Berkeley in the Sixties

PCS 2010, HIS 2520, PS 2830

Social Justice Activism Week 3

Collective Identity:

The Lesbian Feminist Movement encourages

women to engage in wide ranges of social and

political actions designed to challenge, influence

and take control of dominant systems.

Protesters with signs, Miss America protest, Atlantic City, 1968 (left: Carol Giardina)

1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Mary Daly Author of ‘Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism

Angela Davis, Author, Educator, Activist, Black Panther Party Movement

Marsha P. Johnson Co-founder Street Transvestite Action

Revolutionaries (S.T.A.R)

“Women are not inherently passive or peaceful. We’re not inherently anything but human”.

~ Robin Morgan

“You cannot, you cannot use someone else’s fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do

that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it.”

~Audre Lorde

1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights

Protesters at Stonewall Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village, June 28, 1969.

Frances E.W. Harper, Early Black Lesbian and Bisexual Writer

Lesbian Feminism is a cultural movement that was most vigorous during the 1960’s, 70’s, 80’s as well as presently.

The Lesbian feminist movement, a subset and collective Identity (sub-merged networks) of feminism that emerged in the mid-to-late 20th century in the conjunction of the women’s movement, the gay rights movement and the sexual revolution.

Lesbians played a prominent role in many new feminist organizations, helping to organize for equity:

• workplace • home • courts

The first wave of women’s movements came between 1840-1925. The main battles these women fought for were:

• right to vote • higher education • employment • right to own property after marriage

The second wave of women’s movements was between 1960-1995. Radical feminism: Also known as the women’s liberation movement.

Radical feminism:

Radical feminists believe that the oppression of women is the doorway to all other forms of oppression.

These members are very committed to equality and utilize many techniques to make their meetings equal for all those in attendance.

They wanted to raise attention about the oppression of women and to demand changes in where women distinctly stand in society and also in relationships.

The third wave of women’s movements is still active today. It includes women of all backgrounds and economic situations.

Six features are a part of this wave: 1. Recognizing differences among women: Fight for the rights of all

women, women are not just one big group. Differences between women including sexual orientation, class, race, body shape, and ability.

2. Building coalitions: Other groups to work with in the fight for women’s rights. Alliances are built with men’s rights groups and other groups.

3. Engaging in everyday resistance: The second wave passed many laws giving rights to women and to people of other races. Laws are not being followed through upon on a personal level. People still make racist and sexist jokes on a daily basis. Third wave feminists challenge all sexist or racist jokes and comments.

4. Being media savvy: Third wave feminists are able to use media both to learn information about what is happening but also to spread their ideas.

5. Embracing aesthetics and consumerism: These feminists believe that women can be strong and be sexy at the same time. It is not inherently bad for women to buy fashionable clothes and look beautiful. They encourage women to explore their sexuality for themselves, not for others.

6. Individualism: Third wave feminists focus on individuals having their own goals and identities. Women are very diverse, not of a single political agenda.

• The lesbian feminist movement evolved as as social movement community (collective identity) at the national level through connections between local communities in decentralized and fragmented social structures.

• The lesbian feminist movement organized and mobilized through political actions to criticize homophobia within the women's movement as their platform and cultivated political strategies as a form of resistance.

Two types of participatory social movement organizations (SMO’s) are:

• Mass protest organizations - advocate for social change through protest and demonstration.

• Grassroots organizations - tend to work through existing political structures to promote social change

Not all grassroots radicals are the same. The radicals according to Della and Porta’s research account evolved into the more militant type.

• This is due in part to the way radicals are in contact with law enforcement as well as their ability to build trust among tightly knit groups. This is only one type of radical.

Here, we’ll identify four types of radicals or routes that activists can take as they

expand into radicals.

Opportunistic Radicals:

Are opportunistic due to the fact that their activities are constrained in terms of what they can accomplish by themselves and tend to steer clear of violent forms of activism.

Coordinated Radicals:

Are identified by close associational ties and the support facilitative of high- risk activism, as well as by a rational approach towards violence and unlawfulness.

Militant Radicals:

Are like the coordinated radicals, are able to form tight knit affinity groups, their embrace of more extremist approaches often puts them at odds with their less radical peers.

Loner Radicals:

Are loners, or lone-wolf radical. Loners, like the opportunistic radicals are unable to find an affinity group.

Like the militants, they share the impression that they are hunted and oppressed bylaw enforcement, and that extreme methods are the best solution.

Key Concepts to note from Week 3 textbook readings, Lesbian Feminist Movement in Frontier’s in Social Movement Theory

• Collective Identity (Identity-Oriented Paradigms)

• Consciousness (cognitive frameworks)

• Collective Identity (sub-merged networks)

• Boundaries (dominant groups social, cultural, economic, political, multiple systems of domination)

• Collective Identity (Negotiation, personal transformation, expressive action )

• Resource Mobilization (Collective Identity, Collective Action, Collective Behavior)

Key Concepts to note from Week 3 textbook readings, Cycles of Protests Frontier’s in Social Movement Theory

• Cycle of Protests (Temporal, Clusters, Spatial, Emergent)

• Social Movement Organizations (SMO’s)

• Master Frames (frame alignment, frame resonance)

• Collective Action Frames (injustice, problems/issues exposed, immoral, signaling)

• Dynamics of the Cycle of Protest (Tactical, Shape, Decline)

Key Concepts to note from Week 3 textbook readings, Collective Identity and Activism Frontier’s in Social Movement Theory

• Structural and Network Activism

• Rational Choice Theory of Collective Action

• Rational Actors

• Free-Riders

• Three Stages of Development of Social Movements: Participation (Networks, Existing and New Members and Collective Identity)

Class,

Please read all textbook assign reading for this week, watch all of the video clips/documentaries and read supplemental articles, specifically:

Women's Culture and Lesbian Feminist Activism- A Reconsideration of Cultural Feminism Author(s)- Verta Taylor and Leila J. Rupp.pdf

Week 3 Discussion Questions: Class,

In material’s covered in Week 3, all textbook readings assignments to date. Remember, this includes all film/documentaries and video clips. You will not be to successfully participate in the class discussion board forum without reviewing all of the textbook readings and supplemental reading located in Week 3 content module.

1. Please identify what wave(s) of feminism (lesbian or not) that appeared in the documentary, “BBC Documentary Women’s Liberation Movement”. Did you notice any overlapping waves? If so, please provide an example of what you noticed.

2. In the journal article, Women's Culture and Lesbian Feminist Activism- A Reconsideration of Cultural Feminism Author(s) - Verta Taylor and Leila J. Rupp, what underlying theme of collective action was prevalent in comparison to the brief videos, “Gay Rights March Part 1-3 and Stonewall 40 years Later”.

Week 3 Discussion Questions continued:

3. Please identify one of the four types of radicals or routes that social activists took that expanded in to radical(s) from a historical perspective in the video, “The Lesbian and Feminist Movements and the article, “The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained” and “BBC Documentary Women’s Liberation Movement”. Please provide one example of each of the above videos in your response.

Please note: I’m looking for your varying perspectives and not just (1) one in your critical analysis discussion board forum response and also to your fellow classmates responses.

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