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Table of Contents
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter 1. History of Feminism..................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Origins....................................................................................................................................... 3
1.2. Principles.................................................................................................................................. 5
Chapter 2. Women`s Rights Movement.......................................................................................... 7
2.1. The National Women`s Trade Union League of America ....................................................... 7
2.2. The National Organization for Women ................................................................................... 8
2.3. The Third World Women`s Alliance ....................................................................................... 8
2.4. The Daughters of Bilitis ........................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 3. Famous Feminist Women Writers............................................................................... 11
3.1. Toni Morrison ........................................................................................................................ 11
3.2. Kathryn Stockett .................................................................................................................... 12
3.3. Betty Friedan .......................................................................................................................... 13
3.4. Phyllis Schlafly ...................................................................................................................... 15
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 17
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 18
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Introduction
Feminism and American Women Writers of the 20th century represent a huge step in
defining the true form of the American democracy. I chose to write about feminism and
American women writers because thanks to them and many like them, women today are treated a
lot better.
The first chapter treats the history and fundamental ideas of female rights and the
complexity of the idea of feminism and what feminism really stands for.
Because feminism and the fight for equality is an endless struggle that has been going on
for centuries, there have appeared countless organizations in order to make sure that feminists do
not give up until they reach their goals. Some of the most important organizations of the 20th
century American feminism are presented in the second chapter of this paper.
Another important part of the 20th century American feminism is represented by its
feminist movement writers that represent an important milestone in the history of feminism.
These writers not only wrote about the problems and difficulties feminist activists had to endure,
but they were also active members and spiritual supporters of this movement. Some of the most
important writers of the 20th century American feminism are presented in the third and final
chapter of this paper.
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Chapter 1. History of Feminism
1.1 Origins
The supposedly monolithic movement of primarily middle-class women of the 1960s and 70s
(that is so often declared to be ―dead), and the First Wave canon of events and actors shall be
delineated as Feminism. The designation of this term as a proper noun does not denote its greater
importance, but rather represents its position as The Feminism that most media institutions and
public discourse erroneously focus upon, to the detriment of other feminisms. Further, feminism
and ―feminisms shal denote the new understanding of historical moments or movements and
the recognition that there are multiple feminist theories, actors, motivations and discourses.
“In its lowercase form, ―feminism itself is a chal enging term to define. For this reason, I
will adopt Allwood and Wadia‘s broad definition of feminism, which is the ―'theory and
practice which aim to change power relations between men and women’ but also attempts to
achieve equality between men and women, to improve the status of women, and to fight against
their systematic oppression by men.” (Gill, 74)
This definition necessarily glosses over what equality is, but indeed that very issue remains a
longstanding rift between feminists today. Finally, historians of feminism commonly refer to
periods of feminism in waves (First Wave, Second Wave, and more recently, the Third Wave).
Nonetheless, the wave remains a problematic concept. Scholars use it to refer to the rise and
fall of an era‘s Feminism, which makes it seem like the fight for women‘s rights as a whole ebbs
and flows as if it were beholden to the lunar cycle. The wave concept disguises the fact that
multiple feminisms operate in society, which exist independently of media representations of the
rise and fall of a single, mainstream Feminism.
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French philosopher Charles Fourier is credited with having originated the word
"feminism" in 1837. The words "feminism" and "feminist" first appeared in France and
the Netherlands in 1872, Great Britain in the 1890s, and the United States in 1910. The real
organization and social affirmation started only with the so called movement of "the suffragette"an active militant structure in the United States and England that fought for the abolishment of
social slavery and solid changes in the juridical system.
English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft beat Paine to the punch in her response to
Burke titled A Vindication of the Rights of Men (1790), but she parted ways with both of them
in a second volume titled A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792). Although the book was
technically written in Britain, it arguably represents the beginning of first-wave American
feminism. Mary Wollstonecraft states that “I do not wish them [women] to have power over
men; but over themselves.” (29)
“After considering the historic page, and viewing the living world with anxious
solicitude, the most melancholy emotions of sorrowful indignation have depressed my spirits,
and I have sighed when obliged to confess that either Nature has made a great difference
between man and man, or that the civilisation which has hitherto taken place in the world has
been very partial.” (Wollstonecraft, 10).
Mary Wollstonecraft states that “My own sex, I hope, will excuse me, if I treat them like
rational creatures, instead of flattering their fascinating graces, and viewing them as if they were
in a state of perpetual childhood, unable to stand alone.”
Men and women must be educated, in a great degree, by the opinions and manners of the
society they live in. In every age there has been a stream of popular opinion that has carried all
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before it, and given a family character, as it were, to the century. (A Vindication of the Rights of
Woman: Chapter II)
1.2. Principles
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical fields. It
encompasses work in a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, sociology, economics,
women’ s studies, literary criticism, art history, psychoanalysis and philosophy. Feminist theory
aims to understand gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and
sexuality.
While providing a critique of these social and political relations, much of feminist theory also
focuses on the promotion of women's rights and interests. Themes explored in feminist theory
include discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification),
oppression and patriarchy. Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at
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defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights for women.
This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
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Chapter 2. Women`s Rights Movement
2.1. The National Women`s Trade Union League of America
The National Women's Trade Union League of America (NWTUL) was founded in
Boston in 1903 as a coalition of working-class women, professional reformers, and women from
wealthy and prominent families. Its purpose was to "assist in the organization of women wage
workers into trade unions and thereby to help them secure conditions necessary for healthful and
efficient work and to obtain a just reward for such work.
The NWTUL viewed women workers primarily in their capacity as oppressed workers,
but also recognized that all women, regardless of class, were united by the "bonds of
womanhood." Thus upper-class women joined as the allies of working-class women, donating
money, serving as spokespeople to the press, and arranging for legal representation. The wealthy
women members of the NWTUL were also willing to dirty their hands, and they participated in
picket lines and sometimes got arrested during protests. In the process, the women of the
NWTUL forged a new working-class feminism.
At a time when organized labor was devoted to a "family wage" concept—that is, a wage
for men at which they could support an entire family without the contribution of a working
wife—and when union leaders were worried that increased participation of women in labor
markets would drive down men's wages, traditional unions were largely unwilling to allow
women into their ranks. When women did form unions and strike, the NWTUL often provided
support where other unions held back.
The NWTUL supported the women garment industry workers in New York and Chicago
when they struck in 1909 and 1910. The Uprising of the 20,000 marked a turning point for the
NWTUL, when the organization gained credibility after lending important support to the strikers.
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In the teens, the NWTUL organized working-class women to participate in the suffrage
movement. Rose Schneiderman, who became an officer of the NWTUL, was an important figure
of the Jewish left, and a key organizer in the New York Women's Suffrage Party and the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union. The organization dissolved in 1950.
2.2. The National Organization for Women
National Organization for Women (NOW), American activist organization, was founded
in 1966 by Betty Friedan, and promotes equal rights for women.
The National Organization for Women was established by a small group of feminists who
were dedicated to actively challenging sex discrimination in all areas of American society but
particularly in employment. The organization is composed of both men and women, and in the
late 20th century it had some 250,000 members.
Among the issues that NOW addresses by means of lobbying and litigation are child care,
pregnancy leave, and abortion and pension rights. Its major concern during the 1970s was
passage of a national Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution; the amendment failed to gain
ratification in 1982. NOW has also campaigned for such issues as passage of state equal rights
amendments and comparable-worth legislation (equal pay for work of comparable value) and has
met with greater success on the state level.
2.3. The Third World Women`s Alliance
The Third World Women's Alliance (TWWA) is a civil rights organization allied in
1971. The alliance was originally called NBAWADU — with the intent to sound African —this
stood for National Black Anti-War Anti- Draft Union.
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It was an attempt to bring awareness to young people about the war (Beal). Their mission
was to work for African Americans and other minorities by exposing the relation between sexual
oppression, racism, and financial exploitation.
2.4. The Daughters of Bilitis
Nearly fifteen years before the birth of gay liberation, the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) was
the world’s first organization committed to lesbian visibility and empowerment. Like its
predominantly gay male counterpart, the Mattachine Society, DOB was launched in response to
the oppressive anti-homosexual climate of the McCarthy era, when lesbian and gay people were
arrested, fired from jobs, and had their children taken away simply because of their sexual
orientation. It was against this political backdrop that a circle of San Francisco lesbians formed a
private club where lesbians could meet others in a safe, affirming setting. The small social group
evolved over the next two decades into a national organization that counted more than a dozen
chapters, and laid the foundation for today’s lesbian rights movement.
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At first a social club, the Daughters of Bilitis, influenced by the Mattachine Society, a
gay men's group, soon adopted more political goals. The Mattachine Society had formed in Los
Angeles in 1951, and DOB allied with both it and ONE, Inc., an independent gay-themed
magazine, whose editors were members of the Mattachine Society. DOB's activities included
hosting public forums on homosexuality, offering support to isolated, married, and mothering
lesbians, and participating in research activities.
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Chapter 3. Famous Feminist Women
Writers
3.1. Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was born Chloe Ardelia Wofford, in 18 February 1931, in Lorain (Ohio),
the second of four children in a black working-class family.
She is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic
themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best known novels are The
Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon and Beloved. She also was commissioned to write the libretto
for a new opera, Margaret Garner, first performed in 2005.
Morrison began writing fiction as part of an informal group of poets and writers at
Howard who met to discuss their work. She went to one meeting with a short story about a black
girl who longed to have blue eyes. She later developed the story as her first novel, The Bluest
Eye (1970). She wrote it while raising two children and teaching at Howard.
In writing about the impeachment in 1998, Morrison wrote that, since Whitewater, Bill
Clinton had been mistreated because of his "Blackness". Toni Morrison states that “Years ago, in
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the middle of the Whitewater investigation, one heard the first murmurs: white skin
notwithstanding, this is our first black President. Blacker than any actual black person who could
ever be elected in our children’s lifetime. After all, Clinton displays almost every trope of
blackness: single-parent household, born poor, working-class, saxophone-playing, McDonald’sand-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas”.
She won the Nobel Prize in 1993 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 for Beloved. On 29 May
2012, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
3.2. Kathryn Stockett
Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the
University of Alabama with a degree in English and Creative writing, she moved to New York
City where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives
in Atlanta with her family.
She is known for her 2009 debut novel, The Help, which is about AfricanAmerican maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s. The
Help took her five years to complete, and the book was rejected by 60 literary agents before
agent Susan Ramer agreed to represent Stockett.
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The Help is a 2011 American drama film adaptation of the novel of the same
name (2009) by Kathryn Stockett, adapted for the screen and directed by Tate Taylor. Featuring
an ensemble cast, the film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her
relationship with two black maids, Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson during Civil Rights
era America (the early 1960s). Skeeter is a journalist who decides to write a book from the point
of view of the maids (referred to as "the help"), exposing the racism they are faced with as they
work for white families.
3.3. Betty Friedan
Friedan was born Bettye Naomi Goldstein, on February 4, 1921 in Peoria, Illinois. She
was an American writer, activist, and feminist.
A leading figure in the women's movement in the United States, her 1963 book The
Feminine Mystique is often credited with sparking the "second wave" of American feminism in
the 20th century. In 1966, Friedan founded and was elected the first president of the National
Organization for Women, which aimed to bring women "into the mainstream of American
society now [in] fully equal partnership with men".
One of the most influential feminists of 20th century, Friedan opposed equating feminism
with lesbianism. As early as 1964, very early in the movement, and only a year after the
publication of The Feminine Mystique, Friedan appeared on television to address the fact the
media was, at that point, trying to dismiss the movement as a joke and centering argument and
debate around whether or not to wear bras and other issues considered ridiculous.
When she grew up in Peoria, Illinois, she knew one gay man. Betty Friedan states that
"the whole idea of homosexuality made me profoundly uneasy." (221)
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She later acknowledged that she had been very square and was uncomfortable about
homosexuality.
The women's movement was not about sex, but about equal opportunity in jobs and all
the rest of it. Yes, I suppose you have to say that freedom of sexual choice is part of that, but it
shouldn't be the main issue ...." (Friedan, 223)
She ignored lesbians in the National Organization for Women (NOW) initially, but
objected to what she saw as demands for equal time. She states that “Homosexuality ... is not, in
my opinion, what the women's movement is all about.” (222)
Betty Friedan "changed the course of human history almost single-handedly." Her ex-husband,
Carl Friedan, believes this; Betty believed it too. This belief was the key to a good deal of Betty's
behaviour; she would become breathless with outrage if she didn't get the deference she thought
she deserved. Though her behaviour was often tiresome, I figured that she had a point. Women
don't get the respect they deserve unless they are wielding male-shaped power; if they represent
women they will be called "love" and expected to clear up after themselves. Betty wanted to
change that forever. (Germaine Greer)
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3.4. Phyllis Schlafly
Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly, born August 15, 1924, is an American constitutional
lawyer, conservative activist, author, and founder of the Eagle Forum. She is known for her
opposition to modern feminism and for her campaign against the proposed Equal Rights
Amendment. Her self-published book, A Choice, Not An Echo, was published in 1964 from her
home in Alton, Illinois, across the Mississippi River from her native St. Louis. She formed Pere
Marquette Publishers company. She has co-authored books on national defense and was highly
critical of arms-controll agreements with the Soviet Union. (Chip Berlet and Matthew N. Lyons,
202)
Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum in the 1970s and the Eagle Forum Education & Legal
Defense Fund, St. Louis. As of 2013, she is still the president of the organizations, and also has a
presence on the lecture circuit. Since 1967, she has published a newsletter, the Phyllis Schlafly
Report. In 1946, Schlafly became a researcher for the American Enterprise Institute and worked
in the successful United States House of Representatives campaign of Claude I. Bakewell.
Schlafly became an outspoken opponent of the Equal Rights Amendment during the
1970s as the organizer of the "STOP ERA" campaign. STOP is an acronym for "Stop Taking
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Our Privileges." Schlafly argued that the ERA would take away gender specific privileges
currently enjoyed by women, including "dependent wife" benefits under Social Security and the
exemption from Selective Service registration. Schlafly is the author of 21 books on subjects
ranging from child care to phonics education. She writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column
for Creators Syndicate.
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Conclusion
As it has been sated in the introduction, Feminism and American Women Writers of the
20th century represent a huge step in defining the true form of the American democracy. All these
small and slow steps that were and are still being made by feminist movement activists represent
the fundaments of a society in which equality between the members of that society is not just a
mere illusion but a well-defined truth.
The paper also shows that in order to achieve a “perfect” society, humanity has to keep
on learning from the mistakes of the past in order not to repeat them. But also it has to keep
going forward to find better ways for abolishing these “intolerances” that keep appearing
amongst the differences of race, religion, color and sexes.
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Bibliography
1.
Allwood, Gill, and Khursheed Wadia. French Feminism: National and International
Perspectives. Modern & Contemporary France, 2010.
2.
Berlet, Chip, and Matthew N. Lyons. Right–Wing Populism in America: Too Close for
Comfort. New York: Guilford Press, 2000. Print.
3.
Calkin, Jessamy. The maid's tale: Kathryn Stockett examines slavery and racism in
America's Deep South. London: The Daily Telegraph, 2009.
4.
Friedan, Betty. Life So Far: A Memoir. New York:Simon & Schuster (Touchstone Book),
2000, pbk., 1st Touchstone ed., 2001. Page 221.
5.
Friedan, Betty. Life So Far, op. cit. Page 222.
6.
Friedan, Betty. Life So Far, op. cit. Page 223.
7.
Kolbert, Elizabeth. Firebrand: Phyllis Schlafly and the Conservative Revolution. New
York: The New Yorker 81, 2005.
8.
http://www.more.com/kathryn-stockett-help-best-seller
9.
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/ww/nwtul.html
10.
http://archive.adl.org/unheard-voices/pdf/background/Lyon.pdf
11.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/405154/National-Organization-for-WomenNOW
12.
http://kathrynstockett.com/biography/