2
00:00:09,033 --> 00:00:13,204
(crowd shouting, chattering)
3
00:00:20,510 --> 00:00:24,346
WOMAN: Women's health care is
being tossed around like a football.
4
00:00:24,348 --> 00:00:27,315
The argument has been over
for a very long time...
5
00:00:27,317 --> 00:00:30,052
to have the right to choose.
6
00:00:30,054 --> 00:00:32,721
We should be mad. Are you mad?
7
00:00:32,723 --> 00:00:35,792
(cheering)
8
00:00:42,834 --> 00:00:46,034
WOMAN: You're not allowed to
retire from women's issues.
9
00:00:46,036 --> 00:00:48,236
You still have to pay attention,
10
00:00:48,238 --> 00:00:51,640
'cause somebody is gonna try to
yank the rug out from under you.
11
00:00:51,642 --> 00:00:53,509
And that's what's happening now.
12
00:00:53,511 --> 00:00:55,910
WOMAN: Don't mess with Texas women!
13
00:00:55,912 --> 00:00:58,448
- (cheering)
- Don't mess with them!
14
00:01:07,992 --> 00:01:11,726
♪♪ (electric guitar)
15
00:01:11,728 --> 00:01:15,029
WOMAN: ♪ Save me ♪
16
00:01:15,031 --> 00:01:17,999
♪ Somebody save me ♪
17
00:01:18,001 --> 00:01:21,237
WOMAN #2: It's really hard
for people to understand now
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00:01:21,239 --> 00:01:25,940
what it was like before
the feminist movement.
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00:01:25,942 --> 00:01:27,576
The wedding was the big thing.
20
00:01:27,578 --> 00:01:30,345
The marriage was success.
21
00:01:30,347 --> 00:01:33,416
WOMAN #3: You couldn't
have career aspirations.
22
00:01:33,418 --> 00:01:36,017
You couldn't decide not to have a child.
23
00:01:36,019 --> 00:01:37,719
♪♪ (continues)
24
00:01:37,721 --> 00:01:40,022
WOMAN #4: The most beautiful woman
25
00:01:40,024 --> 00:01:44,859
was never satisfied with how she looked.
26
00:01:44,861 --> 00:01:47,395
You could look like Miss America
27
00:01:47,397 --> 00:01:50,032
and you still thought something
was wrong with how you looked.
28
00:01:50,034 --> 00:01:54,235
WOMAN #2: Let's not even talk
about birth control and abortion.
29
00:01:54,237 --> 00:01:57,071
The horror, the fear of pregnancy
30
00:01:57,073 --> 00:02:00,709
loomed over anything one did.
31
00:02:00,711 --> 00:02:03,612
WOMAN #3: If you were raped,
people wouldn't believe you.
32
00:02:03,614 --> 00:02:06,916
If you were battered,
no one would believe you.
33
00:02:06,918 --> 00:02:11,419
WOMAN #4: It was feminists who brought
up these issues and put them on the table.
34
00:02:11,421 --> 00:02:14,389
WOMAN #5: We had a sense of momentum.
35
00:02:14,391 --> 00:02:17,393
You know, that was the sense of
momentum that came from the '60s.
36
00:02:17,395 --> 00:02:19,762
WOMAN #6: It was like all this energy
37
00:02:19,764 --> 00:02:22,665
had been pent up in these
women for all these years,
38
00:02:22,667 --> 00:02:25,000
and it just exploded.
39
00:02:25,002 --> 00:02:26,635
♪♪ (continues)
40
00:02:26,637 --> 00:02:29,238
♪ Are you gonna save ♪
41
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:30,606
♪ Save me? ♪
42
00:02:30,608 --> 00:02:32,441
♪ Yeah, boy ♪
43
00:02:32,443 --> 00:02:34,310
♪ Save me ♪
44
00:02:34,312 --> 00:02:38,346
♪ Whoo, ohh, save me ♪♪
45
00:02:38,348 --> 00:02:40,114
♪♪ (fades)
46
00:02:40,116 --> 00:02:43,420
(applause)
47
00:02:45,689 --> 00:02:47,822
MODERATOR: The topic for
discussion this evening
48
00:02:47,824 --> 00:02:50,159
is a dialogue on women's liberation.
49
00:02:50,161 --> 00:02:52,862
- Mr. Mailer.
- (applause)
50
00:02:52,864 --> 00:02:56,631
Let's really get hip about
this little matter and recognize
51
00:02:56,633 --> 00:02:59,467
that the whole question of women's liberation
is the deepest question that faces us,
52
00:02:59,469 --> 00:03:01,804
and we're going to go
right into the center of it.
53
00:03:01,806 --> 00:03:04,874
Let me introduce first
Ms. Jacqueline Ceballos,
54
00:03:04,876 --> 00:03:08,010
president of the New York Chapter of
NOW, the National Organization for Women.
55
00:03:08,012 --> 00:03:11,414
- Ms. Ceballos.
- (applause)
56
00:03:13,850 --> 00:03:18,786
I represent that large
middle-class group of women
57
00:03:18,788 --> 00:03:22,958
who could have all the comforts
and conveniences of life.
58
00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:24,727
In fact, I did.
59
00:03:24,729 --> 00:03:27,161
But I opted out.
60
00:03:27,163 --> 00:03:30,899
Instead, I decided to devote my time
61
00:03:30,901 --> 00:03:35,504
to fight for equality of women.
62
00:03:35,506 --> 00:03:37,506
CEBALLOS: I just had these feelings...
63
00:03:37,508 --> 00:03:39,308
something's wrong, something's wrong.
64
00:03:39,310 --> 00:03:44,145
Then a friend handed me The Feminine
Mystique, Betty Friedan's book.
65
00:03:44,147 --> 00:03:46,881
I could cry even today.
66
00:03:46,883 --> 00:03:50,752
It just hit me. It was where
it was. Absolutely. Absolutely.
67
00:03:50,754 --> 00:03:52,922
I read it that night.
68
00:03:52,924 --> 00:03:58,129
And I just knew, it wasn't him,
it wasn't me... it was society.
69
00:03:59,597 --> 00:04:01,596
Well, The Feminine Mystique,
70
00:04:01,598 --> 00:04:05,400
it defines women solely in terms
of her sexual relation to a man
71
00:04:05,402 --> 00:04:09,204
as a man's sex object,
72
00:04:09,206 --> 00:04:11,774
as wife, mother, homemaker,
73
00:04:11,776 --> 00:04:14,175
and never in human terms,
74
00:04:14,177 --> 00:04:19,014
as an individual person,
as a human being herself.
75
00:04:19,016 --> 00:04:22,117
WOMAN: When Betty Friedan published
The Feminine Mystique,
76
00:04:22,119 --> 00:04:24,586
everyone was buzzing about women
77
00:04:24,588 --> 00:04:27,188
and their talents being neglected.
78
00:04:27,190 --> 00:04:31,125
Every time we'd been told,
I'm sorry we don't hire women,
79
00:04:31,127 --> 00:04:33,228
we thought, you know, isn't it too bad
80
00:04:33,230 --> 00:04:37,298
there isn't an organization
that can fight against that?
81
00:04:37,300 --> 00:04:41,070
In 1966, when they were founding NOW,
82
00:04:41,072 --> 00:04:44,305
Betty Friedan asked me if I
would do the public relations,
83
00:04:44,307 --> 00:04:46,308
and I said sure.
84
00:04:46,310 --> 00:04:48,877
We knew we were making history.
85
00:04:48,879 --> 00:04:53,048
We had no doubt that this
was a historic occasion.
86
00:04:53,050 --> 00:04:55,450
We knew the world needed
87
00:04:55,452 --> 00:04:59,253
a civil rights organization
for women's rights.
88
00:04:59,255 --> 00:05:01,255
That's one reason it exploded
89
00:05:01,257 --> 00:05:04,726
so really quickly and powerfully,
90
00:05:04,728 --> 00:05:08,032
was because it was long overdue.
91
00:05:12,637 --> 00:05:16,305
The mayor this afternoon met
the women's liberation movement
92
00:05:16,307 --> 00:05:18,640
in a way that he had not before.
93
00:05:18,642 --> 00:05:21,810
As soon as NOW existed, and I
heard about it, I was in NOW.
94
00:05:21,812 --> 00:05:25,581
I became president of the
Chicago chapter of NOW.
95
00:05:25,583 --> 00:05:29,720
And against the women of this
nation, and we intend to react.
96
00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:33,421
Some of the earliest
letters that we got was,
97
00:05:33,423 --> 00:05:35,356
"Where are you? I can't find you."
98
00:05:35,358 --> 00:05:37,692
You know, there was no Internet.
99
00:05:37,694 --> 00:05:40,796
There was mimeograph and
stamps. That's what we had.
100
00:05:40,798 --> 00:05:44,933
Um, these were people's
memberships coming in.
101
00:05:44,935 --> 00:05:48,269
Here's a woman... And this is so typical
of the women joining NOW at the time.
102
00:05:48,271 --> 00:05:52,640
"Recruited by myself!" With
a big exclamation point.
103
00:05:52,642 --> 00:05:54,175
Let's see.
104
00:05:54,177 --> 00:05:57,146
I've collected buttons all my life, so...
105
00:05:57,148 --> 00:06:00,449
This one's one of my
favorites... "Uppity Women Unite."
106
00:06:00,451 --> 00:06:04,053
We certainly did, didn't we?
107
00:06:04,055 --> 00:06:06,120
FOX: The most important motivation
108
00:06:06,122 --> 00:06:08,123
for all of us in founding NOW
109
00:06:08,125 --> 00:06:11,659
was jobs, employment discrimination.
110
00:06:11,661 --> 00:06:15,363
CEBALLOS: We all know that women
are underpaid and overworked
111
00:06:15,365 --> 00:06:18,199
and there is no chance
for advancement anywhere.
112
00:06:18,201 --> 00:06:22,870
We in NOW teach women how to fight
discrimination against their own companies,
113
00:06:22,872 --> 00:06:24,639
how to sue their companies.
114
00:06:24,641 --> 00:06:26,541
(applause)
115
00:06:26,543 --> 00:06:29,144
The want ads were "help wanted
male," "help wanted female,"
116
00:06:29,146 --> 00:06:32,950
and all the good jobs, the
career jobs were for the males.
117
00:06:38,755 --> 00:06:42,324
In fact, there was one ad
that said, "Just got your BA?
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00:06:42,326 --> 00:06:45,394
Want a job to be secretary
119
00:06:45,396 --> 00:06:48,563
of a good-looking, uh, executive?
120
00:06:48,565 --> 00:06:50,765
You might end up as his wife."
121
00:06:50,767 --> 00:06:52,534
I swear to you!
122
00:06:52,536 --> 00:06:55,536
WOMEN (chanting): Male
chauvinism up against the wall.
123
00:06:55,538 --> 00:06:57,940
Male chauvinism up against the wall!
124
00:06:57,942 --> 00:07:01,075
What do we want? Equal rights!
When do we want it? Now!
125
00:07:01,077 --> 00:07:05,046
FOX: I remember we had picketers
outside The New York Times
126
00:07:05,048 --> 00:07:07,382
and the man would have
a sandwich board, said,
127
00:07:07,384 --> 00:07:10,185
"I got my job through
The New York Times"
128
00:07:10,187 --> 00:07:13,255
and the woman's sandwich
board said, "I didn't."
129
00:07:13,257 --> 00:07:16,425
♪♪ (upbeat theme)
130
00:07:16,427 --> 00:07:19,127
Good morning and thank you very, very much.
131
00:07:19,129 --> 00:07:22,197
I remember going on television shows
when I was the chapter president,
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00:07:22,199 --> 00:07:24,767
and people would seriously ask you
133
00:07:24,769 --> 00:07:28,536
whether you thought women
should get equal pay.
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00:07:28,538 --> 00:07:31,539
"Well, do you think women should get
equal pay?" I mean, people would say that.
135
00:07:31,541 --> 00:07:34,976
You had to say, this wasn't
just handed down from Moses.
136
00:07:34,978 --> 00:07:37,779
This was discrimination.
137
00:07:37,781 --> 00:07:41,247
(siren wailing)
138
00:07:41,249 --> 00:07:42,450
♪♪ (protesters singing)
139
00:07:42,452 --> 00:07:44,418
What is the point of your march?
140
00:07:44,420 --> 00:07:47,488
There are hundreds of women that
want peace, and we want peace now.
141
00:07:47,490 --> 00:07:52,461
COLLINS: I became aware of what was
called the younger branch of the movement.
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00:07:52,463 --> 00:07:54,897
Now, I was 30. But anyway...
143
00:07:54,899 --> 00:07:58,065
They identified themselves
as women's liberation,
144
00:07:58,067 --> 00:08:00,435
and this was people coming
out of the antiwar movement
145
00:08:00,437 --> 00:08:05,106
and the college movement and
the civil rights movement.
146
00:08:05,108 --> 00:08:07,509
WOMAN: In the Southern
civil rights movement,
147
00:08:07,511 --> 00:08:10,978
the most important role that anybody
could play was the role of an organizer.
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00:08:10,980 --> 00:08:14,283
♪♪ (singing)
149
00:08:14,285 --> 00:08:18,187
You know, you met with people and you
helped them find the courage to stand up...
150
00:08:18,189 --> 00:08:22,990
that it was their voice and their desires
for change that gave a movement its power.
151
00:08:22,992 --> 00:08:27,528
♪ We shall overcome ♪
152
00:08:27,530 --> 00:08:30,998
WOMAN: I worked in Alabama,
going door-to-door, canvassing,
153
00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,669
getting people to go register to vote.
154
00:08:33,671 --> 00:08:35,704
All the women I encountered
155
00:08:35,706 --> 00:08:38,373
who were working in the
civil rights movement...
156
00:08:38,375 --> 00:08:40,843
It was an impressive bunch of women.
157
00:08:40,845 --> 00:08:44,378
What I saw was a different image
158
00:08:44,380 --> 00:08:47,114
of what it meant to be a
woman, a different model.
159
00:08:47,116 --> 00:08:49,852
And we do realize
160
00:08:49,854 --> 00:08:52,787
with every step forwards,
161
00:08:52,789 --> 00:08:56,724
and with every effort and sincere prayer,
162
00:08:56,726 --> 00:08:58,560
that we will overcome.
163
00:08:58,562 --> 00:09:01,028
- Yes!
- All right!
164
00:09:01,030 --> 00:09:04,699
FREEMAN: Although I didn't
fully realize it at the time,
165
00:09:04,701 --> 00:09:08,837
I was, in fact, getting the
groundwork for being a feminist.
166
00:09:08,839 --> 00:09:12,074
And to feel that you can
have the power in a group
167
00:09:12,076 --> 00:09:14,142
to do something you think needs to be done
168
00:09:14,144 --> 00:09:16,511
that you could never do on your own...
169
00:09:16,513 --> 00:09:20,382
I think it's what I was
looking for my whole life.
170
00:09:20,384 --> 00:09:22,483
All these other social change movements
171
00:09:22,485 --> 00:09:24,820
that were going on at that time
172
00:09:24,822 --> 00:09:27,089
led to the women's movement.
173
00:09:27,091 --> 00:09:30,392
They gave rise to women's consciousness
174
00:09:30,394 --> 00:09:33,661
of a need to operate on an equal basis.
175
00:09:33,663 --> 00:09:37,232
♪♪ (pop)
176
00:09:37,234 --> 00:09:39,401
I was a part of the civil rights movement.
177
00:09:39,403 --> 00:09:43,906
I was a big part of the antiwar movement
while I was a graduate student at Berkeley.
178
00:09:43,908 --> 00:09:48,609
And women in the new left started
talking about what we were feeling.
179
00:09:48,611 --> 00:09:52,079
WOMAN: The women were very
much discriminated against.
180
00:09:52,081 --> 00:09:56,050
The guys, their names went on
things, they became the spokespeople.
181
00:09:56,052 --> 00:09:58,119
We were used to lick the envelopes.
182
00:09:58,121 --> 00:10:00,756
We did the grunt work. We
did the real work, actually.
183
00:10:00,758 --> 00:10:04,327
We often did the real work of organizing.
184
00:10:06,363 --> 00:10:09,297
I had been at an SDS
meeting and was talking,
185
00:10:09,299 --> 00:10:12,434
and I was a leader in the organization,
186
00:10:12,436 --> 00:10:16,974
and one of guys in the group said,
"Aw, sit down and shut up" to me.
187
00:10:18,308 --> 00:10:22,143
WOMAN: And we started talking
about our role as women within SDS.
188
00:10:22,145 --> 00:10:25,414
Why weren't we in the leadership positions?
189
00:10:25,416 --> 00:10:29,450
From that it just kind of sparked
in everybody a sense of recognition.
190
00:10:29,452 --> 00:10:31,652
Aha! This is like a shared thing.
191
00:10:31,654 --> 00:10:34,525
It's just not me feeling insecure.
192
00:10:36,259 --> 00:10:40,796
So, at an antiwar demonstration
to protest the election of Nixon,
193
00:10:40,798 --> 00:10:43,665
we decided we would come together
as women for the first time
194
00:10:43,667 --> 00:10:46,435
and announce we had a movement.
195
00:10:46,437 --> 00:10:50,272
WOMAN: And Marilyn Webb
gets up on the stage
196
00:10:50,274 --> 00:10:53,975
in front of this huge
audience of new left men
197
00:10:53,977 --> 00:10:57,112
and she starts trying to talk.
198
00:10:57,114 --> 00:11:01,816
Well, the moment I started, there
was... this crowd went crazy.
199
00:11:01,818 --> 00:11:04,185
(shouting, jeering)
200
00:11:04,187 --> 00:11:08,256
WILLIS: And the men start
whistling and catcalling
201
00:11:08,258 --> 00:11:11,959
and saying things like, "Take
her off the stage and fuck her."
202
00:11:11,961 --> 00:11:15,329
And people were yelling,
"Fuck her down a dark alley!"
203
00:11:15,331 --> 00:11:18,099
It was just... It was insane.
204
00:11:18,101 --> 00:11:23,372
We were like all looking
at each other, like, what?
205
00:11:23,374 --> 00:11:26,374
WEBB: I didn't expect movement
men to behave like that,
206
00:11:26,376 --> 00:11:27,843
and I was shocked.
207
00:11:27,845 --> 00:11:29,710
People were organizing blacks
208
00:11:29,712 --> 00:11:32,180
and people were organizing welfare mothers,
209
00:11:32,182 --> 00:11:34,348
and then we were organizing women,
210
00:11:34,350 --> 00:11:38,052
and that everybody would see this
as another leg of the whole movement.
211
00:11:38,054 --> 00:11:41,956
But we weren't respected.
212
00:11:41,958 --> 00:11:44,126
WOMEN: ♪ The revolution has come ♪
213
00:11:44,128 --> 00:11:45,526
Off the pigs!
214
00:11:45,528 --> 00:11:47,462
♪ Black is beautiful ♪
215
00:11:47,464 --> 00:11:49,131
Free Huey!
216
00:11:49,133 --> 00:11:51,900
BEAL: The black liberation
movement had come into its fore,
217
00:11:51,902 --> 00:11:55,704
and we were talking about
liberation and freedom
218
00:11:55,706 --> 00:11:58,172
half the night on the racial side.
219
00:11:58,174 --> 00:12:01,243
And then all of the sudden
men are going to turn around
220
00:12:01,245 --> 00:12:04,179
and start talking about
putting you in your place?
221
00:12:04,181 --> 00:12:07,148
If you don't want any trouble...
222
00:12:07,150 --> 00:12:11,420
BEAL: That was the contradiction in terms
that we were no longer prepared to put up with.
223
00:12:11,422 --> 00:12:16,724
So, 1968, we founded the SNCC
Black Women's Liberation Committee
224
00:12:16,726 --> 00:12:20,731
to take up some of these issues.
225
00:12:23,366 --> 00:12:26,368
A number of women felt that
we needed to go off on our own
226
00:12:26,370 --> 00:12:31,839
and focus on what we needed to
do in our fight for liberation.
227
00:12:31,841 --> 00:12:34,608
ROSEN: I was a graduate
student at Berkeley.
228
00:12:34,610 --> 00:12:38,379
And one day I saw a little
3-by-5 card in the student union,
229
00:12:38,381 --> 00:12:41,182
and it said a women's group was forming.
230
00:12:41,184 --> 00:12:44,352
And these consciousness-raising
groups spontaneously grew up
231
00:12:44,354 --> 00:12:47,758
in many areas of the country.
232
00:12:49,559 --> 00:12:52,460
When I first heard about the
women's liberation movement,
233
00:12:52,462 --> 00:12:56,263
I had two little kids under five.
234
00:12:56,265 --> 00:13:00,469
My connection with the
world was, I felt, finished.
235
00:13:01,605 --> 00:13:06,074
During one of my crises of
feeling that my life was over,
236
00:13:06,076 --> 00:13:09,777
I heard some young women talking
about meetings they were having,
237
00:13:09,779 --> 00:13:12,379
and they were talking
about women's liberation,
238
00:13:12,381 --> 00:13:15,150
and they gave the address of a meeting.
239
00:13:15,152 --> 00:13:17,719
So I went to this meeting,
240
00:13:17,721 --> 00:13:20,955
and there were these women
talking about their lives
241
00:13:20,957 --> 00:13:24,291
as I had never imagined people could.
242
00:13:24,293 --> 00:13:28,296
Well, you need to be specially
trained to be a housewife.
243
00:13:28,298 --> 00:13:30,765
You get married, there are
a whole new set of rules.
244
00:13:30,767 --> 00:13:33,969
We still have to look a certain
way and be a certain way,
245
00:13:33,971 --> 00:13:36,070
but there's a whole lot more...
246
00:13:36,072 --> 00:13:39,840
ROSEN: We went around the room, and
people asked a very simple question.
247
00:13:39,842 --> 00:13:42,978
How would your life have been
different if you had been a boy?
248
00:13:42,980 --> 00:13:45,479
Why do you think being a woman
249
00:13:45,481 --> 00:13:48,517
might limit you as a human
being, your possibilities?
250
00:13:48,519 --> 00:13:50,352
(woman continues, indistinct)
251
00:13:50,354 --> 00:13:53,254
BEAL: We challenged
concepts of masculinity.
252
00:13:53,256 --> 00:13:56,023
We challenged concepts of femininity.
253
00:13:56,025 --> 00:13:58,126
We talked about skin color,
254
00:13:58,128 --> 00:14:02,129
how young black women would put cream on
255
00:14:02,131 --> 00:14:05,935
in order to make theirself light-skinned.
256
00:14:07,004 --> 00:14:10,472
SHULMAN: Suddenly, everything
was up for questioning.
257
00:14:10,474 --> 00:14:14,675
Women did all of the family
and housework and cooking,
258
00:14:14,677 --> 00:14:17,212
and the men got to make the living
259
00:14:17,214 --> 00:14:19,980
and get all of the attention in the world.
260
00:14:19,982 --> 00:14:22,117
Why was that?
261
00:14:22,119 --> 00:14:24,618
We don't even realize what goes on
262
00:14:24,620 --> 00:14:27,289
until we sit and compare with other women.
263
00:14:27,291 --> 00:14:29,557
GRIFFIN: And we heard each other.
264
00:14:29,559 --> 00:14:32,493
We heard each other into speech.
265
00:14:32,495 --> 00:14:34,496
You could sense it. You could feel it.
266
00:14:34,498 --> 00:14:37,031
You could cut it with a knife, as they say.
267
00:14:37,033 --> 00:14:38,733
The room was electric
268
00:14:38,735 --> 00:14:42,237
with whatever was gonna be shared.
269
00:14:42,239 --> 00:14:44,638
So I said, (sighs)
270
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,907
I've had three abortions,
271
00:14:46,909 --> 00:14:50,545
and the last one was within the last year.
272
00:14:50,547 --> 00:14:52,680
And I started to cry,
273
00:14:52,682 --> 00:14:55,916
because I suddenly understood
that I wasn't alone,
274
00:14:55,918 --> 00:15:00,321
that what I had considered
personal embarrassment
275
00:15:00,323 --> 00:15:04,126
was something that was part of
this whole larger experience.
276
00:15:05,261 --> 00:15:08,930
The big insight of the women's
movement was the personal is political.
277
00:15:08,932 --> 00:15:13,368
Problems that you felt
were happening to you alone
278
00:15:13,370 --> 00:15:16,103
probably were your fault.
279
00:15:16,105 --> 00:15:18,373
But if it's happening to other people,
280
00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:23,777
then it's a social problem and
not just a personal problem.
281
00:15:23,779 --> 00:15:27,181
Once you stop blaming
yourself for all this,
282
00:15:27,183 --> 00:15:30,352
it was like somebody had
lifted a rock off of you.
283
00:15:30,354 --> 00:15:34,555
Then here were women around you who were ready
to go out there and do something about it.
284
00:15:34,557 --> 00:15:36,391
(chanting)
285
00:15:36,393 --> 00:15:39,060
♪ You're out on the streets ♪
286
00:15:39,062 --> 00:15:41,095
♪ Lookin' good ♪
287
00:15:41,097 --> 00:15:42,897
- ♪♪ (continues)
- WOMAN: In Washington, DC,
288
00:15:42,899 --> 00:15:44,366
we were like,
289
00:15:44,368 --> 00:15:46,368
"Have Demonstration, Will Travel."
290
00:15:46,370 --> 00:15:48,402
♪♪ (continues)
291
00:15:48,404 --> 00:15:50,204
WOLFSON: We demonstrated
in the halls of Congress.
292
00:15:50,206 --> 00:15:53,241
We demonstrated outside of Congress.
293
00:15:53,243 --> 00:15:54,943
There was a group called
294
00:15:54,945 --> 00:15:58,780
Women's International Terrorist
Conspiracy from Hell... WITCH...
295
00:15:58,782 --> 00:16:01,416
that was the action arm.
296
00:16:01,418 --> 00:16:06,957
People had folding witch
hats and capes in their bag.
297
00:16:08,625 --> 00:16:11,425
And we thought if we
could dress up like witches
298
00:16:11,427 --> 00:16:14,496
and then give a hex to people.
299
00:16:14,498 --> 00:16:20,401
We wanted to challenge the white men's
canon at the University of Chicago.
300
00:16:20,403 --> 00:16:24,238
And so part of the hex went, "Knowledge
is power through which you control
301
00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,142
our mind, our spirit,
our bodies, our soul."
302
00:16:27,144 --> 00:16:30,311
- Hex!
- ♪ Yeah ♪
303
00:16:30,313 --> 00:16:33,515
What you see here is the
beginning of a movement
304
00:16:33,517 --> 00:16:36,785
that women are human beings
and that we have equal rights.
305
00:16:36,787 --> 00:16:40,454
We intend to go to school, we intend to
have child care so that we can go to school.
306
00:16:40,456 --> 00:16:45,126
We want the university to provide us with
classes that teach us about our history.
307
00:16:45,128 --> 00:16:46,994
ROSEN: I was in the history department
308
00:16:46,996 --> 00:16:51,266
and I knew zip, nada,
zero about women's history.
309
00:16:51,268 --> 00:16:55,036
And we realized we didn't know very much
about women's literature or women's art.
310
00:16:55,038 --> 00:16:59,306
In fact, we realized that we had gotten
degrees and we knew nothing about women.
311
00:16:59,308 --> 00:17:02,544
Well, a group of us
decided to call the press.
312
00:17:02,546 --> 00:17:04,813
We took our advanced degrees...
313
00:17:04,815 --> 00:17:08,048
some were PhDs, some
were Masters degrees...
314
00:17:08,050 --> 00:17:11,254
and we burned them in public.
315
00:17:14,124 --> 00:17:16,623
That was a very hard thing to do
316
00:17:16,625 --> 00:17:19,960
because we were very
proud of those degrees.
317
00:17:19,962 --> 00:17:22,663
♪ I need you to come
on, come on ♪♪
318
00:17:22,665 --> 00:17:26,901
ROSEN: I felt so duped, like I
had been fooled my whole life.
319
00:17:26,903 --> 00:17:28,902
♪♪ (orchestra)
320
00:17:28,904 --> 00:17:32,873
♪ Oh, there she is ♪
321
00:17:32,875 --> 00:17:36,678
♪ Miss America ♪
322
00:17:36,680 --> 00:17:40,180
SHULMAN: Miss America seemed like
the perfect place to demonstrate
323
00:17:40,182 --> 00:17:43,884
the way women were just
judged as sex objects,
324
00:17:43,886 --> 00:17:46,321
just judged by their looks.
325
00:17:46,323 --> 00:17:48,590
There were no such standards for men.
326
00:17:48,592 --> 00:17:52,559
We also recognized how racist
those beauty standards were.
327
00:17:52,561 --> 00:17:54,763
We weren't going to have any of it.
328
00:17:54,765 --> 00:17:56,998
♪ There'll be no Miss America ♪
329
00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,535
It was, all women are
beautiful. That was one of our slogans.
330
00:18:00,537 --> 00:18:02,069
All women are beautiful.
331
00:18:02,071 --> 00:18:05,239
♪ There'll be no Miss America ♪
332
00:18:05,241 --> 00:18:08,176
We had a freedom trash can.
333
00:18:08,178 --> 00:18:10,210
Guys were burning their draft cards.
334
00:18:10,212 --> 00:18:14,650
We would burn our bras and other
instruments of female torture.
335
00:18:15,786 --> 00:18:20,054
No more girdles, no more pain. No
more trying to hold in fat in vain!
336
00:18:20,056 --> 00:18:24,092
CEBALLOS: Even though I was in
NOW, I was always with the radicals.
337
00:18:24,094 --> 00:18:27,128
If they're going to demonstrate for
Miss America, I'm going to be there.
338
00:18:27,130 --> 00:18:30,431
Women, use your brains, not your bodies!
339
00:18:30,433 --> 00:18:33,133
It was a blast. What can I
say? It was very exciting.
340
00:18:33,135 --> 00:18:35,839
It was something NOW wouldn't do.
341
00:18:36,906 --> 00:18:39,440
FOX: They did things that were outrageous,
342
00:18:39,442 --> 00:18:42,576
and some of us thought that
these would be made fun of.
343
00:18:42,578 --> 00:18:44,612
And they were.
344
00:18:44,614 --> 00:18:47,882
But they attracted media attention
and, of course, they got results.
345
00:18:47,884 --> 00:18:50,151
♪♪ (singing)
346
00:18:50,153 --> 00:18:53,054
But the best part came when,
347
00:18:53,056 --> 00:18:57,158
right at the moment when they
were about to crown Miss America,
348
00:18:57,160 --> 00:18:59,960
the women who had snuck up into the balcony
349
00:18:59,962 --> 00:19:04,065
unfurled this huge banner over the edge of
the balcony that said "Women's Liberation."
350
00:19:04,067 --> 00:19:06,601
SHULMAN: And the world
got to see those words
351
00:19:06,603 --> 00:19:09,636
for the first time on a national scale.
352
00:19:09,638 --> 00:19:12,140
It was a great success.
353
00:19:12,142 --> 00:19:16,844
♪♪ (women singing, indistinct)
354
00:19:16,846 --> 00:19:20,949
The feminists here tonight do not believe
a women's place is in the home, right?
355
00:19:20,951 --> 00:19:23,584
As feminists, what we
believe in is very simple,
356
00:19:23,586 --> 00:19:27,956
and that is the social, economic
and political equality of the sexes.
357
00:19:27,958 --> 00:19:32,293
Because the relationship between the sexes
is, in fact, a political relationship.
358
00:19:32,295 --> 00:19:35,196
We are an oppressed group and
we have been through history.
359
00:19:35,198 --> 00:19:38,833
If you do something as remarkable
360
00:19:38,835 --> 00:19:41,803
as changing the relationship
between the sexes,
361
00:19:41,805 --> 00:19:47,107
everything is at risk, every possible idea.
362
00:19:47,109 --> 00:19:50,044
And many people don't like it.
363
00:19:50,046 --> 00:19:53,280
Especially men don't like it.
They're very threatened by it.
364
00:19:53,282 --> 00:19:57,051
Women's Lib really is a
lot of insignificant people
365
00:19:57,053 --> 00:19:59,720
that are really trying to
gain their own interests
366
00:19:59,722 --> 00:20:01,823
and boost their own ego,
367
00:20:01,825 --> 00:20:04,324
be it by making brash statements
368
00:20:04,326 --> 00:20:06,995
or being on television or what have you.
369
00:20:06,997 --> 00:20:09,730
You're so oversensitive.
Why are you so sensitive?
370
00:20:09,732 --> 00:20:12,333
We don't like being so
sensitive. It's not pleasant.
371
00:20:12,335 --> 00:20:15,903
We don't like having to always be catching
things. We'd rather they didn't exist.
372
00:20:15,905 --> 00:20:18,506
But as long as people are going
to be insensitive to our position,
373
00:20:18,508 --> 00:20:20,542
we're going to have to
keep correcting them,
374
00:20:20,544 --> 00:20:23,510
because there's no other way
to change the consciousness.
375
00:20:23,512 --> 00:20:26,413
Women, given their educational status,
376
00:20:26,415 --> 00:20:30,817
can earn 60% of what men
of the same education can.
377
00:20:30,819 --> 00:20:33,421
What that really means is that a woman
378
00:20:33,423 --> 00:20:36,324
with college education... BA...
379
00:20:36,326 --> 00:20:39,594
earns what a man does who has
three years of high school.
380
00:20:39,596 --> 00:20:42,863
This is economic
discrimination and exploitation.
381
00:20:42,865 --> 00:20:45,232
Women, as well as men,
382
00:20:45,234 --> 00:20:49,003
told me I was wrong over and over again.
383
00:20:49,005 --> 00:20:51,439
Women are not oppressed.
384
00:20:51,441 --> 00:20:53,240
Or what does it matter?
385
00:20:53,242 --> 00:20:55,742
Who cares? You have a lot of influence.
386
00:20:55,744 --> 00:20:59,380
You were working against cultural norms.
387
00:20:59,382 --> 00:21:01,915
You were working against institutions.
388
00:21:01,917 --> 00:21:04,786
MAN: How do you feel
about women's liberation?
389
00:21:04,788 --> 00:21:07,287
Woman's place is more at home
390
00:21:07,289 --> 00:21:09,923
than to advance herself too much.
391
00:21:09,925 --> 00:21:12,459
I know the girls in my
office feel the way I do.
392
00:21:12,461 --> 00:21:15,363
We're all right the way we are.
There's nothing wrong with this.
393
00:21:15,365 --> 00:21:17,364
I'm totally against it.
394
00:21:17,366 --> 00:21:20,701
I feel I don't know what
they're being liberated from.
395
00:21:20,703 --> 00:21:23,036
WILLIS: Many women protested
396
00:21:23,038 --> 00:21:27,040
that they liked cooking and
housework and catering to men.
397
00:21:27,042 --> 00:21:29,611
But I would argue with some woman
398
00:21:29,613 --> 00:21:31,813
who was being extremely
defensive about the movement,
399
00:21:31,815 --> 00:21:34,582
and then six months later would
run into her at a demonstration.
400
00:21:34,584 --> 00:21:36,316
♪ Power ♪
401
00:21:36,318 --> 00:21:38,486
♪ Power to the women ♪
402
00:21:38,488 --> 00:21:42,457
♪ It's the women's power
It's the women's power ♪
403
00:21:42,459 --> 00:21:44,158
The status quo is being challenged
404
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,259
by the women's liberation movement.
405
00:21:46,261 --> 00:21:49,263
Today it's still a man's world.
406
00:21:49,265 --> 00:21:53,634
SANDERS: I started getting word from
people I knew in the movement by then,
407
00:21:53,636 --> 00:21:55,670
and as I heard about these things
408
00:21:55,672 --> 00:21:59,306
I was able to go out and shoot them.
409
00:21:59,308 --> 00:22:01,508
SANDERS: They startled Wall Street one day
410
00:22:01,510 --> 00:22:04,679
by an exhibition in
which roles were reversed.
411
00:22:04,681 --> 00:22:07,414
Oh, they're so beautiful, all of them. Ah!
412
00:22:07,416 --> 00:22:09,616
Those men, those sex objects.
413
00:22:09,618 --> 00:22:12,152
WOMAN: It was reported in the newspaper
414
00:22:12,154 --> 00:22:16,024
that there was a woman who
worked in the Wall Street area.
415
00:22:16,026 --> 00:22:19,526
She was very well endowed
416
00:22:19,528 --> 00:22:21,696
and men would wait for her
417
00:22:21,698 --> 00:22:27,134
outside the Wall Street train station.
418
00:22:27,136 --> 00:22:30,004
And they would pinch her,
419
00:22:30,006 --> 00:22:33,674
- make sucking noises at her.
- (men chattering, cheering)
420
00:22:33,676 --> 00:22:36,276
And I thought, this is pretty disgusting.
421
00:22:36,278 --> 00:22:39,814
Oh, wow. Look at the legs on that one!
422
00:22:39,816 --> 00:22:44,951
So I organized what I rather grandly
called the First National Ogle-In.
423
00:22:44,953 --> 00:22:48,523
Those pants, they just bring out your best.
424
00:22:48,525 --> 00:22:53,026
- WOMAN: Hey, how do you like that hat over there?
- Oh, what a chapeau!
425
00:22:53,028 --> 00:22:56,698
All the very clever events
helped the women's movement a lot.
426
00:22:56,700 --> 00:23:00,034
Keep your best leg
forward, sweetie! (kisses)
427
00:23:00,036 --> 00:23:05,472
SANDERS: Now, it isn't my taste to do the kind
of demonstrations and things some of them did.
428
00:23:05,474 --> 00:23:08,742
But I was always sort of
gleeful about it underneath
429
00:23:08,744 --> 00:23:11,179
and I thought, you know, go for it.
430
00:23:11,181 --> 00:23:14,582
- Look at that long hair!
- Oh, it's a hippie on Wall Street.
431
00:23:14,584 --> 00:23:16,750
Oh, I'm so turned on.
432
00:23:16,752 --> 00:23:20,321
We're trying to point out what
it feels like to be whistled at,
433
00:23:20,323 --> 00:23:23,725
put down constantly, sexually,
every time we walk down the street.
434
00:23:23,727 --> 00:23:26,994
And we don't want to be
sexual objects anymore.
435
00:23:26,996 --> 00:23:31,067
- Is love out? Is sex out?
- Unless men change, it's going to be very soon.
436
00:23:33,702 --> 00:23:37,404
Unlike NOW, we didn't
want a piece of the pie.
437
00:23:37,406 --> 00:23:39,606
We wanted to change the pie.
438
00:23:39,608 --> 00:23:42,110
WOLFSON: We were talking about changing
439
00:23:42,112 --> 00:23:47,748
the whole paradigm of the
way men and women interact.
440
00:23:47,750 --> 00:23:49,283
SANDERS: What about marriage?
441
00:23:49,285 --> 00:23:51,686
WOMAN: Marriage is, uh, unpaid labor.
442
00:23:51,688 --> 00:23:54,757
It's a free household slave for each man.
443
00:23:56,058 --> 00:23:59,093
It will take a major social revolution
444
00:23:59,095 --> 00:24:01,261
for women to be truly liberated.
445
00:24:01,263 --> 00:24:04,798
GIARDINA: We began to
reinterpret the whole world.
446
00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:08,702
It seemed that male supremacy and
male chauvinism was everywhere.
447
00:24:08,704 --> 00:24:10,638
And it was.
448
00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:12,873
What's your general feeling about
449
00:24:12,875 --> 00:24:16,244
the National Organization
of Women's complaints?
450
00:24:16,246 --> 00:24:18,045
(chuckles)
451
00:24:18,047 --> 00:24:20,213
To become a member of the Press Club,
452
00:24:20,215 --> 00:24:23,116
you have to be 21 years
of age and be a male.
453
00:24:23,118 --> 00:24:26,120
Leave, or police action will be
taken. We will make an arrest.
454
00:24:26,122 --> 00:24:27,921
Now please leave.
455
00:24:27,923 --> 00:24:31,424
I have no intentions of taking
the sign down or changing the sign.
456
00:24:31,426 --> 00:24:34,061
If you can get a court
order to take it down, fine.
457
00:24:34,063 --> 00:24:36,797
So you have no intention of changing
your policy of segregated facilities.
458
00:24:36,799 --> 00:24:38,498
Is that correct, sir?
459
00:24:38,500 --> 00:24:40,968
There's a sign out there
now. Come on. Let's go.
460
00:24:40,970 --> 00:24:44,005
- Do you discriminate by sex?
- MAN: Come on. Let's get out of here.
461
00:24:44,007 --> 00:24:45,840
Come on, toots.
462
00:24:45,842 --> 00:24:49,977
WOMAN: He has repeatedly
used his law classroom
463
00:24:49,979 --> 00:24:53,514
to espouse that women do
not make good attorneys,
464
00:24:53,516 --> 00:24:57,485
that they're too emotional,
they're vindictive.
465
00:24:57,487 --> 00:24:59,853
WOLFSON: We were angry.
466
00:24:59,855 --> 00:25:03,591
Maybe the anger is what carried
us through and made us fearless.
467
00:25:03,593 --> 00:25:07,230
- ♪ Start the revolution ♪
- ♪♪ (vocalizing)
468
00:25:08,698 --> 00:25:10,463
WOLFSON: In Washington, DC,
469
00:25:10,465 --> 00:25:14,201
we had a very, very active
women's liberation movement.
470
00:25:14,203 --> 00:25:18,408
I think we met every single
day for something or other.
471
00:25:21,978 --> 00:25:23,944
WEBB: We had this organizational structure
472
00:25:23,946 --> 00:25:25,712
with all the different groups.
473
00:25:25,714 --> 00:25:28,015
We didn't want it to be hierarchical,
474
00:25:28,017 --> 00:25:29,883
so we decided on the name Magic Quilt.
475
00:25:29,885 --> 00:25:32,053
(chattering)
476
00:25:32,055 --> 00:25:35,957
In Washington, populated
by working-class women,
477
00:25:35,959 --> 00:25:39,459
they were getting a fraction of the
salaries they felt they should be getting.
478
00:25:39,461 --> 00:25:41,562
They weren't able to
support their children.
479
00:25:41,564 --> 00:25:45,065
So we talked to government
workers, clerical workers.
480
00:25:45,067 --> 00:25:46,633
People talked to nurses.
481
00:25:46,635 --> 00:25:50,638
And all these women
responded so incredibly.
482
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:53,708
It was like, "Yeah! Yeah!"
483
00:25:53,710 --> 00:25:57,678
SHULMAN: Pretty soon there were
these meetings going on in New York
484
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,815
where there weren't
just half a dozen women,
485
00:26:01,817 --> 00:26:06,921
but there were 50, 60,
80, even a hundred of them.
486
00:26:06,923 --> 00:26:10,690
On one side of the block there
would be a Redstockings meeting.
487
00:26:10,692 --> 00:26:14,764
On the other side of the block
there would be a WITCH meeting.
488
00:26:16,332 --> 00:26:18,332
ROSEN: There were conferences.
489
00:26:18,334 --> 00:26:23,103
People drove all night, all
day to get to these conferences.
490
00:26:23,105 --> 00:26:25,439
GIARDINA: I got up to Sandy Springs,
491
00:26:25,441 --> 00:26:27,507
and here were this bunch of women
492
00:26:27,509 --> 00:26:30,777
talking about how we would
overthrow male supremacy
493
00:26:30,779 --> 00:26:34,382
with this movement.
494
00:26:34,384 --> 00:26:36,584
So we went back to Gainesville right away
495
00:26:36,586 --> 00:26:39,553
and started a women's liberation group.
496
00:26:39,555 --> 00:26:41,956
Somebody else would write a
position paper in another city,
497
00:26:41,958 --> 00:26:45,428
they would send it, we would read it.
498
00:26:47,096 --> 00:26:49,029
ROSEN: Every time there was a meeting,
499
00:26:49,031 --> 00:26:51,065
we'd see all these pamphlets
500
00:26:51,067 --> 00:26:54,302
that just raced across the country.
501
00:26:54,304 --> 00:26:57,438
Why do women not get paid properly?
502
00:26:57,440 --> 00:26:59,873
Why do women not have child care?
503
00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:02,943
They were consciousness-raising too.
504
00:27:02,945 --> 00:27:06,479
All of these writings were
very precious to all of us
505
00:27:06,481 --> 00:27:09,351
'cause they were the vanguard.
506
00:27:13,489 --> 00:27:16,257
"There are a vast number of women
507
00:27:16,259 --> 00:27:19,392
who are beginning to
wake out of the long sleep
508
00:27:19,394 --> 00:27:23,296
that is known as cooperation of one's
own oppression and self-denigration,
509
00:27:23,298 --> 00:27:25,833
and they are banding together
to make the beginnings
510
00:27:25,835 --> 00:27:30,403
of a new and massive women's
movement in America and in the world,
511
00:27:30,405 --> 00:27:34,342
to establish true
equality between the sexes,
512
00:27:34,344 --> 00:27:37,311
to break the old machine of sexual politics
513
00:27:37,313 --> 00:27:39,980
and to replace it with a more human
514
00:27:39,982 --> 00:27:42,583
and civilized world for both sexes,
515
00:27:42,585 --> 00:27:47,121
and to end the present system's
oppression of men as well as of women."
516
00:27:47,123 --> 00:27:50,326
We had a lot to say. (laughing)
517
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,794
GRIFFIN: "In answer to a man's question,
518
00:27:53,796 --> 00:27:56,330
'What can I do about women's liberation?'
519
00:27:56,332 --> 00:27:58,298
Wear a dress.
520
00:27:58,300 --> 00:28:00,000
Wear a dress that you made yourself
521
00:28:00,002 --> 00:28:01,768
or bought in a dress store.
522
00:28:01,770 --> 00:28:03,837
Wear a dress, and underneath the dress
523
00:28:03,839 --> 00:28:07,173
wear elastic around your hips
and underneath your nipples.
524
00:28:07,175 --> 00:28:10,710
Wear a dress, and underneath
the dress wear a sanitary napkin.
525
00:28:10,712 --> 00:28:13,881
Wear a dress and wear sling-back
shoes, high-heeled shoes.
526
00:28:13,883 --> 00:28:16,784
Wear a dress with elastic and
a sanitary napkin underneath
527
00:28:16,786 --> 00:28:18,619
and sling-back shoes on your feet
528
00:28:18,621 --> 00:28:21,057
and walk down Telegraph Avenue."
529
00:28:23,358 --> 00:28:25,992
ROSEN: In the Bay Area,
poetry was a very big part
530
00:28:25,994 --> 00:28:28,328
of our cultural life.
531
00:28:28,330 --> 00:28:31,532
I think on the West Coast we
were accustomed to thinking
532
00:28:31,534 --> 00:28:35,702
that skits and songs and poems
533
00:28:35,704 --> 00:28:37,837
were all part of a movement.
534
00:28:37,839 --> 00:28:42,008
GRIFFIN: We had the wonderful
precedent of the Beat movement.
535
00:28:42,010 --> 00:28:46,212
Sometimes a thousand people would
show up for a poetry reading.
536
00:28:46,214 --> 00:28:48,849
It was a fantastic experience,
537
00:28:48,851 --> 00:28:51,852
both to be part of the
audience and also to read.
538
00:28:51,854 --> 00:28:54,587
Alta is gonna read first.
539
00:28:54,589 --> 00:28:57,424
"I never saw a man in a negligee.
540
00:28:57,426 --> 00:28:59,759
Two times I wore special fucky gowns.
541
00:28:59,761 --> 00:29:02,529
You know the type... one look and
he turns off the football game.
542
00:29:02,531 --> 00:29:04,265
But they never do.
543
00:29:04,267 --> 00:29:06,866
I was so busy being dainty and
smelling fresh I couldn't hump,
544
00:29:06,868 --> 00:29:08,835
couldn't wiggle, couldn't
sweat, couldn't scream.
545
00:29:08,837 --> 00:29:11,072
You know damn well I couldn't come."
546
00:29:11,074 --> 00:29:13,540
ALTA: I started writing poetry,
547
00:29:13,542 --> 00:29:17,678
and then I decided I
would start my own press.
548
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,081
I called the press Shameless Hussy
549
00:29:20,083 --> 00:29:23,551
because my mother used that term
550
00:29:23,553 --> 00:29:26,053
for women she didn't approve of,
551
00:29:26,055 --> 00:29:30,623
and no one approved of what I was doing.
552
00:29:30,625 --> 00:29:34,961
In 1969, when I started the press,
553
00:29:34,963 --> 00:29:39,566
only six percent of the books
in America were by women.
554
00:29:39,568 --> 00:29:43,536
This is one of the famous
poets that I published.
555
00:29:43,538 --> 00:29:46,273
This is Ntozake Shange.
556
00:29:46,275 --> 00:29:51,312
For Colored Girls Who Have Considered
Suicide/ When The Rainbow Is Enuf
557
00:29:51,314 --> 00:29:54,748
became a very big deal on Broadway,
558
00:29:54,750 --> 00:29:57,317
and we got famous
559
00:29:57,319 --> 00:29:59,286
because of her
560
00:29:59,288 --> 00:30:03,289
and because of George Sand.
561
00:30:03,291 --> 00:30:08,062
George Sand had been unpublished
in America for about 80 years.
562
00:30:08,064 --> 00:30:13,801
One of the earliest poets that
I published was Susan Griffin.
563
00:30:13,803 --> 00:30:16,603
"This is a poem for a woman doing dishes.
564
00:30:16,605 --> 00:30:19,105
This is a poem for a woman doing dishes.
565
00:30:19,107 --> 00:30:20,574
It must be repeated.
566
00:30:20,576 --> 00:30:24,111
It must be repeated again
and again, again and again.
567
00:30:24,113 --> 00:30:27,648
Because the woman doing dishes,
because the woman doing dishes,
568
00:30:27,650 --> 00:30:31,285
has trouble hearing, has trouble hearing."
569
00:30:31,287 --> 00:30:36,190
Sue and Ruth Rosen and I
were all in a women's group.
570
00:30:36,192 --> 00:30:38,592
We decided that a newspaper
571
00:30:38,594 --> 00:30:43,497
was really essential
for what we were doing.
572
00:30:43,499 --> 00:30:45,999
WOMAN: I saw the first issue
of It Ain't Me Babe,
573
00:30:46,001 --> 00:30:48,501
and I immediately phoned
them up and I said,
574
00:30:48,503 --> 00:30:50,638
"Hi. I'm an artist. I
want to work with you."
575
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:52,605
It was so exciting.
576
00:30:52,607 --> 00:30:55,109
So I got into the second issue
577
00:30:55,111 --> 00:30:59,212
of the first women's liberation
newspaper in the country.
578
00:30:59,214 --> 00:31:04,051
Here's one where I drew the women's liberation
movement as the Bride of Frankenstein,
579
00:31:04,053 --> 00:31:07,654
and you see how terrified all
the various hippie types are.
580
00:31:07,656 --> 00:31:11,392
The peace movement guy and the
hippie guy and the black power guy
581
00:31:11,394 --> 00:31:14,562
are really afraid of this
woman who has just emerged.
582
00:31:14,564 --> 00:31:17,698
And she's making the power sign.
583
00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:21,568
This was something so new and so exciting.
584
00:31:21,570 --> 00:31:25,607
And people read us. People read us.
585
00:31:38,186 --> 00:31:41,956
♪♪ (rock)
586
00:31:43,858 --> 00:31:47,527
WOMAN: ♪ Don't go out in
the street, little girl ♪
587
00:31:47,529 --> 00:31:51,731
♪ And don't go out into town ♪
588
00:31:51,733 --> 00:31:55,335
♪ Now, you don't know who
you'll meet, little girl ♪
589
00:31:55,337 --> 00:31:59,172
♪ There are bad men around ♪♪
590
00:31:59,174 --> 00:32:03,744
WILLIS: We were always being
subjected to a double message.
591
00:32:03,746 --> 00:32:09,516
Sex was supposed to be okay now, but
if we were pregnant it was our problem.
592
00:32:09,518 --> 00:32:11,384
There was this idea that
593
00:32:11,386 --> 00:32:13,219
even when abortion was illegal,
594
00:32:13,221 --> 00:32:15,355
middle class women could always get it.
595
00:32:15,357 --> 00:32:19,793
I mean, this was not true at all.
596
00:32:19,795 --> 00:32:22,196
WALTER CRONKITE: Thousands
of women in the United States
597
00:32:22,198 --> 00:32:23,896
are hospitalized each year
598
00:32:23,898 --> 00:32:27,101
because of post-abortion complications.
599
00:32:27,103 --> 00:32:31,238
5,000 of these women die.
600
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,107
I had a very good friend in high school
601
00:32:34,109 --> 00:32:36,242
who went away to college
602
00:32:36,244 --> 00:32:38,312
and she subsequently
603
00:32:38,314 --> 00:32:41,282
had an illegal abortion and died.
604
00:32:41,284 --> 00:32:44,651
So within three or four
months of going off to college,
605
00:32:44,653 --> 00:32:47,022
she was dead.
606
00:32:48,891 --> 00:32:50,923
GIARDINA: People tried to self-abort.
607
00:32:50,925 --> 00:32:52,992
My best friend took pills,
608
00:32:52,994 --> 00:32:58,599
and she had the miscarriage
in the dorm shower with the...
609
00:32:58,601 --> 00:33:00,401
Turned on really hard,
610
00:33:00,403 --> 00:33:05,405
hoping the noise would
muffle her cries of pain.
611
00:33:05,407 --> 00:33:07,975
BROWNMILLER: Some were
able to find an abortionist.
612
00:33:07,977 --> 00:33:10,844
Some had to have the child
that they didn't want.
613
00:33:10,846 --> 00:33:14,981
All those kinds of experiences
we discovered were universal.
614
00:33:14,983 --> 00:33:17,084
(shouting, chanting)
615
00:33:17,086 --> 00:33:19,987
And abortion became
our big, unifying issue.
616
00:33:19,989 --> 00:33:23,356
Free abortion on demand!
Sisterhood is powerful!
617
00:33:23,358 --> 00:33:25,959
Women have a fundamental right
to control their own bodies
618
00:33:25,961 --> 00:33:27,795
and to control their own lives.
619
00:33:27,797 --> 00:33:29,529
- (cheering)
- Yeah!
620
00:33:29,531 --> 00:33:33,132
Our bodies, our lives! Our right to decide!
621
00:33:33,134 --> 00:33:36,003
Not since the suffragettes
fought for the right to vote
622
00:33:36,005 --> 00:33:39,006
has an issue been more
critical to women than abortion.
623
00:33:39,008 --> 00:33:40,673
Separate the church and state!
624
00:33:40,675 --> 00:33:42,308
WOMAN: Somewhere around 1970
625
00:33:42,310 --> 00:33:45,712
I went to an abortion rights
rally in San Francisco,
626
00:33:45,714 --> 00:33:48,949
and it was a sea of white women...
627
00:33:48,951 --> 00:33:50,784
very few women of color.
628
00:33:50,786 --> 00:33:54,354
And someone grabbed a bullhorn
629
00:33:54,356 --> 00:33:58,892
and asked for the African-American
women who were there
630
00:33:58,894 --> 00:34:01,228
to gather under a tree.
631
00:34:01,230 --> 00:34:04,130
WOMAN (on loudspeaker): A society
that cares about all people.
632
00:34:04,132 --> 00:34:08,635
BURNHAM: And we decided that we would
form a group called Black Sisters United.
633
00:34:08,637 --> 00:34:10,737
I was very glad that, you know,
634
00:34:10,739 --> 00:34:14,407
somebody called African-American
women together and said,
635
00:34:14,409 --> 00:34:17,211
"You know, maybe we have
something to talk about
636
00:34:17,213 --> 00:34:21,481
that might be a tiny bit different
from what's coming from the stage."
637
00:34:21,483 --> 00:34:23,918
And indeed we did.
638
00:34:25,221 --> 00:34:28,155
BEAL: I was invited up to Harlem
639
00:34:28,157 --> 00:34:34,228
to speak at an event around abortion.
640
00:34:34,230 --> 00:34:36,764
Remember, in the black liberation movement,
641
00:34:36,766 --> 00:34:39,532
the big debate is, abortion is genocide.
642
00:34:39,534 --> 00:34:42,235
Women should have babies
for the revolution.
643
00:34:42,237 --> 00:34:47,074
And I remember going up those stairs
644
00:34:47,076 --> 00:34:50,077
and my knees were literally knocking.
645
00:34:50,079 --> 00:34:55,382
'Cause this was a bunch of
nationalists, and I was really scared.
646
00:34:55,384 --> 00:34:57,583
I concentrated a lot
647
00:34:57,585 --> 00:34:59,887
about the death of black women
648
00:34:59,889 --> 00:35:02,789
as a result of illegal abortion
649
00:35:02,791 --> 00:35:06,927
and how we should be able to choose
when we want to have children.
650
00:35:06,929 --> 00:35:10,530
So I managed to survive
some of the attacks.
651
00:35:10,532 --> 00:35:13,200
And on my way out... twice it happened...
652
00:35:13,202 --> 00:35:16,869
one woman said to me...
653
00:35:16,871 --> 00:35:19,639
whispered to me,
654
00:35:19,641 --> 00:35:24,445
"Thank God you speak up.
Thank God you're speaking up."
655
00:35:24,447 --> 00:35:27,648
And another, as I was
approaching the door, said,
656
00:35:27,650 --> 00:35:32,552
"Right on. Right on."
657
00:35:32,554 --> 00:35:33,954
"Dear Brothers,
658
00:35:33,956 --> 00:35:35,822
Poor black women decide for themselves
659
00:35:35,824 --> 00:35:38,992
whether to have a baby or not have a baby.
660
00:35:38,994 --> 00:35:41,929
Black women are being asked
by militant black brothers
661
00:35:41,931 --> 00:35:44,097
not to practice birth control
662
00:35:44,099 --> 00:35:47,767
because it's a form of whiteys
committing genocide on black people.
663
00:35:47,769 --> 00:35:49,769
Well, true enough.
664
00:35:49,771 --> 00:35:52,104
But black women in the United States
665
00:35:52,106 --> 00:35:55,675
have to fight back out of our
own experience of oppression.
666
00:35:55,677 --> 00:35:59,445
And having too many babies stops
us from teaching them the truth,
667
00:35:59,447 --> 00:36:01,148
from supporting our children,
668
00:36:01,150 --> 00:36:05,251
and from stopping the
'brainwashing, ' as you say,
669
00:36:05,253 --> 00:36:10,693
and fighting black men who still
want to use and exploit us."
670
00:36:12,795 --> 00:36:16,162
It was very difficult for
middle-class white women
671
00:36:16,164 --> 00:36:20,833
to have any conception about what
was going on in communities of color.
672
00:36:20,835 --> 00:36:22,836
And those differences could have been
673
00:36:22,838 --> 00:36:24,537
in conversation with each other,
674
00:36:24,539 --> 00:36:27,374
but if there isn't even an
acknowledgement that there's differences
675
00:36:27,376 --> 00:36:29,208
in experience and perspective
676
00:36:29,210 --> 00:36:33,848
and the voice of one is used as the
voice of all, then you have a problem.
677
00:36:35,351 --> 00:36:38,552
That was during a period when black women
678
00:36:38,554 --> 00:36:41,621
did not particularly identify
with the women's movement.
679
00:36:41,623 --> 00:36:46,726
Mrs. Norton, why are you, a black
woman, involved in women's liberation?
680
00:36:46,728 --> 00:36:49,563
I'm involved in the
struggle for women's rights
681
00:36:49,565 --> 00:36:51,999
because I believe women
are disadvantaged...
682
00:36:52,001 --> 00:36:54,333
black women no less than white women.
683
00:36:54,335 --> 00:36:57,336
Indeed, black women far
more than white women.
684
00:36:57,338 --> 00:37:00,807
Women who have spent their lives
685
00:37:00,809 --> 00:37:04,043
working in other women's kitchens
686
00:37:04,045 --> 00:37:06,847
have a different kind of handicap
687
00:37:06,849 --> 00:37:09,249
than women who have been
oppressed for their sex
688
00:37:09,251 --> 00:37:11,553
in other ways.
689
00:37:12,755 --> 00:37:15,354
BEAL: We were grappling with that idea
690
00:37:15,356 --> 00:37:20,927
of how do you integrate
race, class and gender.
691
00:37:20,929 --> 00:37:25,999
That's the reason why we had some
reservations about the term "feminism."
692
00:37:26,001 --> 00:37:29,269
Because "feminism" just
seemed to be dealing
693
00:37:29,271 --> 00:37:33,976
with the female aspect of your being.
694
00:37:35,244 --> 00:37:37,443
NORTON: It's important to keep in
mind that black women are organized
695
00:37:37,445 --> 00:37:39,079
in their own organizations,
696
00:37:39,081 --> 00:37:42,548
in their own version of
black women's liberation.
697
00:37:42,550 --> 00:37:45,017
BURNHAM: Black Sisters United
698
00:37:45,019 --> 00:37:48,354
was essentially a
consciousness-raising group
699
00:37:48,356 --> 00:37:52,092
and it was in that group the very
first conversations I'd ever had
700
00:37:52,094 --> 00:37:55,061
about differences in sexual orientation.
701
00:37:55,063 --> 00:37:57,063
It was the first group I was in
702
00:37:57,065 --> 00:37:58,965
in which there were lesbian women.
703
00:37:58,967 --> 00:38:00,934
And so it was
704
00:38:00,936 --> 00:38:03,639
just a deep learning experience.
705
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:14,914
MAN: There may be some here today
706
00:38:14,916 --> 00:38:17,550
that will be homosexual in the future.
707
00:38:17,552 --> 00:38:19,485
There are a lot of kids here,
708
00:38:19,487 --> 00:38:21,787
and maybe some girls that'll turn lesbian.
709
00:38:21,789 --> 00:38:23,456
We don't know.
710
00:38:23,458 --> 00:38:25,791
They can be anywhere.
711
00:38:25,793 --> 00:38:27,394
They can be judges, lawyers.
712
00:38:27,396 --> 00:38:31,063
We ought to know. We've
arrested all of them.
713
00:38:31,065 --> 00:38:35,469
I told no one I went to college
with that I was a lesbian.
714
00:38:35,471 --> 00:38:38,170
I never told anyone.
715
00:38:38,172 --> 00:38:39,773
When I got to Barnard,
716
00:38:39,775 --> 00:38:42,008
one of the first stories I heard
717
00:38:42,010 --> 00:38:46,246
was that there were two women in
the dorm room who were making out
718
00:38:46,248 --> 00:38:51,818
and a guy at Columbia with binoculars
saw them and they were expelled.
719
00:38:51,820 --> 00:38:54,588
The message of that story was certainly
720
00:38:54,590 --> 00:38:57,490
that one could not be
721
00:38:57,492 --> 00:39:01,927
an open lesbian at Barnard.
722
00:39:01,929 --> 00:39:05,032
What the '60s were like for many of us...
723
00:39:05,034 --> 00:39:09,702
We grew up in silence
and isolation and shame,
724
00:39:09,704 --> 00:39:13,840
and that's why consciousness-raising
was so appealing,
725
00:39:13,842 --> 00:39:19,713
because so much of our
lives we could not speak of.
726
00:39:19,715 --> 00:39:22,682
The women's movement had coined the motto,
727
00:39:22,684 --> 00:39:24,818
"The Personal is Political."
728
00:39:24,820 --> 00:39:29,555
But when you were a lesbian and you
wanted to talk about lesbian relationships
729
00:39:29,557 --> 00:39:32,391
as opposed to heterosexual relationships,
730
00:39:32,393 --> 00:39:34,528
they didn't want to hear about it.
731
00:39:34,530 --> 00:39:39,231
And here I have to give a lot
of credit to Rita Mae Brown.
732
00:39:39,233 --> 00:39:43,170
One thing you were not going
to tell Rita was to shut up.
733
00:39:43,172 --> 00:39:46,139
I knew that I was as good as they were,
734
00:39:46,141 --> 00:39:48,541
and I knew I am not who I sleep with.
735
00:39:48,543 --> 00:39:50,142
I was in NOW.
736
00:39:50,144 --> 00:39:52,179
And as NOW went on
737
00:39:52,181 --> 00:39:55,548
I called them on the carpet
about class, about race,
738
00:39:55,550 --> 00:39:58,351
and then I called them on
the carpet about lesbianism.
739
00:39:58,353 --> 00:40:02,555
I said, you are treating women the way men
treat you, and those women are lesbians.
740
00:40:02,557 --> 00:40:06,492
Well, my God, you would have thought I
unleashed an elephant in the middle of the room.
741
00:40:06,494 --> 00:40:09,528
CEBALLOS: A lot of women were gay,
but they didn't talk about being gay.
742
00:40:09,530 --> 00:40:13,066
They used to say that the NOW meetings
was the best cruising place in town.
743
00:40:13,068 --> 00:40:16,036
So Betty Friedan was freaking out.
744
00:40:16,038 --> 00:40:19,371
She was saying you can't bring
this up now. This is divisive.
745
00:40:19,373 --> 00:40:21,441
This is what men call us anyway.
746
00:40:21,443 --> 00:40:24,244
Any woman that stands up
for herself is called a dyke.
747
00:40:24,246 --> 00:40:28,248
And she said this is like the
lavender menace. We can't have it.
748
00:40:28,250 --> 00:40:32,351
The fact that we were beginning to be
recognized and treated decently was something.
749
00:40:32,353 --> 00:40:35,588
And all of a sudden, the gay issue?
750
00:40:35,590 --> 00:40:38,592
Betty was really, really concerned
that it was going to destroy it.
751
00:40:38,594 --> 00:40:41,795
But Betty wasn't the only one
concerned. A lot of us were concerned.
752
00:40:41,797 --> 00:40:44,463
I was concerned too.
753
00:40:44,465 --> 00:40:47,434
It's too soon. That's
what we thought. Too soon.
754
00:40:47,436 --> 00:40:50,403
They couldn't bustle me out of
that organization fast enough.
755
00:40:50,405 --> 00:40:52,674
I was thrown out.
756
00:40:55,610 --> 00:40:59,945
I thought, you know, we really need to
talk about what is happening to lesbians.
757
00:40:59,947 --> 00:41:03,749
Why are we reviled by what
should be our own people?
758
00:41:03,751 --> 00:41:07,052
So it was a group of
lesbians from Redstockings
759
00:41:07,054 --> 00:41:09,923
and lesbians from the Gay Liberation Front
760
00:41:09,925 --> 00:41:11,657
who started meeting together.
761
00:41:11,659 --> 00:41:15,128
And out of that we decided to write
a lesbian feminist position paper,
762
00:41:15,130 --> 00:41:17,264
which was the first of its kind.
763
00:41:17,266 --> 00:41:19,432
BROWN: We each tried to
write a piece of this thing.
764
00:41:19,434 --> 00:41:23,470
We put it all together and it became
The Woman-Identified Woman.
765
00:41:23,472 --> 00:41:26,840
In essence, give your
energies to other women.
766
00:41:26,842 --> 00:41:30,610
SHUMSKY: I don't even know who came
up with such a wonderful opening line.
767
00:41:30,612 --> 00:41:35,550
"A lesbian is the rage of all women
condensed to the point of explosion."
768
00:41:37,418 --> 00:41:42,655
Towards May 1970, there was
the 2nd Congress to Unite Women.
769
00:41:42,657 --> 00:41:45,090
But there was not going
to be a single panel
770
00:41:45,092 --> 00:41:49,496
that dealt with homophobia or lesbianism.
771
00:41:49,498 --> 00:41:53,700
And we decided we were
going to do an action.
772
00:41:53,702 --> 00:41:56,769
We had been labeled the Lavender Menace.
773
00:41:56,771 --> 00:42:02,141
So on the day of the congress we came in
looking like we were part of the crowd.
774
00:42:02,143 --> 00:42:06,545
And we had a buddy back behind the
curtains who knew how to run the lights.
775
00:42:06,547 --> 00:42:08,682
So the lights went out. (gasps)
776
00:42:08,684 --> 00:42:13,452
And when the lights went out, like
Superman, we removed our blouses
777
00:42:13,454 --> 00:42:16,722
and exposed our Lavender Menace T-shirts.
778
00:42:16,724 --> 00:42:18,657
(all shouting)
779
00:42:18,659 --> 00:42:22,396
JAY: The audience was completely
surrounded by lesbians.
780
00:42:23,664 --> 00:42:25,365
I was a plant in the audience.
781
00:42:25,367 --> 00:42:30,170
I pulled off my blouse. I had a
Lavender Menace T-shirt underneath.
782
00:42:30,172 --> 00:42:34,407
I said, "I'm tired of being in
the closet in this movement."
783
00:42:34,409 --> 00:42:37,409
BROWN: Well, nobody knew...
Excuse the Southern expression.
784
00:42:37,411 --> 00:42:42,849
They didn't know whether to shit, run or
go blind. They did not know what to do.
785
00:42:42,851 --> 00:42:45,651
JAY: And finally we took over the stage
786
00:42:45,653 --> 00:42:51,224
and we demanded that issues of
lesbianism be put on the agenda.
787
00:42:51,226 --> 00:42:53,193
And they were.
788
00:42:53,195 --> 00:42:55,494
BROWN: It really did awaken people.
789
00:42:55,496 --> 00:42:58,264
It was like, "Oh, you
know, you're kinda right."
790
00:42:58,266 --> 00:43:01,400
It was a lot of fun.
791
00:43:01,402 --> 00:43:04,104
♪ Free ♪
792
00:43:04,106 --> 00:43:06,475
♪ Free ♪♪
793
00:43:13,748 --> 00:43:16,215
WILLIS: When feminism first erupted,
794
00:43:16,217 --> 00:43:18,751
it was, for me, an extremely erotic moment,
795
00:43:18,753 --> 00:43:21,220
'cause I think for the first time
796
00:43:21,222 --> 00:43:24,758
I saw the possibility of what I was
797
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:26,458
really being beautiful.
798
00:43:26,460 --> 00:43:28,528
WOMAN: ♪ I'll be your mirror ♪
799
00:43:28,530 --> 00:43:31,298
WILLIS: I had kind of been
the nerdy intellectual.
800
00:43:31,300 --> 00:43:37,369
I felt that I couldn't be
myself and be attractive to guys.
801
00:43:37,371 --> 00:43:40,273
So the idea that wearing what you felt like
802
00:43:40,275 --> 00:43:42,809
and letting your hair go
wherever it wanted to be
803
00:43:42,811 --> 00:43:44,778
was actually considered attractive
804
00:43:44,780 --> 00:43:47,613
was very exciting.
805
00:43:47,615 --> 00:43:50,650
Radical feminists were
really the first to argue
806
00:43:50,652 --> 00:43:54,287
that women's emotional and sexual needs
807
00:43:54,289 --> 00:43:58,325
should be equally important to men's.
808
00:43:58,327 --> 00:44:00,092
When we started talking about sex,
809
00:44:00,094 --> 00:44:02,461
it turned out that very few of us
810
00:44:02,463 --> 00:44:04,496
had ever even had an orgasm.
811
00:44:04,498 --> 00:44:08,068
Not only that, but we
were faking those orgasms.
812
00:44:08,070 --> 00:44:12,771
And I don't know exactly
how we knew how to fake them.
813
00:44:12,773 --> 00:44:15,976
Because if we'd never had one,
how did we know how to fake it?
814
00:44:15,978 --> 00:44:19,479
♪♪ (continues)
815
00:44:19,481 --> 00:44:23,249
The dissatisfaction of this
new generation of young women
816
00:44:23,251 --> 00:44:26,353
who were having more sex
than women ever had before,
817
00:44:26,355 --> 00:44:28,823
but not enjoying it particularly.
818
00:44:29,925 --> 00:44:32,325
SHULMAN: And once we started going on it,
819
00:44:32,327 --> 00:44:37,030
we didn't stop until we were able to demand
820
00:44:37,032 --> 00:44:40,166
a decent sexual experience from our lovers.
821
00:44:40,168 --> 00:44:42,469
♪ I'll be your mirror ♪
822
00:44:42,471 --> 00:44:45,537
Part of what distinguished
the women's liberation branch
823
00:44:45,539 --> 00:44:48,974
from the more middle-aged,
middle-class group
824
00:44:48,976 --> 00:44:53,679
was the interest in sexuality
and personal liberation.
825
00:44:53,681 --> 00:44:57,117
The sexuality stuff was
a little daunting to me.
826
00:44:57,119 --> 00:45:00,119
You know, even at the
NOW conferences later on,
827
00:45:00,121 --> 00:45:02,155
I mean, women, they brought speculums
828
00:45:02,157 --> 00:45:04,289
and they examined each
other's vaginas and stuff.
829
00:45:04,291 --> 00:45:06,892
I was, like... I was not
into that. That was not me.
830
00:45:06,894 --> 00:45:09,630
I was not doing that.
831
00:45:18,639 --> 00:45:21,740
WOMAN: This is the group's first picture.
832
00:45:21,742 --> 00:45:25,345
This is Wendy, Paula, Esther,
833
00:45:25,347 --> 00:45:28,981
Joan, Me... Vilunya...
834
00:45:28,983 --> 00:45:33,153
Jane, Norma, Pamela,
835
00:45:33,155 --> 00:45:36,722
Ruth, Miriam and Judy.
836
00:45:36,724 --> 00:45:39,992
We look impossibly young.
837
00:45:39,994 --> 00:45:42,028
Why does a women's hormonal system
838
00:45:42,030 --> 00:45:44,164
have to be fucked around with all the time
839
00:45:44,166 --> 00:45:48,367
when it's very complicated and very
necessary to procreate the species,
840
00:45:48,369 --> 00:45:53,206
when, in fact, it makes much more
sense to have a pill for a male
841
00:45:53,208 --> 00:45:56,742
whose hormonal system
is not as complicated?
842
00:45:56,744 --> 00:45:59,445
People were very fired
up about birth control.
843
00:45:59,447 --> 00:46:01,380
People were having a terrible time,
844
00:46:01,382 --> 00:46:03,249
particularly 'cause it was Massachusetts
845
00:46:03,251 --> 00:46:05,418
and birth control was illegal.
846
00:46:05,420 --> 00:46:08,621
The thing that struck me the most
was that everyone had a doctor story
847
00:46:08,623 --> 00:46:10,456
that they wanted to share,
848
00:46:10,458 --> 00:46:13,059
and some of it was about
getting the information,
849
00:46:13,061 --> 00:46:15,628
but some of it was just
about being patronized.
850
00:46:15,630 --> 00:46:17,697
There was just this sense of,
851
00:46:17,699 --> 00:46:19,965
"Oh, don't worry your pretty
little head about that."
852
00:46:19,967 --> 00:46:21,733
And it was an attitude also.
853
00:46:21,735 --> 00:46:23,536
When I gave birth to my daughter,
854
00:46:23,538 --> 00:46:25,037
she was born around 4:00 in the morning,
855
00:46:25,039 --> 00:46:26,940
and he came in a few
hours later and he said,
856
00:46:26,942 --> 00:46:28,807
"Well, how did you like the job I did?"
857
00:46:28,809 --> 00:46:30,876
- (laughing)
- I go...
858
00:46:30,878 --> 00:46:32,711
Exactly. Exactly.
859
00:46:32,713 --> 00:46:36,483
We then made a list of subjects
that we want information about.
860
00:46:36,485 --> 00:46:40,253
You know, only people in their
20s would have the chutzpah
861
00:46:40,255 --> 00:46:42,921
to make a list from birth to death.
862
00:46:42,923 --> 00:46:44,958
Okay, we need to know about anatomy.
863
00:46:44,960 --> 00:46:46,492
We need to know about birth control.
864
00:46:46,494 --> 00:46:49,595
We need to know about
pregnancy, postpartum, nutrition.
865
00:46:49,597 --> 00:46:53,398
We need to know about exercise. We
need to know about menopause, death.
866
00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:55,668
You know, the whole gambit.
867
00:46:55,670 --> 00:46:59,271
I went to the doctor. I
had an abnormal pap test.
868
00:46:59,273 --> 00:47:01,474
I went home, I wrote about it.
869
00:47:01,476 --> 00:47:04,911
So there was a constant
flow between what you lived,
870
00:47:04,913 --> 00:47:08,815
what you learned, what you give out.
871
00:47:08,817 --> 00:47:11,284
MIRIAM: So at the point
at which we were ready,
872
00:47:11,286 --> 00:47:13,153
we said, "Well, we're gonna do a course."
873
00:47:13,155 --> 00:47:17,956
We had this material
that we wanted to share.
874
00:47:17,958 --> 00:47:22,195
The first course was on masturbation.
875
00:47:22,197 --> 00:47:26,999
Nobody had ever said that
word out loud at MIT in a room,
876
00:47:27,001 --> 00:47:29,034
and you could hear a pin drop.
877
00:47:29,036 --> 00:47:30,769
Written on the board!
878
00:47:30,771 --> 00:47:33,472
I remember her standing up,
this tall, beautiful woman,
879
00:47:33,474 --> 00:47:35,675
and she's writing about masturbation.
880
00:47:35,677 --> 00:47:39,278
Everybody's like, "Oh, my God." (laughs)
881
00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,713
And she had this drawing of a vagina
882
00:47:41,715 --> 00:47:43,883
with all the anatomical parts.
883
00:47:43,885 --> 00:47:47,720
And she started talking about
what our genitals look like.
884
00:47:47,722 --> 00:47:49,722
Whoa, you know.
885
00:47:49,724 --> 00:47:53,959
Never heard or thought about any of this
before, so this was quite compelling.
886
00:47:53,961 --> 00:47:56,496
I remember that after the first session,
887
00:47:56,498 --> 00:47:58,398
everybody said, "Well, we want
to have all the information.
888
00:47:58,400 --> 00:48:00,300
What are those pieces
of paper that you had?"
889
00:48:00,302 --> 00:48:04,170
Everybody wanted copies of each
of the topics of the course.
890
00:48:04,172 --> 00:48:07,072
Then we said, "This is
going to become a book."
891
00:48:07,074 --> 00:48:11,411
We each took the subject that
most involved us personally
892
00:48:11,413 --> 00:48:16,950
and started to learn more about it
so we would have a larger chapter.
893
00:48:21,088 --> 00:48:23,555
VILUNYA: The first version,
the newsprint version,
894
00:48:23,557 --> 00:48:27,729
sold 240,000 copies.
895
00:48:29,496 --> 00:48:31,898
JOAN: Suddenly we have this
book, and it's a best seller,
896
00:48:31,900 --> 00:48:35,068
and it was something
no one ever anticipated.
897
00:48:35,070 --> 00:48:38,938
WENDY: We felt like any money
this book was going to make
898
00:48:38,940 --> 00:48:41,507
came out of women's lives
'cause women needed it,
899
00:48:41,509 --> 00:48:45,345
and so we would use the money
to fund women's health stuff.
900
00:48:47,014 --> 00:48:49,782
PAMELA: We made our chapters
of these letters that came in
901
00:48:49,784 --> 00:48:51,851
with these personal experiences.
902
00:48:51,853 --> 00:48:56,789
JOAN: Any anecdote became
material for the book.
903
00:48:56,791 --> 00:48:59,458
What we were saying is we
were a living lab, you know.
904
00:48:59,460 --> 00:49:04,097
That no one knows that
much about women's lives.
905
00:49:04,099 --> 00:49:06,231
I said, "We're gonna
sell a million copies,"
906
00:49:06,233 --> 00:49:07,934
and people laughed.
907
00:49:07,936 --> 00:49:11,436
I thought, no, because
every woman has a body.
908
00:49:11,438 --> 00:49:15,641
It doesn't matter what
class or color you are.
909
00:49:15,643 --> 00:49:18,145
We all have the same anatomy.
910
00:49:20,782 --> 00:49:22,981
Holy cow!
911
00:49:22,983 --> 00:49:24,950
Try not to drool on it, okay?
912
00:49:24,952 --> 00:49:27,086
If Kim finds out I have
this, she'll kill me.
913
00:49:27,088 --> 00:49:29,357
(knocking)
914
00:49:40,768 --> 00:49:43,068
ROXANNE: My background
was very, very different
915
00:49:43,070 --> 00:49:48,840
from many of the people I
met on the left in general.
916
00:49:48,842 --> 00:49:52,512
My family were sharecroppers from Oklahoma,
917
00:49:52,514 --> 00:49:55,550
and we were very, very poor.
918
00:49:57,619 --> 00:50:01,420
For me, anything negative that
ever happened had to do with class.
919
00:50:01,422 --> 00:50:05,023
I was being put down... even
when men were misogynist,
920
00:50:05,025 --> 00:50:07,159
it was because of class.
921
00:50:07,161 --> 00:50:11,597
I didn't internalize it as because
that's the way they treat women.
922
00:50:11,599 --> 00:50:14,934
So it wasn't until I was at UCLA
923
00:50:14,936 --> 00:50:20,039
I started seeing how stacked
the deck was against a woman.
924
00:50:20,041 --> 00:50:22,842
I got a professor, a young professor.
925
00:50:22,844 --> 00:50:25,478
The first day he met with me he says,
926
00:50:25,480 --> 00:50:28,947
"If I can't fuck you,
I'm going to fuck you."
927
00:50:28,949 --> 00:50:31,050
So I quit.
928
00:50:31,052 --> 00:50:33,952
I quit graduate school.
929
00:50:33,954 --> 00:50:36,389
I burned all my bridges, yeah.
930
00:50:36,391 --> 00:50:42,561
And that's when I flew out
to start a women's revolution.
931
00:50:42,563 --> 00:50:46,065
"I am a revolutionary. I am a feminist.
932
00:50:46,067 --> 00:50:48,967
There is no possibility
for me to be liberated
933
00:50:48,969 --> 00:50:51,838
except that all women be liberated,
934
00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:54,639
and that means power and control
935
00:50:54,641 --> 00:50:58,211
on a political, economic level.
936
00:50:58,213 --> 00:51:00,345
Having had nothing,
937
00:51:00,347 --> 00:51:02,382
I will not settle for crumbs."
938
00:51:02,384 --> 00:51:06,219
♪ Rebel girl, rebel girl ♪
939
00:51:06,221 --> 00:51:09,988
ROXANNE: We formed a group called Cell 16.
940
00:51:09,990 --> 00:51:15,894
We had a motto that we were gonna
change the world forever and totally.
941
00:51:15,896 --> 00:51:19,731
We didn't tone it down at all.
942
00:51:19,733 --> 00:51:22,068
There were murders that summer in Boston,
943
00:51:22,070 --> 00:51:25,907
and it was headlines... more slain girls.
944
00:51:27,608 --> 00:51:33,445
We started street patrols for
the factories down by the river.
945
00:51:33,447 --> 00:51:35,715
Very dark when the women got off,
946
00:51:35,717 --> 00:51:40,088
and they were constantly being
mugged and assaulted and raped.
947
00:51:44,458 --> 00:51:47,693
The first time something
did happen on a patrol,
948
00:51:47,695 --> 00:51:50,796
these guys yelled at
us, "Bunch of lezzies!"
949
00:51:50,798 --> 00:51:52,231
Fuck you!
950
00:51:52,233 --> 00:51:54,702
I went up and punched him.
951
00:51:56,603 --> 00:52:00,373
And Abby did an upper block.
952
00:52:00,375 --> 00:52:02,941
The guy ran.
953
00:52:02,943 --> 00:52:07,246
He was the most terrified
man in Boston that night.
954
00:52:07,248 --> 00:52:09,148
(shouts)
955
00:52:09,150 --> 00:52:12,952
This convinced us all we really
needed to make self-defense a priority.
956
00:52:12,954 --> 00:52:14,454
(body thuds)
957
00:52:14,456 --> 00:52:19,124
So we started recruiting
women for an all-women's class,
958
00:52:19,126 --> 00:52:23,095
and we went from just our
group to about 100 people.
959
00:52:23,097 --> 00:52:27,502
It was important to all of
us that we owned the streets.
960
00:52:36,777 --> 00:52:39,945
One evening in my Tuesday night
consciousness-raising group,
961
00:52:39,947 --> 00:52:41,581
West Village-1,
962
00:52:41,583 --> 00:52:43,782
of New York radical feminists,
963
00:52:43,784 --> 00:52:45,985
Diane Crothers walked in with a newspaper,
964
00:52:45,987 --> 00:52:48,253
It Ain't Me Babe from San Francisco,
965
00:52:48,255 --> 00:52:50,789
and said, "There's an article
here we all have to read."
966
00:52:50,791 --> 00:52:54,260
And it was a story about
a woman in Marin County
967
00:52:54,262 --> 00:52:56,996
who'd been raped during a hitchhike.
968
00:52:56,998 --> 00:52:59,798
We read the article, and
we went around the room,
969
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:03,970
and it turned out one
woman, Sarah, had been raped.
970
00:53:03,972 --> 00:53:07,005
And the police said to her,
971
00:53:07,007 --> 00:53:09,675
"Who'd want to rape you?"
972
00:53:09,677 --> 00:53:12,612
A friend of mine was raped at knife-point
973
00:53:12,614 --> 00:53:14,981
in her bed in off-campus housing.
974
00:53:14,983 --> 00:53:18,316
I went with her to the
student health service,
975
00:53:18,318 --> 00:53:21,621
and she was given a
lecture on her promiscuity.
976
00:53:22,990 --> 00:53:25,324
It was very common in a courtroom
977
00:53:25,326 --> 00:53:27,526
to blame the woman for the rape.
978
00:53:27,528 --> 00:53:31,463
And rape was looked at
as a crime that occurred
979
00:53:31,465 --> 00:53:35,668
because a man had strong sexual urges
980
00:53:35,670 --> 00:53:38,871
that he couldn't satisfy any other way.
981
00:53:38,873 --> 00:53:41,740
No!
982
00:53:41,742 --> 00:53:43,642
And it was only with the feminist movement
983
00:53:43,644 --> 00:53:47,546
that it came out that rape
is not a crime of passion.
984
00:53:47,548 --> 00:53:52,485
It's a crime that expresses
the urge to dominate.
985
00:53:52,487 --> 00:53:54,820
BROWNMILLER: People were
not used to thinking of rape
986
00:53:54,822 --> 00:53:56,822
as a political crime against women.
987
00:53:56,824 --> 00:53:58,324
That was our slogan.
988
00:53:58,326 --> 00:54:01,896
"Rape is a political crime against women."
989
00:54:04,998 --> 00:54:08,066
♪ Well, Papa, I ain't
your friend no more ♪
990
00:54:08,068 --> 00:54:10,235
- ♪ I ain't gonna make your bed ♪
- ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
991
00:54:10,237 --> 00:54:12,737
♪ Papa, I ain't your friend no more ♪
992
00:54:12,739 --> 00:54:15,206
- ♪ Better get a dog instead ♪
- Right on!
993
00:54:15,208 --> 00:54:17,677
♪ Well, "Back Street
Girl," "Under My Thumb" ♪
994
00:54:17,679 --> 00:54:20,112
♪ Start looking out
where you're coming from ♪
995
00:54:20,114 --> 00:54:24,583
WOMAN: The Chicago Women's
Liberation Rock Band was huge.
996
00:54:24,585 --> 00:54:26,786
♪ And, Papa, don't
lay that shit on me ♪
997
00:54:26,788 --> 00:54:29,088
♪ The fun and games are gone ♪
998
00:54:29,090 --> 00:54:31,691
In those days, you had to have
balls to be a rock musician.
999
00:54:31,693 --> 00:54:34,226
Well, guess what. No.
1000
00:54:34,228 --> 00:54:37,697
Seeing women being smarter and tougher,
1001
00:54:37,699 --> 00:54:41,566
and the Rock Band was a
fabulous example of that,
1002
00:54:41,568 --> 00:54:45,438
'cause of being loud on
top of everything else.
1003
00:54:45,440 --> 00:54:47,639
- ♪ Go down to the corner ♪
- ♪ Get yourself fixed ♪
1004
00:54:47,641 --> 00:54:50,242
Whoo! ♪ Can't stop
doing what you do to me ♪
1005
00:54:50,244 --> 00:54:53,912
♪ You're just gonna drive me wild ♪♪
1006
00:54:53,914 --> 00:54:56,615
Chicago was a hotbed
of feminist organizing.
1007
00:54:56,617 --> 00:54:59,885
There were a lot of people
doing a lot of things.
1008
00:54:59,887 --> 00:55:02,320
ROTHSTEIN: And there was
no communication amongst us.
1009
00:55:02,322 --> 00:55:05,124
There was no structure
to bring us together.
1010
00:55:05,126 --> 00:55:07,392
And at the same time, there
were a lot of new people
1011
00:55:07,394 --> 00:55:10,563
who were interested in
the women's movement,
1012
00:55:10,565 --> 00:55:12,664
women who were reaching out.
1013
00:55:12,666 --> 00:55:16,235
And so we decided to form the
Chicago Women's Liberation Union
1014
00:55:16,237 --> 00:55:20,171
as a way to network us all together.
1015
00:55:20,173 --> 00:55:23,441
There was the Chicago
Women's Graphics Collective,
1016
00:55:23,443 --> 00:55:26,244
the Action Committee for Decent Child Care.
1017
00:55:26,246 --> 00:55:28,414
We built a Speaker's Bureau,
1018
00:55:28,416 --> 00:55:31,483
the Liberation School for Women.
1019
00:55:31,485 --> 00:55:34,586
And we would have an
open orientation session,
1020
00:55:34,588 --> 00:55:36,789
and we would put about 30 chairs out,
1021
00:55:36,791 --> 00:55:39,025
and we would get over 100 women.
1022
00:55:39,027 --> 00:55:41,661
We didn't know who these women were.
1023
00:55:41,663 --> 00:55:43,762
We didn't know how they learned about us.
1024
00:55:43,764 --> 00:55:46,599
But they kept coming and they kept coming.
1025
00:55:46,601 --> 00:55:51,202
ARCANA: They had classes
on stuff women need to know.
1026
00:55:51,204 --> 00:55:54,305
Automobile repair, women's history,
1027
00:55:54,307 --> 00:55:56,708
the facts of women's lives.
1028
00:55:56,710 --> 00:56:02,847
Why have a school? Because these things
are not being taught in the schools.
1029
00:56:02,849 --> 00:56:04,950
I taught women's sexuality,
1030
00:56:04,952 --> 00:56:07,787
contraception, abortion.
1031
00:56:07,789 --> 00:56:12,157
Abortion was a very important
issue to both groups at that time,
1032
00:56:12,159 --> 00:56:14,726
with NOW doing more of the legal work
1033
00:56:14,728 --> 00:56:18,030
and the Women's Union doing
more of the direct service work.
1034
00:56:18,032 --> 00:56:20,965
In 1964, a friend mentioned
1035
00:56:20,967 --> 00:56:24,070
that his sister was
pregnant and nearly suicidal.
1036
00:56:24,072 --> 00:56:26,037
Could I do anything about it?
1037
00:56:26,039 --> 00:56:30,309
And I was referred, through a
series of connections, to a doctor.
1038
00:56:30,311 --> 00:56:34,079
Asked him if he would perform
an abortion. He said yes.
1039
00:56:34,081 --> 00:56:36,682
And a few weeks later, someone else called
1040
00:56:36,684 --> 00:56:39,017
and said they also were
looking for an abortion.
1041
00:56:39,019 --> 00:56:40,686
The word had spread.
1042
00:56:40,688 --> 00:56:43,555
At that point, I decided
to set up a bit of a system.
1043
00:56:43,557 --> 00:56:45,891
I was living in a dormitory at the time.
1044
00:56:45,893 --> 00:56:48,860
So I told people to ask for Jane.
1045
00:56:48,862 --> 00:56:50,695
(line ringing)
1046
00:56:50,697 --> 00:56:54,066
I could tell within the first
minute what they were calling about,
1047
00:56:54,068 --> 00:56:57,001
because there was a pause, there
was a hesitance, there was a tension.
1048
00:56:57,003 --> 00:56:59,371
Many were frightened.
1049
00:56:59,373 --> 00:57:02,074
Because three people discussing
an abortion in those days
1050
00:57:02,076 --> 00:57:05,744
was a conspiracy to commit felony murder.
1051
00:57:05,746 --> 00:57:09,447
COLLINS: Jane was this service
that was established in Chicago
1052
00:57:09,449 --> 00:57:12,117
that provided abortions
when abortion was illegal.
1053
00:57:12,119 --> 00:57:14,353
- (ringing)
- We would have women call us
1054
00:57:14,355 --> 00:57:16,222
who were in need of the abortion service.
1055
00:57:16,224 --> 00:57:18,257
And of course, having Jane available,
1056
00:57:18,259 --> 00:57:19,791
without having to refer them to the mob,
1057
00:57:19,793 --> 00:57:22,193
was a godsend.
1058
00:57:22,195 --> 00:57:25,697
BOOTH: The group would take in the
calls, and we would do counseling.
1059
00:57:25,699 --> 00:57:28,434
Then women would be
brought to specific houses
1060
00:57:28,436 --> 00:57:30,635
on a rotating basis
1061
00:57:30,637 --> 00:57:33,706
where the procedures would be done.
1062
00:57:33,708 --> 00:57:37,742
The service moved every day from
somebody's home to somebody's home,
1063
00:57:37,744 --> 00:57:41,213
which is quite amazing.
1064
00:57:41,215 --> 00:57:43,315
ARCANA: I joined the abortion service
1065
00:57:43,317 --> 00:57:47,385
because I knew that women
are sometimes desperate,
1066
00:57:47,387 --> 00:57:49,722
and they are going to hurt themselves
1067
00:57:49,724 --> 00:57:52,727
in order to end their pregnancies.
1068
00:57:54,228 --> 00:57:56,228
When I began Jane work,
1069
00:57:56,230 --> 00:58:00,331
a few dozen women a
week were coming through.
1070
00:58:00,333 --> 00:58:04,970
After about six months, there were
at least 100 women coming through.
1071
00:58:04,972 --> 00:58:08,139
Ultimately, one really good abortionist
1072
00:58:08,141 --> 00:58:11,010
taught Janes how to do abortions
1073
00:58:11,012 --> 00:58:13,179
with skill and care,
1074
00:58:13,181 --> 00:58:16,481
and then those Janes taught other Janes.
1075
00:58:16,483 --> 00:58:20,653
All of us were always aware
1076
00:58:20,655 --> 00:58:23,121
that what we were doing was illegal,
1077
00:58:23,123 --> 00:58:25,423
that we could go to jail.
1078
00:58:25,425 --> 00:58:29,360
You might have to throw everything in
your bag and run down the back stairs
1079
00:58:29,362 --> 00:58:31,530
at any moment.
1080
00:58:31,532 --> 00:58:34,766
But we understood that
it was important work,
1081
00:58:34,768 --> 00:58:37,871
useful work, necessary work.
1082
00:58:45,478 --> 00:58:47,445
(people chattering)
1083
00:58:47,447 --> 00:58:50,449
MALE REPORTER: What is the
relationship of the movement
1084
00:58:50,451 --> 00:58:52,617
to the whole question of motherhood
1085
00:58:52,619 --> 00:58:55,153
and the affection of mothers
for children and so forth?
1086
00:58:55,155 --> 00:58:57,856
It's about being able to
have children if you want them
1087
00:58:57,858 --> 00:59:00,492
and being able not to have
children if you don't want them,
1088
00:59:00,494 --> 00:59:02,827
and if you want to have your
kids at day care centers.
1089
00:59:02,829 --> 00:59:06,865
If you want to work,
then you can do that too.
1090
00:59:06,867 --> 00:59:09,168
In the women's movement, the
myth was that we hated men,
1091
00:59:09,170 --> 00:59:11,804
that we hated marriage, we hated children.
1092
00:59:11,806 --> 00:59:13,706
That's not right.
1093
00:59:13,708 --> 00:59:16,075
The group I was in, we
talked mostly about child care
1094
00:59:16,077 --> 00:59:20,545
being the absolute precondition
for women's emancipation.
1095
00:59:20,547 --> 00:59:23,682
FOX: One of the earliest
battles was for child care.
1096
00:59:23,684 --> 00:59:26,517
It's in NOW's statement of purpose.
1097
00:59:26,519 --> 00:59:31,990
We knew that women could
not hold jobs and be promoted
1098
00:59:31,992 --> 00:59:36,929
until society recognized its obligation
1099
00:59:36,931 --> 00:59:38,998
to help take care of our children.
1100
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:42,834
And I remember at some of
the early demonstrations,
1101
00:59:42,836 --> 00:59:44,869
those who had kids, we
would bring the kids.
1102
00:59:44,871 --> 00:59:46,738
People would say things like,
1103
00:59:46,740 --> 00:59:49,407
"We can't talk with
you nursing the babies."
1104
00:59:49,409 --> 00:59:52,077
We would say, "Show us the day care center.
1105
00:59:52,079 --> 00:59:56,615
We'll be happy to bring the
kids to the day care center."
1106
00:59:56,617 --> 01:00:00,084
Feminists are accused of
wanting woman out of the home
1107
01:00:00,086 --> 01:00:03,521
and leaving children, come what may.
1108
01:00:03,523 --> 01:00:07,525
We proclaim that when we
talk about 24-hour child care,
1109
01:00:07,527 --> 01:00:09,795
we mean to have it now!
1110
01:00:09,797 --> 01:00:14,365
Twenty-four-hour child
care centers today, now,
1111
01:00:14,367 --> 01:00:16,135
beginning this school year!
1112
01:00:16,137 --> 01:00:18,436
NORTON: After a great deal of work,
1113
01:00:18,438 --> 01:00:20,738
where feminists were in the leadership,
1114
01:00:20,740 --> 01:00:24,709
we got close to having
a real child care system.
1115
01:00:24,711 --> 01:00:26,644
ROSEN: In 1971,
1116
01:00:26,646 --> 01:00:29,581
amazingly enough, the women's movement,
1117
01:00:29,583 --> 01:00:31,249
the Congress, the Senate,
1118
01:00:31,251 --> 01:00:34,253
passed a comprehensive child care act.
1119
01:00:34,255 --> 01:00:39,026
Most historians don't even remember
that, forget about the rest of society.
1120
01:00:41,161 --> 01:00:44,229
And President Nixon vetoed it.
1121
01:00:44,231 --> 01:00:48,233
He said, "We don't want to make
our women like Soviet women.
1122
01:00:48,235 --> 01:00:51,570
We want women to take care
of their own children."
1123
01:00:51,572 --> 01:00:54,840
That was a tragic moment in history.
1124
01:00:54,842 --> 01:00:57,943
And we've been paying for it ever since.
1125
01:00:57,945 --> 01:01:00,912
It's one thing for women to pay the price.
1126
01:01:00,914 --> 01:01:05,516
It's another thing for generations
of children to pay the price as well.
1127
01:01:05,518 --> 01:01:08,487
I can think of, frankly,
of no more important issue
1128
01:01:08,489 --> 01:01:13,093
that early feminists raised
than educational child care.
1129
01:01:16,429 --> 01:01:19,365
Poor people, black women, women on welfare,
1130
01:01:19,367 --> 01:01:21,333
are often sterilized against their will.
1131
01:01:21,335 --> 01:01:23,101
I mean, that's been known to happen.
1132
01:01:23,103 --> 01:01:26,104
The same hospital that wants
to sterilize the black women
1133
01:01:26,106 --> 01:01:29,708
will not let a middle class
white woman be sterilized.
1134
01:01:29,710 --> 01:01:32,378
If she says, "I don't want
to have any more children,"
1135
01:01:32,380 --> 01:01:35,380
they say, "You have to be crazy.
1136
01:01:35,382 --> 01:01:38,717
You have to have a medical
reason. You have to be sick.
1137
01:01:38,719 --> 01:01:40,651
There has to be something wrong with you."
1138
01:01:40,653 --> 01:01:42,787
Those things are two ends
of the same dimension.
1139
01:01:42,789 --> 01:01:44,889
It's still the issue of
control over one's body,
1140
01:01:44,891 --> 01:01:47,992
whether it's the right to have children
if you want them, or the right not to.
1141
01:01:47,994 --> 01:01:52,432
(shouting)
1142
01:01:54,869 --> 01:01:57,336
In Puerto Rico,
1143
01:01:57,338 --> 01:02:00,072
over one-third of the women on the island
1144
01:02:00,074 --> 01:02:02,041
have been sterilized.
1145
01:02:02,043 --> 01:02:04,876
That means over one-third of the women
1146
01:02:04,878 --> 01:02:07,845
are never going to be able
to hold a baby in their arms.
1147
01:02:07,847 --> 01:02:13,385
Women in Puerto Rico
were used as guinea pigs,
1148
01:02:13,387 --> 01:02:16,889
as a way of controlling the population.
1149
01:02:16,891 --> 01:02:21,592
And with that sterilization program
being brought to New York City,
1150
01:02:21,594 --> 01:02:24,896
we actively organized,
1151
01:02:24,898 --> 01:02:28,434
raising the consciousness about this.
1152
01:02:29,570 --> 01:02:35,606
(chanting in foreign language)
1153
01:02:35,608 --> 01:02:38,510
The Young Lords Party
1154
01:02:38,512 --> 01:02:41,612
was dedicated to issues
1155
01:02:41,614 --> 01:02:45,184
effecting Puerto Ricans
in the United States.
1156
01:02:45,186 --> 01:02:49,220
We were the first ones to
begin to articulate an idea
1157
01:02:49,222 --> 01:02:52,325
of reproductive justice.
1158
01:02:53,893 --> 01:02:56,595
It's just as important for
women in our communities
1159
01:02:56,597 --> 01:02:58,429
to be able to have children,
1160
01:02:58,431 --> 01:03:00,932
raise children that don't go hungry,
1161
01:03:00,934 --> 01:03:02,601
have day care,
1162
01:03:02,603 --> 01:03:05,871
as well as have access to birth control
1163
01:03:05,873 --> 01:03:10,044
and the right to a safe abortion.
1164
01:03:11,112 --> 01:03:15,046
VELEZ: The kind of developing
feminism that we had in the Young Lords
1165
01:03:15,048 --> 01:03:18,816
was make very clear decision
1166
01:03:18,818 --> 01:03:21,420
not to separate,
1167
01:03:21,422 --> 01:03:26,026
to wage struggle internally
with our brothers.
1168
01:03:27,494 --> 01:03:30,896
The men had written this program.
1169
01:03:30,898 --> 01:03:34,766
One of the points dealt
with revolutionary machismo.
1170
01:03:34,768 --> 01:03:36,434
What an oxymoron.
1171
01:03:36,436 --> 01:03:38,336
We weren't having it,
1172
01:03:38,338 --> 01:03:40,405
so we formed a women's caucus
1173
01:03:40,407 --> 01:03:45,713
and made demands on the
men in the organization.
1174
01:03:49,282 --> 01:03:51,816
It was ultimately changed to:
1175
01:03:51,818 --> 01:03:54,153
"We want equality for women.
1176
01:03:54,155 --> 01:03:58,123
Down with machismo and male chauvinism."
1177
01:03:58,125 --> 01:04:02,461
It was important that it's not
just women making that statement.
1178
01:04:02,463 --> 01:04:05,930
It should be men saying, "Yo, brother.
1179
01:04:05,932 --> 01:04:09,800
That's really a macho attitude you're
taking. You need to check your shit."
1180
01:04:09,802 --> 01:04:13,204
And that's what happened.
1181
01:04:13,206 --> 01:04:15,206
MAN: What does women's lib mean to you?
1182
01:04:15,208 --> 01:04:19,344
MAN #2: I think they have a lot of
good points. Extremely fine points.
1183
01:04:19,346 --> 01:04:22,380
The abortion laws are ridiculous.
1184
01:04:22,382 --> 01:04:25,851
The fact that, uh, unequal
pay... that's ridiculous.
1185
01:04:25,853 --> 01:04:29,521
- They're not after your job?
- No, I don't think so.
1186
01:04:29,523 --> 01:04:31,822
I don't think they can do my job.
1187
01:04:31,824 --> 01:04:34,025
I think the no-bra thing is ridiculous.
1188
01:04:34,027 --> 01:04:37,795
I'm not so sure about the day centers.
1189
01:04:37,797 --> 01:04:40,532
The girls I think of got it over the guys.
1190
01:04:40,534 --> 01:04:42,733
They get everything paid
for and everything else.
1191
01:04:42,735 --> 01:04:45,871
I don't see what they're
really arguing about.
1192
01:04:45,873 --> 01:04:50,309
Men treated them like ladies as
long as they acted like ladies,
1193
01:04:50,311 --> 01:04:53,613
and I'm afraid we're
losing that femininity.
1194
01:05:08,362 --> 01:05:11,862
By that time, we were so angry
1195
01:05:11,864 --> 01:05:14,566
that it wasn't so far,
1196
01:05:14,568 --> 01:05:16,767
such a reach to say,
1197
01:05:16,769 --> 01:05:19,972
"Why are you sleeping with men?
Aren't you sleeping with the enemy?"
1198
01:05:26,579 --> 01:05:30,249
There were a lot of women
very open to the idea
1199
01:05:30,251 --> 01:05:32,950
that they should be gay.
1200
01:05:32,952 --> 01:05:36,255
The Furies had come to Washington DC.
1201
01:05:38,125 --> 01:05:40,391
The Furies was a collective of all women,
1202
01:05:40,393 --> 01:05:42,526
most of whom were gay.
1203
01:05:42,528 --> 01:05:45,697
My God, what a trip that was.
I'm glad I did it, I really am.
1204
01:05:45,699 --> 01:05:48,733
But you know, all these women in one house,
1205
01:05:48,735 --> 01:05:51,269
it was like PMS in concert.
1206
01:05:51,271 --> 01:05:54,273
We were talking about
what really is a lesbian,
1207
01:05:54,275 --> 01:05:56,307
and how should a lesbian live
1208
01:05:56,309 --> 01:05:59,744
and we should withdraw all of our
energies from men, all this kind of stuff.
1209
01:05:59,746 --> 01:06:04,782
Could we live together in this way
and prove that it could be done?
1210
01:06:04,784 --> 01:06:06,818
And I think in many ways it worked,
1211
01:06:06,820 --> 01:06:08,720
but in other ways, it didn't.
1212
01:06:08,722 --> 01:06:11,389
It became too ideological...
of which I was guilty, you know.
1213
01:06:11,391 --> 01:06:13,825
WOLFSON: I remember
being pregnant with Eric
1214
01:06:13,827 --> 01:06:15,927
and sitting there in the
women's liberation office
1215
01:06:15,929 --> 01:06:18,429
when the Furies' announcement came
1216
01:06:18,431 --> 01:06:22,333
that male infants were the enemy,
1217
01:06:22,335 --> 01:06:26,338
that women could not come into
the office with a male child.
1218
01:06:26,340 --> 01:06:28,840
That stopped me short. This was
even before I had my own kid.
1219
01:06:28,842 --> 01:06:30,508
This is wrong.
1220
01:06:30,510 --> 01:06:33,177
Women's liberation had the danger,
1221
01:06:33,179 --> 01:06:35,613
where you begin to tell
each other what to do.
1222
01:06:35,615 --> 01:06:37,648
You begin to tell each other how to think.
1223
01:06:37,650 --> 01:06:40,619
You begin to pressure people...
"You need to leave him."
1224
01:06:40,621 --> 01:06:46,291
And there were some women afterwards
that were sorry that that's what they did.
1225
01:06:46,293 --> 01:06:48,526
We were inventing things,
1226
01:06:48,528 --> 01:06:51,762
and that is a very
interesting edge to be on.
1227
01:06:51,764 --> 01:06:55,467
We were still figuring out what
it meant to create a movement
1228
01:06:55,469 --> 01:06:59,338
that could help to change the
whole world's perception of women,
1229
01:06:59,340 --> 01:07:01,206
challenge patriarchy.
1230
01:07:01,208 --> 01:07:03,342
You don't have much help,
1231
01:07:03,344 --> 01:07:05,811
and you don't have many
clues about how to proceed.
1232
01:07:05,813 --> 01:07:08,813
We were figuring it out,
1233
01:07:08,815 --> 01:07:12,284
and it wasn't always easy, and
we didn't always do it right.
1234
01:07:12,286 --> 01:07:16,153
Part of the reaction
of first new left women,
1235
01:07:16,155 --> 01:07:17,856
and then it spread to other women,
1236
01:07:17,858 --> 01:07:20,124
to male-dominated authority,
1237
01:07:20,126 --> 01:07:23,628
was not only to view structure
as bad but leaders as bad.
1238
01:07:23,630 --> 01:07:26,465
What women were trying to
do was to not have leadership
1239
01:07:26,467 --> 01:07:28,633
that was a hierarchy,
1240
01:07:28,635 --> 01:07:31,836
but to have leadership that is collective.
1241
01:07:31,838 --> 01:07:35,706
I mean, in a certain way it
was modeled on utopian ideas,
1242
01:07:35,708 --> 01:07:37,842
but there invariably became some people
1243
01:07:37,844 --> 01:07:40,211
who were more listened
to than others, I guess,
1244
01:07:40,213 --> 01:07:42,414
is the only way you can say.
1245
01:07:42,416 --> 01:07:45,816
And I was one of those people.
1246
01:07:45,818 --> 01:07:48,987
Part of this exuberance of women
1247
01:07:48,989 --> 01:07:54,425
finding a movement that was gonna
help them find their own voice,
1248
01:07:54,427 --> 01:07:58,863
there was also a competition
for leadership at the same time.
1249
01:07:58,865 --> 01:08:01,833
'Cause this was, for
many of us, our one shot
1250
01:08:01,835 --> 01:08:04,068
to be progressive leaders
1251
01:08:04,070 --> 01:08:06,237
and be recognized
1252
01:08:06,239 --> 01:08:09,674
and be able to get our ideas heard.
1253
01:08:09,676 --> 01:08:12,177
The first core concept of sexist thought
1254
01:08:12,179 --> 01:08:14,079
is that men do the
important work in the world
1255
01:08:14,081 --> 01:08:16,180
and that the work done by men...
1256
01:08:16,182 --> 01:08:19,884
FREEMAN: Doing the kinds of things that were
normally associated as male activities...
1257
01:08:19,886 --> 01:08:23,254
being interviewed, getting
your name in the press,
1258
01:08:23,256 --> 01:08:25,891
making speeches, giving lectures.
1259
01:08:25,893 --> 01:08:29,027
Those kinds of things...
those were condemned.
1260
01:08:29,029 --> 01:08:32,129
The only people I had seen
in leadership roles were men,
1261
01:08:32,131 --> 01:08:37,635
so to be fair, maybe I was
mimicking a male-style leadership.
1262
01:08:37,637 --> 01:08:41,772
So they kicked me out of Magic Quilt.
1263
01:08:41,774 --> 01:08:45,242
It was devastating to have
all these people sit in a room
1264
01:08:45,244 --> 01:08:49,046
that you had organized in
a group to say, "Get out."
1265
01:08:49,048 --> 01:08:55,253
People had read about me, so
I was like this mini celebrity.
1266
01:08:55,255 --> 01:08:59,924
In Cell 16 they said that
I was oppressing them.
1267
01:08:59,926 --> 01:09:02,561
The most incredible thing
anyone ever said to me, I think,
1268
01:09:02,563 --> 01:09:08,500
is that, "I feel oppressed just
by the fact that you exist."
1269
01:09:08,502 --> 01:09:11,937
Okay. (chuckling)
1270
01:09:11,939 --> 01:09:14,305
You want me to stop existing?
1271
01:09:14,307 --> 01:09:17,409
Listen, I dropped out of the
women's movement three times...
1272
01:09:17,411 --> 01:09:20,010
'69, '79 and '89.
1273
01:09:20,012 --> 01:09:22,347
(laughs)
1274
01:09:22,349 --> 01:09:26,951
The women's movement brought about
a social revolution in this country.
1275
01:09:26,953 --> 01:09:32,123
And while it was painful to be
part of that social revolution,
1276
01:09:32,125 --> 01:09:34,695
it had to be done.
1277
01:09:42,269 --> 01:09:44,702
WOLFSON: Everybody had
taken the birth control pill.
1278
01:09:44,704 --> 01:09:48,607
Back then it was a huge amount of estrogen.
1279
01:09:48,609 --> 01:09:53,580
Nobody had informed us that
there could be side effects.
1280
01:09:54,648 --> 01:09:59,683
My side effect was my
hair started to fall out.
1281
01:09:59,685 --> 01:10:03,153
And we got word of hearings on the Hill
1282
01:10:03,155 --> 01:10:06,057
about the birth control pill.
1283
01:10:06,059 --> 01:10:09,995
WEBB: All the people listed to testify were
male doctors and drug company executives.
1284
01:10:09,997 --> 01:10:11,562
Males, all.
1285
01:10:11,564 --> 01:10:14,331
Not one patient, not one woman, nothing.
1286
01:10:14,333 --> 01:10:16,201
I have seen women with thrombophlebitis,
1287
01:10:16,203 --> 01:10:18,903
weight gain, nausea, irritable bowel,
1288
01:10:18,905 --> 01:10:21,171
cancer of the breast, rheumatoid
arthritis-like syndrome.
1289
01:10:21,173 --> 01:10:23,008
WOLFSON: Serious reactions.
1290
01:10:23,010 --> 01:10:26,044
The blood clots, the
heart attacks, the strokes.
1291
01:10:26,046 --> 01:10:28,245
They knew about it when they gave it to us,
1292
01:10:28,247 --> 01:10:30,415
when they dispensed it like candy.
1293
01:10:30,417 --> 01:10:33,418
I want to know how many
side effects we have to hear
1294
01:10:33,420 --> 01:10:35,986
before somebody does
something about these pills.
1295
01:10:35,988 --> 01:10:38,322
We are not going to sit quietly any longer.
1296
01:10:38,324 --> 01:10:42,027
You are murdering us for
your profit and convenience.
1297
01:10:42,029 --> 01:10:44,062
If you ladies would sit down...
1298
01:10:44,064 --> 01:10:46,430
- Our lives have been interrupted by taking this pill.
- We're conducting...
1299
01:10:46,432 --> 01:10:49,166
Don't think the hearings are any
more important than our lives!
1300
01:10:49,168 --> 01:10:51,870
MAN: Now will everyone please leave
the room... press and everyone else.
1301
01:10:51,872 --> 01:10:53,871
That's a fine way to run...
1302
01:10:53,873 --> 01:10:55,440
WOLFSON: We stopped the hearings,
1303
01:10:55,442 --> 01:10:57,509
- and they tried to bargain with us...
- (gavel rapping)
1304
01:10:57,511 --> 01:11:00,010
'cause we were demonstrating
every time they reconvened them.
1305
01:11:00,012 --> 01:11:02,781
Yes, we are objecting to the fact
that there are no women testifying
1306
01:11:02,783 --> 01:11:04,715
and that there are no women on the panel.
1307
01:11:04,717 --> 01:11:08,018
We are tired of men controlling
our lives and our bodies.
1308
01:11:08,020 --> 01:11:11,388
And one of our absolute bottom lines was
1309
01:11:11,390 --> 01:11:15,460
there had to be information given to women.
1310
01:11:15,462 --> 01:11:18,463
And we did get the first
patient package insert
1311
01:11:18,465 --> 01:11:22,299
which is informed consent.
1312
01:11:22,301 --> 01:11:26,271
We were bringing DC to its knees
1313
01:11:26,273 --> 01:11:28,809
around women's issues.
1314
01:11:31,078 --> 01:11:33,544
MALE NEWS REPORTER: The director
of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover,
1315
01:11:33,546 --> 01:11:37,115
found a new and, to his mind,
potentially dangerous group...
1316
01:11:37,117 --> 01:11:39,116
the women's liberation movement.
1317
01:11:39,118 --> 01:11:42,486
Hoover sent the following
directive, quote...
1318
01:11:42,488 --> 01:11:45,624
"It is absolutely essential that
we conduct sufficient investigation
1319
01:11:45,626 --> 01:11:47,659
of the women's liberation movement
1320
01:11:47,661 --> 01:11:50,260
to determine any possible
threat they may represent
1321
01:11:50,262 --> 01:11:52,263
to the security of
the United States."
1322
01:11:52,265 --> 01:11:54,665
End quote.
1323
01:11:54,667 --> 01:11:57,335
ROSEN: J. Edgar Hoover said
women couldn't be agents.
1324
01:11:57,337 --> 01:12:01,339
So the FBI got women who were informants.
1325
01:12:01,341 --> 01:12:05,076
These informants were sitting in on
women's consciousness-raising groups,
1326
01:12:05,078 --> 01:12:07,144
writing stories back
to their agents saying,
1327
01:12:07,146 --> 01:12:09,179
"You know, they're just
talking about the fact
1328
01:12:09,181 --> 01:12:11,849
their men aren't doing child care,
1329
01:12:11,851 --> 01:12:14,018
they're not washing the
dishes, they're leaving a mess.
1330
01:12:14,020 --> 01:12:15,954
They expect us to do everything.
1331
01:12:15,956 --> 01:12:18,356
I don't see why I should
sit in it on anymore."
1332
01:12:18,358 --> 01:12:20,791
They would forward that to J. Edgar Hoover,
1333
01:12:20,793 --> 01:12:23,093
who would write back and
say, "Continue surveillance.
1334
01:12:23,095 --> 01:12:26,330
These women represent a
national security threat."
1335
01:12:26,332 --> 01:12:28,833
The irony is, for the most part,
1336
01:12:28,835 --> 01:12:31,803
women did not do anything
dangerous or violent.
1337
01:12:31,805 --> 01:12:34,805
The really dangerous thing was talk.
1338
01:12:34,807 --> 01:12:38,745
Because telling the truth and
talking is very revolutionary.
1339
01:12:40,780 --> 01:12:44,049
We're into a very hypocritical
thing about the education of women.
1340
01:12:44,051 --> 01:12:46,851
We pretend there's a lot
of opportunity out there.
1341
01:12:46,853 --> 01:12:49,687
"So study hard, girls, and go forward."
1342
01:12:49,689 --> 01:12:52,656
And there isn't any opportunity out
there, and everyone's kidding them.
1343
01:12:52,658 --> 01:12:54,893
WOMAN: ♪ I've been out walking ♪
1344
01:12:54,895 --> 01:12:57,195
Racism and anti-feminism
1345
01:12:57,197 --> 01:13:01,665
are two of the prime
traditions of this country.
1346
01:13:01,667 --> 01:13:04,669
I no longer accept society's judgment
1347
01:13:04,671 --> 01:13:06,705
that my group is second class.
1348
01:13:06,707 --> 01:13:08,906
If women are to be married,
1349
01:13:08,908 --> 01:13:11,175
women should receive pensions.
1350
01:13:11,177 --> 01:13:13,077
(applause)
1351
01:13:13,079 --> 01:13:16,414
All women are lesbians, except
those who don't know it, naturally.
1352
01:13:16,416 --> 01:13:18,516
They are, but don't know it yet.
1353
01:13:18,518 --> 01:13:21,787
I am a woman, and therefore a lesbian.
1354
01:13:26,659 --> 01:13:29,259
We talk in different tones.
1355
01:13:29,261 --> 01:13:31,396
We don't all agree.
1356
01:13:31,398 --> 01:13:34,766
We have the right to
define our own differences.
1357
01:13:34,768 --> 01:13:37,268
MAN: Now I would like
to ask Germaine Greer...
1358
01:13:37,270 --> 01:13:40,871
I really don't know what
women are asking for.
1359
01:13:40,873 --> 01:13:43,907
- Now, suppose I wanted to give it to them.
- (women laughing)
1360
01:13:43,909 --> 01:13:46,910
Listen, you may as well relax, because
whatever it is they're asking for, honey,
1361
01:13:46,912 --> 01:13:48,679
it's not for you.
1362
01:13:48,681 --> 01:13:52,151
(loud laughter)
1363
01:13:54,787 --> 01:13:58,423
♪ And I had a lover ♪
1364
01:13:58,425 --> 01:14:00,892
In the name of the mother, the daughter
1365
01:14:00,894 --> 01:14:02,427
and the holy granddaughter,
1366
01:14:02,429 --> 01:14:04,461
"a-women."
1367
01:14:04,463 --> 01:14:06,397
The women in this country
are gonna see to it
1368
01:14:06,399 --> 01:14:09,233
that the insane directions
of this country get changed,
1369
01:14:09,235 --> 01:14:12,637
that we stop the business of
having wars and military programs,
1370
01:14:12,639 --> 01:14:16,941
start the business of having some money
for health and housing and child care,
1371
01:14:16,943 --> 01:14:20,311
and we're gonna see to it there's a liberation
not only of women, but men and women...
1372
01:14:20,313 --> 01:14:27,751
♪ It's just that
I've been losing ♪
1373
01:14:27,753 --> 01:14:32,322
♪ So long ♪
1374
01:14:32,324 --> 01:14:35,660
I've been very interested to
see the amount of publicity
1375
01:14:35,662 --> 01:14:39,597
that has gone to the women's liberation
movement in just the last two or three months.
1376
01:14:39,599 --> 01:14:44,568
We couldn't get coverage anywhere
except in a very joking fashion in 1966.
1377
01:14:44,570 --> 01:14:46,437
Everybody thought it was a colossal joke.
1378
01:14:46,439 --> 01:14:48,173
I think people aren't laughing anymore.
1379
01:14:48,175 --> 01:14:51,342
They recognize the seriousness of it.
1380
01:14:51,344 --> 01:14:54,178
COLLINS: At the NOW
national convention for 1970,
1381
01:14:54,180 --> 01:14:56,781
Betty Friedan gets up and gives her speech.
1382
01:14:56,783 --> 01:14:59,183
And much to our shock,
1383
01:14:59,185 --> 01:15:02,754
she announced that there
would be a women's strike
1384
01:15:02,756 --> 01:15:05,990
on August 26, 1970,
1385
01:15:05,992 --> 01:15:08,425
the 50th anniversary of
women's right to vote.
1386
01:15:08,427 --> 01:15:12,830
When we take to the street
in Boston, and in New York,
1387
01:15:12,832 --> 01:15:18,635
and in Chicago, and in Atlanta,
and in Florida, and in California...
1388
01:15:18,637 --> 01:15:21,705
Everyone was like, "Oh,
my God. Now what do we do?"
1389
01:15:21,707 --> 01:15:25,043
CEBALLOS: So Betty Friedan tells the press
1390
01:15:25,045 --> 01:15:27,946
50,000 women would march in New York City.
1391
01:15:27,948 --> 01:15:32,650
Every week we would have a notice
in the Village Voice.
1392
01:15:32,652 --> 01:15:35,687
These younger women,
they would pour into NOW,
1393
01:15:35,689 --> 01:15:39,523
and we would plan this march and strike.
1394
01:15:39,525 --> 01:15:41,125
"Don't iron while the strike is hot"
1395
01:15:41,127 --> 01:15:43,061
was the slogan.
1396
01:15:43,063 --> 01:15:48,199
And we took this poster and
distributed it all over town.
1397
01:15:48,201 --> 01:15:53,237
CEBALLOS: I said, "How are we
going to get 50,000 to march?"
1398
01:15:53,239 --> 01:15:57,040
And Pat said, "We'll take
over the Statue of Liberty."
1399
01:15:57,042 --> 01:15:59,544
And I said, "How can you do that?
1400
01:15:59,546 --> 01:16:03,283
The Puerto Ricans did last
year, and they're in jail."
1401
01:16:06,152 --> 01:16:10,821
So they got two huge banners 40 feet long.
1402
01:16:10,823 --> 01:16:15,226
- (ship horn blows)
- They had the banners rolled up in their jeans,
1403
01:16:15,228 --> 01:16:18,630
and they were walking
like they were crippled.
1404
01:16:20,367 --> 01:16:23,103
(horn blows)
1405
01:16:24,770 --> 01:16:28,272
We got to the island. So we had a group
that was going to start demonstrating.
1406
01:16:28,274 --> 01:16:30,607
Out of the house and into the world!
1407
01:16:30,609 --> 01:16:32,442
Out of the house and into the world!
1408
01:16:32,444 --> 01:16:36,347
CEBALLOS: I was gonna go
up those winding stairs.
1409
01:16:36,349 --> 01:16:39,784
At the top one where we were
putting, "Women of the World Unite,"
1410
01:16:39,786 --> 01:16:43,754
I just remember the wind was so strong.
1411
01:16:43,756 --> 01:16:46,958
And the next thing we
knew, the guys caught on.
1412
01:16:46,960 --> 01:16:49,963
By this time there were helicopters.
1413
01:16:55,734 --> 01:16:59,903
Then Mayor Lindsay called and he said,
"Let the women be. Let them alone."
1414
01:16:59,905 --> 01:17:02,373
♪ Glory, glory hallelujah ♪
1415
01:17:02,375 --> 01:17:04,608
CEBALLOS: It was a sensation!
It went around the world.
1416
01:17:04,610 --> 01:17:07,477
Time magazine picked it
up, the Italians, the French.
1417
01:17:07,479 --> 01:17:12,583
It was fabulous. Can you imagine?
"Women of the World Unite."
1418
01:17:12,585 --> 01:17:14,718
All that publicity helped.
1419
01:17:14,720 --> 01:17:21,459
WOMEN: ♪ Glory, hallelujah
It's liberation time ♪
1420
01:17:21,461 --> 01:17:24,062
Tomorrow, 50 years after
we gave them the vote,
1421
01:17:24,064 --> 01:17:26,630
the women are going to strike to
support their liberation demands.
1422
01:17:26,632 --> 01:17:30,335
Thankfully, Cedar Rapids women's
liberation movement is pretty much dormant.
1423
01:17:30,337 --> 01:17:34,472
If I knew what they were going out
on strike for, I'd be able to answer.
1424
01:17:34,474 --> 01:17:36,174
No, I don't believe I will.
1425
01:17:36,176 --> 01:17:38,476
I don't think that's necessary at all.
1426
01:17:38,478 --> 01:17:41,144
I don't think too much of it.
A woman's place is in the home.
1427
01:17:41,146 --> 01:17:43,414
So remember, men... if
you come to work tomorrow,
1428
01:17:43,416 --> 01:17:45,650
and your secretary
refuses to do the filing,
1429
01:17:45,652 --> 01:17:48,318
and then go home and find that your
wife has refused to do the cooking,
1430
01:17:48,320 --> 01:17:50,021
don't blame them.
1431
01:17:50,023 --> 01:17:52,522
Remember, you gave them
the vote 50 years ago.
1432
01:17:52,524 --> 01:17:57,128
This is Mike Scott, male chauvinist,
TV 9, Eyewitness News.
1433
01:17:57,130 --> 01:18:00,197
The press just thought this was so crazy.
1434
01:18:00,199 --> 01:18:02,933
And this kept working for us in some ways.
1435
01:18:02,935 --> 01:18:05,769
The Sun Times put out
a headline the day before...
1436
01:18:05,771 --> 01:18:08,241
"Will women strike?"
1437
01:18:09,775 --> 01:18:12,009
CEBALLOS: So the day of the march,
1438
01:18:12,011 --> 01:18:14,478
I was walking towards Fifth Avenue,
1439
01:18:14,480 --> 01:18:16,446
scared to death
1440
01:18:16,448 --> 01:18:21,086
that I was gonna see only 3,000.
1441
01:18:22,822 --> 01:18:26,124
And I will never, never forget.
1442
01:18:26,126 --> 01:18:30,327
You couldn't see the end of the line.
1443
01:18:30,329 --> 01:18:33,563
When you looked out at everybody,
1444
01:18:33,565 --> 01:18:37,535
I mean, there were women
as far as you could see.
1445
01:18:37,537 --> 01:18:41,205
Freedom now! Freedom now!
1446
01:18:41,207 --> 01:18:44,808
Sisterhood is powerful! Join us now!
1447
01:18:44,810 --> 01:18:48,513
Sisterhood is powerful! Join us now!
1448
01:18:48,515 --> 01:18:51,382
Join our ranks! Every
woman, join our ranks!
1449
01:18:51,384 --> 01:18:53,050
SHULMAN: People were cheering us.
1450
01:18:53,052 --> 01:18:55,919
They hung out of the
windows and out of balconies
1451
01:18:55,921 --> 01:18:59,924
and cheered us on and waved flags for us.
1452
01:18:59,926 --> 01:19:01,526
Freedom now!
1453
01:19:01,528 --> 01:19:04,661
(chanting)
1454
01:19:04,663 --> 01:19:07,764
I was recognizable in New York then,
1455
01:19:07,766 --> 01:19:11,402
so I put one of these
African turbans on my head,
1456
01:19:11,404 --> 01:19:14,539
wore some African garb to say,
1457
01:19:14,541 --> 01:19:16,741
"See, I'm in the women's
movement. What's wrong with you?"
1458
01:19:16,743 --> 01:19:19,544
- Whoo!
- Freedom!
1459
01:19:19,546 --> 01:19:22,879
There's something wrong when an
attractive girl can make more money
1460
01:19:22,881 --> 01:19:25,849
as a Playboy Bunny or a cover
girl than as anything else.
1461
01:19:25,851 --> 01:19:30,420
I'll never be more shocked than I was
when I walked up on the podium that day
1462
01:19:30,422 --> 01:19:34,192
and looked out and saw the
entire plaza was filled.
1463
01:19:34,194 --> 01:19:38,129
And feeling the support of these
thousands of people all at once,
1464
01:19:38,131 --> 01:19:41,935
it was an exhilarating feeling.
1465
01:19:46,573 --> 01:19:51,041
WOMAN: We didn't see serious programs
devoted to issues that concerned women.
1466
01:19:51,043 --> 01:19:56,080
Issues, not recipes. Day
care, not chocolate mousse.
1467
01:19:56,082 --> 01:19:59,416
I want the freedom not to have a husband.
1468
01:19:59,418 --> 01:20:01,419
(cheering)
1469
01:20:01,421 --> 01:20:06,456
I want a society where men and
women cooperate, not compete.
1470
01:20:06,458 --> 01:20:09,927
Where women have to support their children
1471
01:20:09,929 --> 01:20:12,330
and men help to rear them.
1472
01:20:12,332 --> 01:20:14,132
(cheering)
1473
01:20:14,134 --> 01:20:18,068
HERNANDEZ: I think what men want
to do, too, is join with women
1474
01:20:18,070 --> 01:20:21,138
in making this a society
that cares about all people.
1475
01:20:21,140 --> 01:20:23,473
Equal pay for equal work!
1476
01:20:23,475 --> 01:20:25,409
When do we want it? Now!
1477
01:20:25,411 --> 01:20:28,845
And what I would love today
is the women and the men
1478
01:20:28,847 --> 01:20:30,680
putting their fingers up like this.
1479
01:20:30,682 --> 01:20:34,852
And we now know that we have
the power to unite together,
1480
01:20:34,854 --> 01:20:38,321
to work together, to make
the changes that are needed.
1481
01:20:38,323 --> 01:20:41,526
And that we have your attention, and
that we have the headlines in the media.
1482
01:20:41,528 --> 01:20:46,097
You didn't make us. We're
making you take us seriously.
1483
01:20:46,099 --> 01:20:47,999
MILLETT: It felt like we had triumphed.
1484
01:20:48,001 --> 01:20:51,738
It felt like we were changing the world.
1485
01:20:52,971 --> 01:20:56,508
Now we are a movement.
1486
01:21:05,952 --> 01:21:09,687
It's probably no accident
that we, in our time,
1487
01:21:09,689 --> 01:21:12,022
didn't know anything
about the suffrage struggle
1488
01:21:12,024 --> 01:21:17,195
and how long it took to
get the vote... 50 years.
1489
01:21:18,797 --> 01:21:21,398
You know, I'm one of
the few left who can say
1490
01:21:21,400 --> 01:21:23,166
their mother worked for suffrage.
1491
01:21:23,168 --> 01:21:25,135
I'm very proud of that.
1492
01:21:25,137 --> 01:21:28,004
My mother felt so strongly
about getting the vote,
1493
01:21:28,006 --> 01:21:30,508
and she was so thrilled to get it.
1494
01:21:30,510 --> 01:21:35,146
And I loved going with her
to vote when I was only five.
1495
01:21:35,148 --> 01:21:37,380
And they pulled that curtain,
1496
01:21:37,382 --> 01:21:40,084
and nobody... you could
only see people's feet.
1497
01:21:40,086 --> 01:21:43,153
I just found that kind of
mystical, and I still do.
1498
01:21:43,155 --> 01:21:46,523
And I later decided
1499
01:21:46,525 --> 01:21:51,597
that two emancipators of women
were the vote and birth control.
1500
01:21:53,166 --> 01:21:57,500
BROWNMILLER: We live in a country that
doesn't credit any of its radical movements.
1501
01:21:57,502 --> 01:22:01,906
They don't like to admit,
in the United States,
1502
01:22:01,908 --> 01:22:04,008
that change happens
1503
01:22:04,010 --> 01:22:06,210
because radicals force it.
1504
01:22:06,212 --> 01:22:09,914
To take away the history
of how change got made
1505
01:22:09,916 --> 01:22:13,250
helps to cuts down on activism
1506
01:22:13,252 --> 01:22:16,053
because people don't think
that I, an everyday person,
1507
01:22:16,055 --> 01:22:17,854
could make a big social change.
1508
01:22:17,856 --> 01:22:21,025
The Supreme Court gave
us Roe vs. Wade,
1509
01:22:21,027 --> 01:22:23,794
and I'm just a regular woman.
1510
01:22:23,796 --> 01:22:26,630
But that's who made abortion rights come...
1511
01:22:26,632 --> 01:22:28,933
just a student, and just a mother,
1512
01:22:28,935 --> 01:22:31,701
gathering together and protesting.
1513
01:22:31,703 --> 01:22:34,973
(crowd chattering)
1514
01:22:38,110 --> 01:22:41,978
This is Our Bodies,
Ourselves, ninth edition.
1515
01:22:41,980 --> 01:22:44,315
It just came out two weeks ago.
1516
01:22:44,317 --> 01:22:46,217
We are so happy.
1517
01:22:46,219 --> 01:22:49,786
It's like our baby.
1518
01:22:49,788 --> 01:22:52,757
It's amazing to think that we
have been around for 40 years.
1519
01:22:52,759 --> 01:22:57,530
And to me, the global
piece has been so amazing.
1520
01:22:59,064 --> 01:23:03,668
Our Bodies, Ourselves has given any
group of progressive women in any country
1521
01:23:03,670 --> 01:23:08,374
the text of the book to adapt
it to their own cultural context.
1522
01:23:09,908 --> 01:23:12,910
There have been these marvelous projects
that have started throughout the world,
1523
01:23:12,912 --> 01:23:16,549
and it's been going on
since the '70s really.
1524
01:23:20,420 --> 01:23:25,089
(crowd applauding)
1525
01:23:25,091 --> 01:23:28,592
WOMAN ANNOUNCING: Mama Asiah from Tanzania.
1526
01:23:28,594 --> 01:23:31,661
JUDY: For our 40th anniversary,
women came from Israel,
1527
01:23:31,663 --> 01:23:35,598
from Nepal, from Turkey, from
Armenia, from Nigeria, from Tanzania.
1528
01:23:35,600 --> 01:23:37,701
They have amazing stories to tell.
1529
01:23:37,703 --> 01:23:43,007
In India, when I was doing the work
with the Bangla version of OBOS,
1530
01:23:43,009 --> 01:23:46,610
young girls hadn't heard of
it, but they were jubilant
1531
01:23:46,612 --> 01:23:49,714
that something like
this was coming to them.
1532
01:23:49,716 --> 01:23:54,684
And they all said, "Oh, this is going
to take us to a very different place."
1533
01:23:54,686 --> 01:23:59,522
So thank you, all of you,
for giving us back our bodies
1534
01:23:59,524 --> 01:24:01,291
and the right to health.
1535
01:24:01,293 --> 01:24:03,929
Thank you so much.
1536
01:24:07,033 --> 01:24:10,634
ROSEN: I think there are great
achievements of the women's movement.
1537
01:24:10,636 --> 01:24:13,536
The women's health movement is one of them.
1538
01:24:13,538 --> 01:24:16,574
We named sexual harassment.
1539
01:24:16,576 --> 01:24:20,510
We named domestic violence,
the battering of wives.
1540
01:24:20,512 --> 01:24:23,148
We then made it illegal.
1541
01:24:24,182 --> 01:24:27,651
WEBB: Every aspect of life has changed.
1542
01:24:27,653 --> 01:24:30,019
Families are different.
1543
01:24:30,021 --> 01:24:33,656
My daughter is leading a completely different
life because of the women's movement.
1544
01:24:33,658 --> 01:24:35,860
They both take care of the children.
1545
01:24:35,862 --> 01:24:38,696
They both earn money. They both work.
1546
01:24:38,698 --> 01:24:42,665
There's still some sex segregation
in the workforce, for sure.
1547
01:24:42,667 --> 01:24:47,237
But there were whole fields that
were simply closed down to women,
1548
01:24:47,239 --> 01:24:49,039
and that's done with.
1549
01:24:49,041 --> 01:24:52,411
I don't think we're going back on that.
1550
01:24:55,715 --> 01:25:00,284
WILLIS: I think the most profound
thing that feminism did for me
1551
01:25:00,286 --> 01:25:06,257
was to make me feel that I
was capable of genuine freedom.
1552
01:25:06,259 --> 01:25:09,960
Before the women's
movement, I had my own work.
1553
01:25:09,962 --> 01:25:14,799
I knew I wasn't going to live
a traditional woman's life.
1554
01:25:14,801 --> 01:25:18,602
I felt that I probably
wasn't going to have children.
1555
01:25:18,604 --> 01:25:22,238
And ultimately, I did have my daughter.
1556
01:25:22,240 --> 01:25:25,476
And I think were it not for feminism,
1557
01:25:25,478 --> 01:25:28,214
I don't think I could have done that.
1558
01:25:31,583 --> 01:25:33,651
WOMAN: Right after I got out of college,
1559
01:25:33,653 --> 01:25:36,486
it was November 2006.
1560
01:25:36,488 --> 01:25:38,789
My mother passed away.
1561
01:25:38,791 --> 01:25:43,227
I got all of these letters and e-mails
1562
01:25:43,229 --> 01:25:45,562
from her friends and her colleagues,
1563
01:25:45,564 --> 01:25:48,833
all of the feminists that started
the women's liberation movement.
1564
01:25:48,835 --> 01:25:52,836
And I started to realize that even though
I was down with the word "feminism,"
1565
01:25:52,838 --> 01:25:56,308
I didn't really know what it
meant to me and to our generation.
1566
01:25:57,743 --> 01:26:01,312
I think the sexism that we experience
1567
01:26:01,314 --> 01:26:04,982
is a little more insidious and
it's harder to point out and say,
1568
01:26:04,984 --> 01:26:08,152
"See. See. That's sexism."
1569
01:26:08,154 --> 01:26:11,421
But I know a lot of young
kick-ass feminists out there.
1570
01:26:11,423 --> 01:26:16,192
They're blogging, they're out in
the streets, they're organizing.
1571
01:26:16,194 --> 01:26:19,530
What do you do when you're under
attack? Stand up, fight back!
1572
01:26:19,532 --> 01:26:22,766
What do you do when you're under
attack? Stand up, fight back!
1573
01:26:22,768 --> 01:26:26,469
WOMAN: The problem is rapists,
and we need to address the problem!
1574
01:26:26,471 --> 01:26:30,139
And let me give you a
hint. It's not our clothes.
1575
01:26:30,141 --> 01:26:33,079
- It's not.
- (cheering)
1576
01:26:34,680 --> 01:26:37,615
NONA WILLIS: There's this
new movement called slut walk
1577
01:26:37,617 --> 01:26:40,851
that has now swept 70 different cities.
1578
01:26:40,853 --> 01:26:45,054
And it was started by a young woman who
heard a cop say about a woman who was raped,
1579
01:26:45,056 --> 01:26:48,157
"Well, she was asking for it.
She was dressed like a slut."
1580
01:26:48,159 --> 01:26:51,361
Believe it or not, people are
assaulted regardless of what they wear.
1581
01:26:51,363 --> 01:26:54,130
Some people who get raped are in burkas.
1582
01:26:54,132 --> 01:26:57,701
NYPD, rape is a felony!
1583
01:26:57,703 --> 01:27:01,974
We created a revolution that we
are still debating in our society.
1584
01:27:03,576 --> 01:27:07,378
We're still arguing over many issues
that women raised 40 years ago,
1585
01:27:07,380 --> 01:27:10,080
like abortion, like child care.
1586
01:27:10,082 --> 01:27:14,518
We still don't have any child care.
1587
01:27:14,520 --> 01:27:18,688
ARCANA: In terms of reproductive
health, reproductive justice,
1588
01:27:18,690 --> 01:27:20,691
we've gone backward in a big way.
1589
01:27:20,693 --> 01:27:23,693
WOMEN (chanting): We
must decide their fate!
1590
01:27:23,695 --> 01:27:26,062
Not the church, not the state!
1591
01:27:26,064 --> 01:27:28,732
Women must decide their fate!
1592
01:27:28,734 --> 01:27:30,668
Not the church, not the state!
1593
01:27:30,670 --> 01:27:33,771
Women must decide their fate!
1594
01:27:33,773 --> 01:27:36,540
If we can have order in the chamber,
1595
01:27:36,542 --> 01:27:39,242
so that the members can
properly cast their vote...
1596
01:27:39,244 --> 01:27:42,412
Not the church, not the state!
1597
01:27:42,414 --> 01:27:44,949
The bitter lesson is that
no victories are permanent.
1598
01:27:44,951 --> 01:27:47,116
All our rights are like that.
1599
01:27:47,118 --> 01:27:50,754
They're only as good as we maintain them.
1600
01:27:50,756 --> 01:27:54,527
This fight is not over.
This fight is not over.
1601
01:27:56,429 --> 01:27:59,530
I'm seriously disheartened
by the current situation,
1602
01:27:59,532 --> 01:28:03,200
but at the same time, I'm angry.
1603
01:28:03,202 --> 01:28:06,903
And one of the things
I learned decades ago...
1604
01:28:06,905 --> 01:28:10,574
When we're that angry
about something that bad,
1605
01:28:10,576 --> 01:28:14,179
we take action against it.
1606
01:28:16,548 --> 01:28:19,316
COLLINS: I want people to
know that if they organize,
1607
01:28:19,318 --> 01:28:22,119
they can actually make
really profound change.
1608
01:28:22,121 --> 01:28:25,656
So that all women may be free!
1609
01:28:25,658 --> 01:28:28,959
You can't convince me that you can't
change the world, because I saw it happen.
1610
01:28:28,961 --> 01:28:31,564
Freedom!
1611
01:28:32,998 --> 01:28:35,065
SHULMAN: But this is a moving target.
1612
01:28:35,067 --> 01:28:38,635
Freedom is something
that is over the horizon,
1613
01:28:38,637 --> 01:28:41,271
and you can't stop sailing toward it
1614
01:28:41,273 --> 01:28:43,072
just because you don't reach it.
1615
01:28:43,074 --> 01:28:45,075
You just keep going,
1616
01:28:45,077 --> 01:28:50,347
and every generation has another
opportunity to take it further.
1617
01:28:50,349 --> 01:28:54,817
We're black, we're proud! We're
feminists! We will be loud!
1618
01:28:54,819 --> 01:28:56,553
Show me what a feminist looks like!
1619
01:28:56,555 --> 01:28:58,656
This is what a feminist looks like!
1620
01:28:58,658 --> 01:29:00,491
This is what a feminist looks like!
1621
01:29:00,493 --> 01:29:03,593
Show me what a feminist looks like!
1622
01:29:03,595 --> 01:29:05,829
This is what a feminist looks like!
1623
01:29:05,831 --> 01:29:08,197
This is what a feminist looks like!
1624
01:29:08,199 --> 01:29:11,769
This is what a feminist looks like!
1625
01:29:18,711 --> 01:29:22,679
WOMEN: ♪ Hurricane ♪
1626
01:29:22,681 --> 01:29:26,717
♪ Hurricane ♪
1627
01:29:26,719 --> 01:29:30,286
♪ Hurricane ♪
1628
01:29:30,288 --> 01:29:32,856
♪ She's a hurricane ♪
1629
01:29:32,858 --> 01:29:34,857
♪ Oh ♪
1630
01:29:34,859 --> 01:29:36,727
♪ She comes down
to ride around ♪
1631
01:29:36,729 --> 01:29:38,562
♪ Hide your mother
when she's in town ♪
1632
01:29:38,564 --> 01:29:40,531
♪ She comes down
to ride around ♪
1633
01:29:40,533 --> 01:29:42,633
♪ And blow you away ♪
1634
01:29:42,635 --> 01:29:44,367
♪ She comes down
to ride around ♪
1635
01:29:44,369 --> 01:29:46,236
♪ Hide your mother
when she's in town ♪
1636
01:29:46,238 --> 01:29:50,074
♪ She comes down to ride
around and blow you away ♪
1637
01:29:50,076 --> 01:29:54,010
♪ But you come running back
You come running back ♪
1638
01:29:54,012 --> 01:29:57,880
♪ You come running for more ♪
1639
01:29:57,882 --> 01:30:01,585
♪ You come running back
You come running back ♪
1640
01:30:01,587 --> 01:30:05,488
♪ You come running for more ♪
1641
01:30:05,490 --> 01:30:09,393
♪ Hurricane ♪
1642
01:30:09,395 --> 01:30:13,330
♪ Hurricane ♪
1643
01:30:13,332 --> 01:30:17,233
♪ Hurricane ♪
1644
01:30:17,235 --> 01:30:19,268
♪ Hurricane ♪
1645
01:30:19,270 --> 01:30:21,071
♪ Oh ♪
1646
01:30:21,073 --> 01:30:22,906
♪ She comes down
to ride around ♪
1647
01:30:22,908 --> 01:30:24,907
♪ Hide your mother
when she's in town ♪
1648
01:30:24,909 --> 01:30:28,778
♪ She comes down to ride
around and blow you away ♪
1649
01:30:28,780 --> 01:30:30,580
♪ She comes down
to ride around ♪
1650
01:30:30,582 --> 01:30:32,549
♪ Hide your mother
when she's in town ♪
1651
01:30:32,551 --> 01:30:36,120
♪ She comes down to ride
around and blow you away ♪
1652
01:30:36,122 --> 01:30:40,124
♪ But you come running back
You come running back ♪
1653
01:30:40,126 --> 01:30:44,027
♪ You come running for more ♪
1654
01:30:44,029 --> 01:30:47,798
♪ You come running back
You come running back ♪
1655
01:30:47,800 --> 01:30:51,735
♪ You come running for more ♪
1656
01:30:51,737 --> 01:30:55,405
♪ You come running back
You come running back ♪
1657
01:30:55,407 --> 01:30:59,209
♪ You come running for more ♪
1658
01:30:59,211 --> 01:31:01,611
♪ You come running back ♪
1659
01:31:01,613 --> 01:31:06,817
♪ You come running for more ♪
1660
01:31:06,819 --> 01:31:09,052
♪ More ♪
1661
01:31:09,054 --> 01:31:11,321
♪ More ♪
1662
01:31:11,323 --> 01:31:15,127
♪ More ♪♪