The History Of Redstockings Of The Women's Liberation Movement

Feminism and ideas of sexual equality were very dispersed in the 1960’s. Generally, liberal feminists tend to be conservative, willing to work with the current system to bring change and emphasize the equality of men and women. On the other hand, radical feminist beliefs were based strongly around the idea of power and political corruption and remaking society from the ground up. Various radical groups were founded in the twentieth century in order to build unity and win women’s freedom. One of these radical feminist groups was known as the Redstockings of the Women’s Liberation Movement; with a name meaning intelligent women associated with the revolutionary left. In 1969, this group wrote Redstockings Manifesto, directed at all men and women,

The oppressed class meant that women were seen as objects rather than people, open to exploitation by men. Radical feminists during this period in the twentieth-century believed that partnership between men and women masked the reality of women’s oppression being political. A major example of this exploitation of women by men was the idea of rape being seen as a sex crime, carried about by violent men who could not control their sexual desires, while women were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Redstocking Manifest argues against this idea specifically in that women were not at fault of their own oppression, rather they experienced daily pressure from men. Rape was defined by radical feminists as a form of violence to enforce power and social control. Men were also politically in power of health care and overall reproductive rights due to their superiority in the medical field during this time, with no regard for a woman’s knowledge of her own body. Yet radical feminists promoted the idea that women were not only entitled to their own decisions about health care but that their own experiences of health care mattered. In fact, they were very concerned with abortion rights. Redstocking members participated in a 1969 abortion speak-out in New York where they testified to personal experiences with abortion. The decision of whether or not a woman would keep her pregnancy was seen as essential to creating an equal society and previous to Row Vs. Wade in 1973, this was not possible in most states. An extremely dangerous practice of illegal abortion was the only option, especially for the lower class. Including secret underground doctors and self-induced methods including coat hangers and women throwing themselves down the stairs attempting to expel the fetus. Another radical feminists group aside from the Redstocks during the 1960’s-1970’s began an