Feminist Origins

Judy Rebick

With memories of the Battle of Seattle still dancing in our heads and thoughts of the World March of Women against poverty and violence beginning to take shape, it might be a good time to think about how social movements actually develop.

In this age of celebrity worship, it is hard to remember that most social movements begin with the actions of a small group of radicals working outside of the glare of media scrutiny. A good reminder, not to mention a delightful read is Susan Brownmiller's new book, "In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution." You will probably remember Brownmiller as the author of "Against Our Will," probably the most important book on feminist theory of rape. She has now taken her skill as a researcher and journalist and looked back on the early days of the American women's movement, second wave. What's remarkable about her book is that it introduces us to the women who were really the pioneers of second wave feminism, and in particular radical feminism. She talks about the women whose names we know like Shulamith Firestone, author of the Dialectics of Sex, Ti-Grace Atkinson and Rita Mae Brown, but reveals their role inside the movement, not always in flattering terms. But she also tells us about women whose names we don't know. Carol Hanish invented the phrase "the personal is political," and came up with the idea for the Miss America Protest, the first action of the burgeoning women's movement. Anne Koedt wrote, "The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm, which was circulated in mimeographed form long before it was reprinted in books. Kathie Sarachild coined the phrase, "Sisterhood is Powerful.”

One of the delights of Browmiller's memoir is her meticulous research into the origins of almost every feminist legend, at least those which began in the United States. The other is that she credits the radicals for many of the new ideas of the movement. She points out for example that famous feminists like Gloria Steinem and Germaine Greer were more transmission belts of the these ideas into the mainstream than originators. One of the most interesting chapters to me was on the media. Brownmiller makes it clear that it was women working inside the media that helped to connect the ideas of a handful of radicals in various American cities to the masses of American women who were suffering from what Betty Friedan called the problem with no name.

I don't remember the sex discrimination complaint filed by the women at Newsweek in 1970 to correspond to the timing of the Newsweek cover story, "Women in Revolt." Nor did I know about the Ladies' Home Journal sit-in in March 1970 where two hundred women occupied the offices of editor in chief John Mack Carter for eleven hours demanding more feminist content and women editors in women's magazines.

I was also impressed with Brownmiller's fairness in reporting those early days, warts and all. For example, she acknowledges the role of the Trotskyist Socialist Workers' Party with getting the women's movement out into the streets over the abortion issue. While I have personal knowledge of the role of the Trotskyist women in the early days of the pro-choice movement, I have never seen that recognition from radical feminists before. Reading Browmiller's book is also a bit like a stroll down memory lane. The ferocious battles over minor political differences, the utopian notions of feminism as the opposite of patriarchy in every way, the tyranny of structurelessness...all of these problems in the movement are described along with the many strengths.

"I felt it was my duty to explain to people as vividly as possible how these ideas emerged," Brownmiller told me in an interview in Toronto during her book tour. Brownmiller captures the energy, spirit and sometimes crazy idealism of the times. She tells one story about how she was trashed in her consciousness raising group because the other women just didn't understand why she felt it was necessary to put her name on her rape book as the author. In just a couple of decades we have gone to the opposite extreme where individual recognition seems more important than anything else.

While Brownmiller's book is more a collective memoir than a political analysis, I think young people in particular could benefit a lot just from seeing how such a few women could make such a big difference through organizing and speaking out. Brownmiller believes the women's movement was basically over by the 1980's. In Canada the height of the women's movement took place during the 1980's with the successful struggles for equality rights in the Constitution, decriminalization of abortion, federal employment equity (affirmative action) and provincial pay equity. Even though the backlash against feminism was ferocious in the 1980's surely the movement continued and continues to have influence.

Her view of a movement seems to be based on the development of new ideas. It is a very ideological notion of a social movement and one that I don't share. Since I spent those years in Canada I really have no idea about the accuracy of Brownmiller's account. Needless to say as a radical feminist her focus is almost entirely on women active in the independent women's movement. I would have loved to find out what women in the labour movement were doing during that period. Certainly a similar history done in Canada would have to be more broadly focussed to be accurate. Nevertheless, the book is a wonderful read and a good reminder of how a few people with clear ideas and good organizing can make a difference even without much money.