The Rhetorical Shaping of Gender: Women’s Movements

in the United States

Chapter 3

Women’s Movements in the U.S.

• Rhetoric is persuasion• Rhetorical movements are collective

efforts to challenge and change existing:– Attitudes– Laws– Policies

The Three Waves of Women’s Movements

• Rhetorical women’s movements have occurred in three waves

The Three Waves of Women’s Movements

• Two ideologies have informed:– Liberal feminism – women and men are alike

and equal– Cultural feminism – women and men are

fundamentally different

The First Wave of Women’s Movements

• 1840-1925• Liberal and cultural branches

The Women’s Rights Movement

• Activism aimed at enlarging women’s political rights

• Demand for voting rights for women

The Women’s Rights Movement

• 1918-1920 – Paul and Burns spearheaded nonviolent protest– Women’s suffrage– Hunger strike

• See clips from Iron Jawed Angels at:– http://iron-jawed-angels.com/

The Women’s Rights Movement

• 1840 – Mott chosen as representative to World Anti-Slavery Convention– Not allowed to participate

• Mott and Stanton worked to organize first women’s rights convention– Seneca Falls Convention - 1848

The Women’s Rights Movement

• Declaration of Sentiments–Modeled on

Declaration of Independence

– Grievances women had suffered

The Women’s Rights Movement

• Men and women signed petition• Initially links with Abolitionist movement– These ties dissolved

The Women’s Rights Movement

• 1870 – 15th Amendment ratified– Black men won right to vote

• 1920 – women gain right to vote

The Cult of Domesticity

• 1800s – did not ally with women’s rights movements

• True ideal of womanhood – to be domestic

• Participated in efforts to:– End slavery– Ban alcohol– Enact child labor laws

The Cult of Domesticity

• Needed right to vote to have voice in public life

• Women and men not alike• Women’s virtue would reform politics

The Cult of Domesticity

• Securing voting rights did not immediately fuel further efforts

• Few women voted• 1925 – amendment to regulate child

labor failed to be ratified

The Cult of Domesticity

• Movements dormant for 35 years• Attention concentrated on world wars– Women joined labor force to support war

effort– Women’s opportunities shrank post-war

• Some women did affect change

The Second Wave of Women’s Movements

• 1960-1995 – second wave• Liberal and cultural ideologies coexisted• Diverse goals and rhetorical strategies

Radical Feminism

• Also called women’s liberation movement• Grew out of New Left politics– Protested Viet Nam war– Fought for civil rights

• New Left men treated women as subordinates

Radical Feminism

• 1964 – women in SNCC challenged sexism in New Left – male members unresponsive

• 1965 – women in SDS also found no receptivity

• Many women withdrew and formed own organization

Radical Feminism

• Basic principle – oppression of women is fundamental form of oppression on which others are modeled

• Relied on “rap” groups– Ensured equal participation

Radical Feminism

• Revolutionary politics• Public events

Radical Feminism

• Continues in the U.S. and other countries:– Missile Chick Dicks• http://www.missiledickchicks.net/

– Radical Cheerleaders• http://radcheers.tripod.com/

– Muslim feminists

Radical Feminism

• Identification of structural basis of oppression– The personal is political

• Women’s health movement

Lesbian Feminism

• Radicalesbians• Only women who love and live with women

putting women first• Lives not oriented around men • Lesbianism – Positive, liberated identity

Lesbian Feminism

• Not all lesbians are feminists• Not all lesbian feminists are

Radicalesbians– Defined as women-identified

• Commitment to end discrimination• Use voices to respond to criticism• Adopt proactive rhetorical strategies

Separatism

• Communities where women live independently with mutual respect

• Many, but not all, are lesbians• Believe women are different from men• Community where feminine values can

flourish

Separatism

• Impossible to reform patriarchal culture• Exit mainstream society• Exercise little political influence

Revalorism

• Focus on appreciating women’s traditional activities

• Draws on standpoint theory• Women more nurturing, cooperative, life-

giving• More complete history of America

Revalorism

• Re-covering women’s history• Exhibits of women’s traditional arts• Debate to secure legal rights

Ecofeminism

• Launched in 1974 – La Feminisme ou la Mort

• Connection between efforts to control women and quest to dominate nature

Ecofeminism

• Oppression imposed on anyone/anything that can’t resist

• Includes animal rights, peace activists, and vegetarians

• Seek to bring consciousness of humans’ interdependence with other forms of life

Ecofeminism

• Learn more at:– http://eve.enviroweb.org/– http://www.ecofem.org/

Liberal Feminism

• Advocates equality in all spheres of life• Mid-1900s – white, middle-class women living

American dream• Not happy• Wanted identity beyond home

Liberal Feminism

• Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique– Named problem of dissatisfaction– Defined as political issue– Institutions kept women confined

Liberal Feminism

• Women and men alike• Women entitled to equal rights• NOW – National Organization for Women –

1966– Effective in gaining passage of laws and

policies– Enlarge and protect women’s opportunities

Liberal Feminism

• Rhetorical strategies include lobbying, public forums, drafting legislation, conventions

• Criticized– Focus narrow – white, middle-class– Now more attention to diverse women

Liberal Feminism

• Not confined to U.S.– Spain– Muslim women– Third World– India– Iraq– Kuwait

Womanism

• Believe men and women mainly alike• Differentiate from white feminists• 1970s – African American women– Black Women Organized for

Action– National Black Feminist Organization

Womanism

• Highlight ways gender and racial oppression intersect

• Black women more often– Single– Less formal education– Bear more children– Paid less– Assume financial responsibility

Womanism

• Address issues that affect lower-class African American women– Reforming social services– Increasing training and job opportunities

• Rhetorical strategies include consciousness raising and support groups

Womanism

• 1997 – Million Woman March– Deemphasized media hype– Woman-to-woman sharing of experiences and

support

Multiracial Feminism

• Emphasizes multiple systems of domination• Prefer multiracial to multicultural• Insist race cannot be viewed in isolation• Race intersects other systems of domination

Multiracial Feminism

• Gender does not have universal meaning• Meaning of gender varies as a result of:– Race– Economic class– Sexual orientation

Multiracial Feminism

• Write and talk about more complex categories

• Emphasis on women’s agency

Power Feminism

• 1993 – Naomi Wolf– http://naomiwolf.org/

• Self-defeating to focus on social causes of inequities

• Society doesn’t oppress women• Women have power to control what happens

to them

Power Feminism

• Stop thinking of themselves as victims• Capitalize on power of majority status• Katie Roiphe – another proponent– Take Back the Night marches – self-defeating

Power Feminism

• Appeals to white, successful, well-educated• Less helpful to those without privilege• Emphasis on empowerment influential in

shaping third wave

The Third Wave of Women’s Movements

• Many second wave movements still active• Third wave has emerged

The Third Wave of Women’s Movements

• Draws from multiple branches of feminism

• Less fully formed and uniform• Not yet found single center

The Third Wave of Women’s Movements

• Not extension of goals of second wave• Distinct historical location that informs

politics and goals• Learn more at:– http://womenissues.about.com/cs/feminism

/f/thirdwave.htm

Recognizing Differences

• Recognize women differ in many ways• Figuring out how to speak for group while

recognizing differences

Building Coalitions

• Commitment to building alliances with men• Leads to understanding of intersections

among forms of privilege and oppression

Engaging in Everyday Resistance

• Reforms won by second wave not woven into everyday life

Engaging in Everyday Resistance

• Goal to incorporate structural changes wrought by second wave into life– Challenging racist comments– Confronting homophobic attitudes– Examine class privilege

Engaging in Everyday Resistance

• Power must be rooted in personal, bodily resistance

Being Media Savvy

• Third-wavers media savvy• Gain information from numerous sources• Create media of own

Being Media Savvy

• Know how to use media to galvanize political goals

• Use mass and social media to advance ideas– Tori Amos - R.A.I.N.N.• http://www.rainn.org/

– Blogs, zines, social network sites

Embracing Aesthetics and Consumerism

• Images of celebrities easy to find – hard to avoid

• Some young women see them as role models

• Embrace traditional girl culture• Embrace consumerism

Embracing Aesthetics and Consumerism

• May lead to commodification of own body

• Pornography creates pressure for women to accept sexual images to feel liberated

• Women encouraged to explore sexuality on own terms

Individualism

• Women are so different there can be no collective political agenda

• Each woman defines feminism on her own terms– Autobiographical essays

Individualism

• Does not cultivate cohesive political agenda– Change is unlikely to happen• Structural change grows out of collective political action

Antifeminism: The Backlash

• Success of feminism led to antifeminist efforts

• Backlash surfaced in response to each wave

• Antifeminism opposes changes in women’s status and rights

The Antisuffrage Movement

• Aimed to prevent women from getting right to vote

• Allowing women to vote would contradict natural roles as wives and mothers

The Antisuffrage Movement

• 1870s – formalized – National Association Opposed to Women’s

Suffrage• Movement disbanded after women won

right to vote in 1920

Fascinating, Total Women

• 1970s – Marabel Morgan – Total Women• Helen Andelin – Fascinating Womanhood• Advocated women’s return to traditional

values

Fascinating, Total Women

• Total Women stressed view of women as sex objects

• Fascinating Womanhood grounded in biblical teachings

• Support came from women dependent on husbands

The STOP ERA Campaign

• 1970s – response to 1972-73 ERA campaign

• Phyllis Shlafly – feminism turning women into men

The STOP ERA Campaign

• Lobbied legislators• ERA would undercut men’s willingness to

support children, allow women to be drafted

The STOP ERA Campaign

• Funded by corporate leaders and upper class

• ERA not consistent with economic and political interests

Surrendered Wives & the War against Boys & Men

• 2001 –women should abandon quest for equality to have happy marriage

• Let husbands lead family• Boys now disadvantaged in school

Surrendered Wives & the War against Boys & Men

• Women have gained power at the expense of men

• Contrary to God’s commandments

Contradictory Claims of Antifeminism

• 1991 – Faludi’s Backlash• Antifeminist rhetoric defines feminism as

source of women’s problems– Turned women into fast-track achievers

Contradictory Claims of Antifeminism

• Women have never had it so good – can have it all

• But do women really have full equality?