Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                

Draft:Boston Female Liberation

Boston Female Liberation was an American radical feminist organization.

History

edit

Female Liberation started in 1968 in Boston.[1] The group published The Second Wave, which described itself as "a magazine of the new feminism." The first issue was in the spring of 1971.

Printed in that issue is "A Statement About Female Liberation," which says in part:

Female Liberation is an organization which encompasses all aspects of the feminist struggle, including education, consciousness-raising activities, and action around such basic demands of the movement as childcare, abortion and equal pay. No woman is excluded from Female Liberation who is interested in the development of a strong, autonomous women's movement capable of bringing about change on every level.[2]

Activities

edit

The organization participated in activities in defense of a woman's right to choose abortion[3] and for free, community-controlled child care available up to twenty-four hours a day.[4] Female Liberation advocated and promoted self-defense. In September 1970, participating in a "Symposium on Feminism" at the University of Pittsburgh, two members of Female Liberation demonstrated karate techniques.[5]

Female Liberation participated in protests against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War and helped to build women's contingents. At a rally in Boston, November 1971, Pat Galligan spoke on behalf of the organization telling the crowd, "American women and the people of Southeast Asia have the same enemy. We want the government out of the war, out of our wombs, and out of our way."[6]

Female Liberation helped to build conferences on women's liberation at various Boston area campuses. At Boston University in the fall of 1970, Boston Female Liberation sponsored "a weekend of education and discussion for all women." Workshop topics included, "Black and Third World Women," "Marriage," and "Is Feminism Revolutionary?"[7]

References

edit
  1. ^ Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne (2001). Outlaw Woman. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 126. ISBN 0872863905. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Internet Archive.
  2. ^ "A Statement About Female Liberation". The Second Wave. Vol. 1, no. 1. Spring 1971. p. 2. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via JSTOR.
  3. ^ Rosenstock, Nancy (2022). Inside the Second Wave of Feminism. Chicago: Haymarket Books. pp. 85–93. ISBN 978-1-64259-704-2.
  4. ^ Rosenstock, Nancy (2022). Inside the Second Wave of Feminism. Chicago: Haymarket Books. pp. 72–75. ISBN 978-1-64259-704-2.
  5. ^ Curran, Ann (September 24, 1970). "Football Won't Halve Gals, Feminist With Karate Says". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved November 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Thousands March, Rally in Boston". The Harvard Crimson. November 8, 1971. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "Wellesley College Digital Scholarship and Archive". November 19, 1970.