1. The Rhetorical Shaping of Gender: Women’s Movements in the United States
Chapter 3

2. Women’s Movements in the U.S.
Rhetoric is persuasion
Rhetorical movements are collective efforts to challenge and change existing:
Attitudes
Laws
Policies

3. The Three Waves of Women’s Movements
Rhetorical women’s movements have occurred in three waves

4. 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

5. The First Wave of Women’s Movements
Liberal and cultural branches

6. The Women’s Rights Movement
Activism aimed at enlarging women’s political rights
Demand for voting rights for women

7. The Women’s Rights Movement
– Paul and Burns spearheaded nonviolent protest
Women’s suffrage
Hunger strike
See clips from Iron Jawed Angels at:

8. 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

9. The Women’s Rights Movement
Declaration of Sentiments
Modeled on Declaration of Independence
Grievances women had suffered

10. The Women’s Rights Movement
Men and women signed petition
Initially links with Abolitionist movement
These ties dissolved

11. The Women’s Rights Movement
1870 – 15th Amendment ratified
Black men won right to vote
1920 – women gain right to vote

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. The Second Wave of Women’s Movements
Liberal and cultural ideologies coexisted
Diverse goals and rhetorical strategies

17. 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

18. 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

19. Radical Feminism
Basic principle – oppression of women is fundamental form of oppression on which others are modeled
Relied on “rap” groups
Ensured equal participation

20. Radical Feminism
Revolutionary politics
Public events

21. Radical Feminism Continues in the U.S. and other countries:
Missile Chick Dicks
Radical Cheerleaders
Muslim feminists

22. Radical Feminism Identification of structural basis of oppression
The personal is political
Women’s health movement

23. Lesbian Feminism Radicalesbians
Only women who love and live with women putting women first
Lives not oriented around men
Lesbianism
Positive, liberated identity

24. 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

25. 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

26. Separatism Impossible to reform patriarchal culture
Exit mainstream society
Exercise little political influence

27. Revalorism Focus on appreciating women’s traditional activities
Draws on standpoint theory
Women more nurturing, cooperative, life-giving
More complete history of America

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

29. Ecofeminism Launched in 1974
La Feminisme ou la Mort
Connection between efforts to control women and quest to dominate nature

30. 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

31. Ecofeminism Learn more at: http://eve.enviroweb.org/

32. Liberal Feminism Advocates equality in all spheres of life
Mid-1900s – white, middle-class women living American dream
Not happy
Wanted identity beyond home

33. Liberal Feminism Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique
Named problem of dissatisfaction
Defined as political issue
Institutions kept women confined

34. 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

35. Liberal Feminism
Rhetorical strategies include lobbying, public forums, drafting legislation, conventions
Criticized
Focus narrow – white, middle-class
Now more attention to diverse women

36. Liberal Feminism Not confined to U.S. Spain Muslim women Third World
India
Iraq
Kuwait

37. Womanism Believe men and women mainly alike
Differentiate from white feminists
1970s – African American women
Black Women Organized for Action
National Black Feminist Organization

38. Womanism Highlight ways gender and racial oppression intersect
Black women more often
Single
Less formal education
Bear more children
Paid less
Assume financial responsibility

39. 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

40. Womanism 1997 – Million Woman March Deemphasized media hype
Woman-to-woman sharing of experiences and support

41. Multiracial Feminism Emphasizes multiple systems of domination
Prefer multiracial to multicultural
Insist race cannot be viewed in isolation
Race intersects other systems of domination

42. Multiracial Feminism Gender does not have universal meaning
Meaning of gender varies as a result of:
Race
Economic class
Sexual orientation

43. Multiracial Feminism Write and talk about more complex categories
Emphasis on women’s agency

44. Power Feminism 1993 – Naomi Wolf
Self-defeating to focus on social causes of inequities
Society doesn’t oppress women
Women have power to control what happens to them

45. 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

46. Power Feminism Appeals to white, successful, well-educated
Less helpful to those without privilege
Emphasis on empowerment influential in shaping third wave

47. The Third Wave of Women’s Movements
Many second wave movements still active
Third wave has emerged

48. The Third Wave of Women’s Movements
Draws from multiple branches of feminism
Less fully formed and uniform
Not yet found single center

49. 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:

50. Recognizing Differences
Recognize women differ in many ways
Figuring out how to speak for group while recognizing differences

51. Building Coalitions Commitment to building alliances with men
Leads to understanding of intersections among forms of privilege and oppression

52. Engaging in Everyday Resistance
Reforms won by second wave not woven into everyday life

53. Engaging in Everyday Resistance
Goal to incorporate structural changes wrought by second wave into life
Challenging racist comments
Confronting homophobic attitudes
Examine class privilege

54. Engaging in Everyday Resistance
Power must be rooted in personal, bodily resistance

55. Being Media Savvy Third-wavers media savvy
Gain information from numerous sources
Create media of own

56. 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.
Blogs, zines, social network sites

57. 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

58. 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

59. Individualism
Women are so different there can be no collective political agenda
Each woman defines feminism on her own terms
Autobiographical essays

60. Individualism Does not cultivate cohesive political agenda
Change is unlikely to happen
Structural change grows out of collective political action

61. 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

62. The Antisuffrage Movement
Aimed to prevent women from getting right to vote
Allowing women to vote would contradict natural roles as wives and mothers

63. The Antisuffrage Movement
1870s – formalized
National Association Opposed to Women’s Suffrage
Movement disbanded after women won right to vote in 1920

64. Fascinating, Total Women
1970s – Marabel Morgan – Total Women
Helen Andelin – Fascinating Womanhood
Advocated women’s return to traditional values

65. 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

66. The STOP ERA Campaign 1970s – response to 1972-73 ERA campaign
Phyllis Shlafly – feminism turning women into men

67. The STOP ERA Campaign Lobbied legislators
ERA would undercut men’s willingness to support children, allow women to be drafted

68. The STOP ERA Campaign Funded by corporate leaders and upper class
ERA not consistent with economic and political interests

69. 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

70. Surrendered Wives & the War against Boys & Men
Women have gained power at the expense of men
Contrary to God’s commandments

71. Contradictory Claims of Antifeminism
1991 – Faludi’s Backlash
Antifeminist rhetoric defines feminism as source of women’s problems
Turned women into fast-track achievers

72. Contradictory Claims of Antifeminism
Women have never had it so good – can have it all
But do women really have full equality?