Feminism in the 1960’s by Hanna Merkel

Origins

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 14:02:32 UTC

Prior to WWII, women working women was uncommon, however, Rosie the Riveter, the iconic image of WWII, changed this. The poster was used as propaganda to get women to support the war effort at home, filling the jobs men left behind.

After WWII

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 14:03:39 UTC

Post WWII women were again shut out of the work place and guided to be the picture perfect housewife.
#suburbs #uniformity #housewife

Feminine mystique

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 15:53:28 UTC

“If a woman had a problem in the 1950s and 1960s, she knew that something must be wrong with her marriage, or with her self. Other women were satisfied with their lives, she thought. What kind of woman was she if she did not feel this mysterious fulfillment waxing the kitchen floor?” (Friedan 19).

“I pointed to the honey jars. ‘Where did you get those?’ He thought the tone of shock in my voice was really consternation. ‘I know what you mean. A lot of folks won’t buy it ‘cause it’s got the Virgin Mary pictured as a colored woman, but see, that’s because the women who makes the honey is colored herself’” (Kidd 64).

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 15:53:46 UTC

August challenges societal standards
August is a black and a woman who own her own business
Her business image is a colored version of the Virgin Mary
She finds fulfillment outside of the home
August rises above societal views and uses her power to find fulfillment and succeed in her goals.

History

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 16:53:38 UTC

The civil rights movements and the women’s rights movements had close ties as they were both seeking change.

First wave feminism was inspired by the abolition movement, when the white women realized how powerless women were being unable to vote.
Second wave feminism worked with the civil rights movement to secure rights and increased equality for the two minorities.

Black women’s dual role

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 16:53:47 UTC

“White feminists defined gender as the principal source of their exclusion from full participation in American life; Black women were forced to confront the interplay between racism and sexism and to figure out how to make Black men think about gender issues while making white women think about racial issues”

Black women had to be extra diligent because they were part of both minorities therefore making them a minority of a minority.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/feminism/The-second-wave-of-feminism#ref216012

Civil Rights Act 1964

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 17:08:00 UTC

Outlawed discrimination in employment, voting, and use of public facilities for

Race
Color
National origin and religion
Title VII = women

“I wandered in for lunch to find Rosaleen wearing a new dress and her hair freshly plaited [...] ‘ your dress is pretty’ I lied [...] ‘You going somewhere?’ I asked. ‘She sure is,’ said August, stepping into the room, smiling at Rosaleen. ‘I’m going to finish what I started, Rosaleen said, lifting her chin. ‘I’m going to register to vote’” (Kidd 281).

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 17:17:38 UTC

Dressing up for the occasion shows how important the Civil rights act of 1964 was to Rosaleen

Showcases that although it is a special day, dressing nicely will help present a more put together image of the black community, combating the heathen stereotype

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 17:22:47 UTC

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rosie-the-Riveter

Scan to open in Spotify

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-15 20:00:48 UTC

^{#HowRosieGotHerName #RosieTheRiveter #song}

Symbol: Rosaleen

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:13:35 UTC

With the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Rosaleen finds herself in the same position as suffragettes after the 19th amendment was passed: the government finally recognizes her as a valued member of a voting democracy.
However, her path is not easy, and she is physically attacked on her way to voter registration, which is analogous to the fact that feminist struggles were not over after the 19th amendment. #Suffragettes
It is also relevant that future waves of feminism emphasized intersectionality: the common threads between oppression of women and racial minorities.

Symbol: the Boatwright Sisters

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:17:07 UTC

During the 1960s and 1970s, in parallel with the civil rights movement, feminists called out inequalities in the workplace. August Boatwright is an entrepreneur, not dependent on men for her income. She is the boss of a male employee at her business (Zach). June works as a teacher, and her choice to marry or not marry is not constrained by economic considerations. May is able to keep a roof over her head without being controlled by a man, whether as an employer or family member.

Symbols: Sisters of the Black Madonna

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:18:48 UTC

Although the setting of the book precedes 1990s feminism, the author’s own spiritual journey toward feminist theology happens during the third wave. The emphasis on Mary as a female and a mother pushes back against centuries of patriarchy within Christianity. The history of the Church is male-dominated, but with the Black Madonna, Mary is reclaimed as an icon of protection, and in the book the Sisters create a female-led denomination. This is parallel to women entering and occupying formerly male-dominated cultural spaces like punk rock (riot grrrl) sports (rise of women’s professional teams), and the military.

History of Feminism

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:19:54 UTC

Timeline #Herstory

First Wave Feminism--basic equal rights like voting

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:20:45 UTC

1848: Seneca Falls Convention

1872: Susan B. Anthony arrested for voting
1878: Fist women's suffrage amendment introduced to Congress

1920: Ratification of 19th amendment (all women gain the right to vote in America)
1948: Sue Monk Kidd is born

#VotesForWomen

Second Wave Feminism--Reducing inequality at home, work, in family law, and overall power.

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:25:09 UTC

1949: Simone de Beauvoir's book, The Second Sex, about male-centered ideology (women=other)
1960: FDA approves birth control pill
1963: Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique, objecting to limitation of women as housewives
1964: Setting of The Secret Life of Bees
1973: Roe v. wade #NoMoreHangers
1982: Equal Rights Amendment dies by not meeting ratification deadline
1980-1996: Kidd's spiritual journey from Traditional Christianity to Feminist Theology

#ERAYes

A conversation between August and Lily

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:34:17 UTC

The next three quotes are a continuous passage from the book.

"Charm School"

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:37:01 UTC

The next three sections are a continuous passage.

Third Wave Feminism--Validating the female experience and embracing individual identity

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:40:05 UTC

1991: Anita Hill testimony during Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings
Early 90's: riot grrrl underground feminist punk movement
1994: Violence against women act passes
2002: The Secret Life of Bees published

#RiotGrrrl

In third wave feminism, body and sex positivity are part of how activists reclaimed femininity as a source of power rather than weakness or shame. In addition, male-dominated spaces like religion were targeted as new horizons in seeking female equality.

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:44:06 UTC

“Pearled light poured through the the open window behind me, molding to my skin, giving me a true halo, not just around my head but across my shoulders, among my ribs and thighs. I was the last person to deserve a halo, but I studied the effect, cupping my hands under my breasts, studying my pinky-brown nipples, the thin curves of my waist, every soft and glowing turn. It was the first time I’d felt like more than a scraggly girl” (Kidd 134).

The halo

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:44:23 UTC

When Lily examines herself in the mirror, there is a mixing of symbolism across motifs of religion (halo as a symbol of goodness/purity) and womanhood (bodily curves as a symbol of reaching maturity).
By introducing this halo, Kidd refuses to connect the female nude form to sense of shame it traditionally receives in the context of Christian modesty. Feminist theology sees the maternal figure of Mary as being worthy of worship, but also as a point of identity with all females, which is why Kidd associates Lily’s body with the divine.

#QueenB

Fourth wave feminism--Female empowerment, challenging gender norms, #MeToo movement

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:44:50 UTC

2012: Delhí gang rape in India
2016: Hillary Clinton runs for president (and loses) #NastyWoman
2017: Women's March and beginning of #MeToo
2021: Kamala Harris sworn in as Vice President.

#MeToo

Second Wave feminism Quotes

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:48:19 UTC

From Gloria Steinem's book: Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (1983) #FishNeedsABicycle

“For sad if obvious reasons, women (especially white women who are seduced by access to the powerful) are the only discriminated-against group whose members seem to think that, if they don’t take themselves seriously, someone else will" (Steinem 82).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:50:48 UTC

Both Lily and her mother seem, at times, to expect T. Ray to come to the realization that he must treat them better, though really there is no basis for expecting this.

“Power is being redefined. Women often explain with care that we mean power to control our lives, but not to dominate others" (Steinem 206).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:51:56 UTC

This quote is relevant to how the Boatwright sisters live their lives.

“The uncomfortable truth seems to be that the amount of talk by women has been measured less against the amount of men’s talk than against the expectation of female silence" (Steinem 332).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:52:32 UTC

This quote is relevant to the behavior of T. Ray and the men who attacked Rosaleen.

Third wave Feminism Quotes

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:56:56 UTC

One of the most famous third wave feminists was Naomi Wolf; the body and sex positivity indicated in the passage with Lily looking in the mirror is also reflected in the following Naomi Wolf quotes:

“A cultural fixation on female thinness is. To an obsession about female beauty, but an obsession about female obedience”

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:57:33 UTC

(Wolf)

#BrownieSundae #SpaghettiTacos
#CheezyDibbles

“For I conclude that the enemy is not lipstick, but guilt itself; that we deserve lipstick if we want it, AND free speech; we deserve to be sexual AND serious”

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:57:59 UTC

(Wolf)

"A Mother who radiates self-love and self-acceptance actually VACCINATES her daughter against low self-esteem” (Wolf)

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 16:58:23 UTC

This Naomi Wolf quote also summarizes the complicated relationship between Lily’s self-doubt and the absence of her mother (and also possibly the mental health of her mother before her death).

#DontBeAnAntiVaxxer #EmpoweredWomenEmpowerWomen

The problem that has no name

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-17 21:20:07 UTC

“The problem lay buried, unspoken, for many years in the minds of American woman. It was a strange strain, a sense of dissatisfaction, a yearning that woman suffered in the middle of the 20th century in the United States” ( Friedan 15).

Betty Friedan challenged women being pushed out of the workforce by coining the term “Feminine Mystique” as a way to describe from the sexist view that a women is fulfilled with her domestic duties of the household.

“With woman integrated in the family and society, her magic is dissipated rather than transformed; reduced to the condition of servant, she is no longer than unconquered prey incarnating all the treasures of nature...marriage kills love...she becomes his property” (de Beauvoir 187).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 21:20:52 UTC

The quote above matches what August says to Lily about what she does not like about how marriage is set up.

This quote is from Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (written in 1949, between the First and Second waves of Feminism)

Women's March

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 21:31:10 UTC

#SupermodelProtest (link is also to an article)

Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 21:37:05 UTC

Image link #ERA #MsMagazine

Title VII

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-17 21:38:29 UTC

Women were added to the Civil Rights Act to prevent the act’s passage, because that would be even more radical and outrageous

#PsychYouThought #Passed #UnoReverse

Naomi Wolf

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 21:39:53 UTC

#LipstickLiberal

Simone de Beauvoir's book

kimk0440 — 2021-04-17 21:41:49 UTC

Link #EveWasFramed

(3) “Weren’t you ever in love?” I asked.“Being in love and getting married, now, that’s two different things. I was in love once, of course I was. Nobody should go through life without falling in love.”“But you didn’t love him enough to marry him?”She smiled at me. “I loved him enough,” she said. “I just loved my freedom more” (Kidd 146).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:07:27 UTC

During first wave feminism, women fought for basic legal rights like owning property, voting, and some measure of independence from husbands regarding business matters.

#MissIndependent

(2) "I was thinking, Well, it’s not just marriage that’s set up like that. What about me waiting on T. Ray hand and foot, and we were just father and daughter? Pour me some more tea, Lily. Polish my shoes, Lily. Go get the truck keys, Lily. I sincerely hoped she didn’t mean this sort of thing went on in a marriage" (Kidd 145).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:07:31 UTC

Lily shows a naïveté about marriage that may also symbolize a larger naïveté about gender issues (perhaps taking the fruits of first wave feminism for granted). In other words, a girl from 100 years earlier would be societally conditioned to know they would be waiting on a husband hand and foot after marriage

(1) “I decided against marrying altogether. There were enough restrictions in my life without someone expecting me to wait on him hand and foot. Not that I’m against marrying, Lily. I’m just against how it’s set up" (Kidd 145).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:14:58 UTC

August Boatwright is an entrepreneur as a woman of color, and owes that possibility to suffragettes dating back to the mid-1800s, who had to fight for many decades to get recognition as equal citizens in the USA, with all the rights going along with citizenship.

(3) “I do so,” I said. “They teach everything. How to walk and pivot, what to do with your ankles when you sit in a chair, how to get into a car, pour tea, take off your gloves” (Kidd 10).

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:23:38 UTC

when the second wave feminist Gloria Steinem started Ms. magazine, it was a stark contrast to the kind of magazine previously aimed at women (which would be concerned with the kinds of things Lily mentions as topics in charm school).

(2) “You’re charming enough,” Rosaleen had said, washing the vomit out of the sink basin. “You don’t need to go to some high-falutin school to get charm" (Kidd 9)

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:23:40 UTC

Second wave feminism emphasized the need for women to stop working against each other along lines of race, class, and social position.

(1) "I had thought my real chance would come from going to charm school at the Women’s Club last spring. Friday afternoons for six weeks, but I got barred because I didn’t have a mother, a grandmother, or even a measly aunt to present me with a white rose at the closing ceremony. Rosaleen doing it was against the rules. I cried until I threw up in the sink" (Kidd 9)

kimk0440 — 2021-04-19 18:25:00 UTC

Lily’s experience (rejection by the Women’s club because of her family situation) juxtaposes femininity (charm school) with the anti-feminism of not being inclusive to all females.

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-21 19:35:33 UTC

merkeh0224 — 2021-04-22 15:24:36 UTC

Virtual pitch