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 AntiSlavery 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.n
et/
◦ 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, middleclass
◦ 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 lowerclass 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?
