The Redstockings of the Women’s Liberation Movement was a radical feminist group founded in New York in 1969. The name “Redstockings” comes from a play on words of the term “bluestocking,” which was a derogatory term to describe women that had intellectual interests instead of acceptable feminine interests, and the color red, as associated with left-wing political movements. The founders of the organization were Ellen Willis and Shulamith Firestone, two prominent feminist thinkers.
In the Redstocking Manifesto, the organization outlined their beliefs about sexism in society and what they planned to do about the issues. Core tenets of the manifesto were the assertion that society was dominated by male-supremacy, which led women to inferior positions in all aspects of life. All men were oppressors of women because they all directly or indirectly benefited from the male-oriented society, without doing anything to change the system. All women were not at fault for their own position, as “women's submission is not the result of brain-washing, stupidity or mental illness but of continual, daily pressure from men.” Such ideas translated into a call to action for women to unite together through “consciousness-raising” and liberate themselves from the sexist society.
One of the most famous projects that the Redstockings took on was that of the 1969 abortion speak out. Outraged by legislative hearings about abortion where only male speakers and one nun were allowed to talk, the organization had its own abortion speak out on March 21st. Hundreds of people attended to hear other women talk about their personal experiences with abortion and why it should be legalized. They emphasized that abortion had to do with the right for a woman to have control over her own body. Members of Redstocking continued to campaign for abortion rights until four years later when Roe v. Wade protected a woman’s right to an abortion.
Other work by the group included the publication of a book called Feminist Revolution that gave a detailed account of the history of the feminist movement and what was needed for the future. The organization is still active today as a “grassroots think tank” advocating for women's rights in our modern world as well as archiving texts and materials from the Women’s Liberation Movement.
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I found your post really intersting and wanted to look into more protests that this group did. I discovered that before founding the Redstockings, Ellen Willis and Shulamith Firestone had been part of a small group called New York Radical Women who famously protested the Miss America beauty pageant in 1968. One of the most symbolic actions these women took was throwing away false eyelashes, wigs, bras, curlers, and magazines that were all deemed "physical manifestations of women's oppression" into a "freedom trash can." These feminists rejected the unreasonable, bland, and degrading image of a woman that the contest promoted as well as the lack of representation for people of color.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fifty-years-ago-protestors-took-on-miss-america-pageant-electrified-feminist-movement-180967504/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Radical_Women
I thought this post was super intresting and I personally had never heard of this group before. I think it is super important that you discussed more radical feminism groups becuase they were so rare during this time period due to the severe social pressure, many women were afraid to be radical with their beliefs, so that the fact that there was a whole group of radical woman is truly amazing. I also found it super intresting that they supported the pro choice movement and in a way started the revolution for a womans control over her own body which is such a pressing political issue we still see being disputed today.
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