfaction of MC wives with domesticity.

• The NOW (1966): unhappy when the gov. EEOC refused to enforce a ban on race and sex discrimination in employment (CRA)

  • Wanted to monitor the amendment of legislation, demand an amendment to the constitution that affirmed womens’ equal rights in all areas.

What methods did the NOW use?

• Betty Friedan: “The Feminine Mystique”; tapped into a resevoir of discontent in college students

• Litigation (to improve women’s lives); represented Lorena Weeks in a court case against Southern bell- claimed the company breached the Civil Rights Act

• Political pressure: demanded a Bill of Rights for women

  • Equal access to education/employment, maternity leave, childcare and reproductive rights.

    • First organisation to endorse legislation of abortion

Were the NOW successful? How was their action limited?

• Litigation launched 1000 discrimination cases

  • Won $13 million in compensation by 1971

• Lorena Weeks litigation succeeded eventually by 1969

• Equal Rights amendment passes in congress

  • Fails to get 75% state approval required to pass

• Hasn’t tackled private sphere.

What were the aims of the Women’s Liberation movement?

• Saw men as the issue; advocated political lesbianism and saw heterosexual relationships as patriarchal

• Aimed to spread awareness of gender inequality and provide a more radical space/build on the ways of the NOW

What methods did the women’s liberation movement use?

• Newsletter “Voice of the Women’s Liberation movement” by Jo Freeman

• “conscious raising” meetings in colleges and communities

  • Sought to increase awareness of gender inequality and encourage activism to combat it.

• “The Dialetic of Sex” (1970): Shuasmith Firestone; suggested in-vitro fertilisation.

How was the Women’s Liberation Movement successful?

• Voice of women’s liberation inspired the formation of women’s groups worldwide

• Awareness did increase

  • 1960: ¼ of women felt they had been discriminated against, 1974: raises to 2/3

What were indiciators of increasing sexual liberalisation?

• Increased acceptance of casual, pre-marital sex, abortion and homosexuality.

  • % of babies born to unmarried women rose

  • 1969: 74% of women believed pre-marital sex was unacceptable, 1973: 53%

How was sexual liberalisation depicted in the media?

• “The Dick Van Dyke Show”: refused to use the word “Pregnant” in a flashback scene

• Hair (1968): showed full nudity on stage and contributed to liberalisation of attitudes.

What explains the sexual revolution?

• Media: beginning of “Playboy” (1953)

• Kinsey reports (1948-52):

  • Found 68% of men and 50% of women had sex before marriage

• Introduction of the pill and the work of groups meant freedom over sex.

What was the impact of sexual liberalisation?

• Sex “discovered and explored”- led to greater coverage in the media

• Freedom from Victorian morals; increased number of children born outside of wedlock and increased cohabitation between couples.

• Liberals saw it as a time of progression, but conservatives argued that the permissive society led to a breakdown to the traditional family structure.

What were gay rights like in the 50/60s?

What initial actions had been taken at this point?

• US culture was homophobic;

  • Homosexuality was illegal, and homosexuals were thought of as ‘perverts’

  • US Psychiatric institute defined homosexuality as a mental illness until 1974.

• Gay men began lobbying and campaigned but struggled to gain acceptance

  • Talks of emulating the Civil Rights movement

What provoked the events at stonewall?

What was the outcome of it?

• Gay men suffered harassment from police officers; came to a head at the Stonewall inn in Greenwich Village.

  • 5 days of rioting

  • Regarded as “the birth of gay rights”

  • BUT… legislation not attained from this.

Lesbian assertiveness:

Who was Kate Millett and what did she do?

How did the NOW feel about Lesbian assertiveness?

• Kate Millett

  • Eventually a part of the NOW, then joined the Radicalesbians

  • Wrote “Sexual Politics” in 1970- criticised the patriarchy of family- seen as oppressive.

• Initial tensions between the NOW and lesbian groups; many felt equating lesbianism with women’s right would damage the cause.