“The scope of woman power in American industry and commerce today is shown in the variety of jobs held for the first time by women. We have women who scrape the carbon from pipes in oil refineries, women who seal ton rolls of paper in the pulp mills, women who wash down locomotives, drive buses, operate foundry cranes and pilot tugboats.”
Category: Herstory
Revolutionary Roots and the True Meaning of Patriotism
Whether it’s the Boston Tea Party as in the mid-1700s, or modern-day Black Lives Matter demonstrations, protesters rail against the idea that liberty is not for everyone.
There’s nothing more in the spirit of the American Revolution than protesting.
Feminism’s History of Online Organizing Laid Groundwork for Today’s Activism
Of all social movements, feminism has one of the longest and most storied histories of online organizing— a history that activists of all kinds can draw on. The tools and principles that feminists developed in the 1990s have much to teach us as we prepare for the battles of our day.
The change-makers laid the groundwork. It is up to us to continue the fight.
Today in Feminist History: The American Revolution Brought Liberty to Some (July 4, 1876)
So, as befits a work in progress, there were two competing ceremonies today to mark America’s Centennial. Men stood on one side of Independence Hall praising the nation’s accomplishments and looking back to 1776, while on the other side, Susan B. Anthony was reminding us of how much still needs to be done if we are to be a true democracy at the next such celebration in 1976.
Today in Feminist History: Women’s Suffrage Has Returned to a High Level (July 3, 1919)
In keeping with the spirit of liberty and equality to be celebrated tomorrow on Independence Day, the pace of State ratifications of the Susan B. Anthony (woman suffrage) Amendment has once again returned to a high level.
Today in Feminist History: Where is Amelia Earhart? (July 2, 1937)
In a letter to her husband, George Palmer Putnam, just before the flight, Earhart acknowledged the risks, and explained that she was motivated to take on this arduous journey as both an aviator and a feminist. The long-time member of the National Woman’s Party and strong advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment said: “Please know that I am aware of the hazards. I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others.”
Tools of the Patriarchy: The Weaponization of Hair
From abortion to weight loss, the patriarchal tradition of policing women’s bodies is a strong and long lasting one. Telling women what they must or must not do with their hair—whether that be the color, texture, quantity or location of it—is just another way women’s agency over their own bodies is controlled.
Today in Feminist History: New York’s Referendum Revolution (July 1, 1913)
A wagon, built in 1776 by Ebenezer Conklin—and appropriately named the “Spirit of 1776″—left the Manhattan headquarters of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association this afternoon amid great applause, loaded with suffrage literature and bound for an initial month-long tour of Long Island. It is driven by Edna Kearns and Irene Davidson, with eight-year-old Serena Kearns, Edna’s daughter, along as well. Today, Serena is dressed as “Little Liberty” to symbolize the “little liberty” women have 137 years after “taxation without representation” was denounced as tyranny during the American Revolution.
White Supremacy in the Trump Era: A New Online Course with Loretta Ross
Just 48 hours after veteran reproductive justice activist Loretta Ross opened registration for her new online course on white supremacy, 500 people had registered. “I will be teaching white supremacy through the feminist lens of love,” Ross told Ms.
Today in Feminist History: N.O.W.— Bringing Women into Full Participation in Mainstream American Society (June 30, 1966)
Despite great strides, such as a Constitutional ban on sex discrimination at the polls won in 1920, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and inclusion of “sex” in the list of forms of discrimination banned by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the goal of total equality is still as elusive today as it was over a century ago. But if the dedication and persistence of those in this second wave of feminism is equal to those in the first, then N.O.W. will be just as successful in achieving its worthy goals as were those who worked so tirelessly to win the vote.