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HERESIES is an idea-oriented journal devoted to the examination of art and politics from a feminist perspective. We believe that what is commonly called art can have a political impact, and that in
the making of art and of all cultural artifacts our identities as women play a distinct role. We hope
that HERESIES will stimulate dialogue around radical political and aesthetic theory, encourage the
writing of the history of femina sapiens, and generate new creative energies among women. It will be
a place where diversity can be articulated. We are committed to the broadening of the definition and

function of art.

HERESIES is structured as a collective of feminists, some of whom are also socialists, marxists,
lesbian feminists or anarchists; our fields include painting, sculpture, writing, anthropology, literature, performance, art history, architecture and filmmaking. While the themes of the individual
issues will be determined by the collective, each issue will have a different editorial staff made up of
contributors as well as members of the collective. Each issue will take a different visual form, chosen
by the group responsible. HERESIES will try to be accountable to and in touch with the international
feminist community. An open evaluation meeting will be held after the appearance of each issue.
Themes will be announced well in advance in order to collect material from many sources. (See inside
of back cover for list of projected issues.) Possibly satellite pamphlets and broadsides will be
produced continuing the discussion of each central theme.
As women, we are aware that historically the connections between our lives, our arts and our
ideas have been suppressed. Once these connections are clarified they can function as a means to
dissolve the alienation between artist and audience, and to understand the relationship between art
and politics, work and workers. As a step toward a demystification of art, we reject the standard
relationship of criticism to art within the present system, which has often become the relationship of
advertiser to product. We will not advertise a new set of genius-products just because they are made
by women. We are not committed to any particular style or aesthetic, nor to the competitive mentality
that pervades the art world. Our view of feminism is one of process and change, and we feel that in
the process of this dialogue we can foster a change in the meaning of art.
THE COLLECTIVE: Ida Applebroog, Patsy Beckert, Joan Braderman, Mary Beth Edelson, Su Friedrich, Janet Froelich, Harmony Hammond, Sue Heinemann, Elizabeth Hess, Joyce Kozloff, Arlene
Ladden, Lucy Lippard, Marty Pottenger, Miriam Schapiro, Amy Sillman, Joan Snyder, Elke Solomon, Pat Steir, May Stevens, Susana Torre, Elizabeth Weatherford, Sally Webster, Nina Yankowitz.

This issue of HERESIES was edited and produced by three groups which met separately and together for
more than four months: a nine-woman editorial collective, which takes final responsibility for the magazine;
an eight-woman adjunct group which worked on general ideas, research and specific articles; and a five-woman
design/production group. Still other women helped with additional aspects, such as copyediting, proofreading
and mechanicals, and the larger HERESIES Collective supported us all. Because of the number of women involved and the number of manuscripts received (more than twice as many as were submitted to our first issue),
the process was complex. Editorial work was new to most of us, and we needed a lot of time to listen to each
other, to reflect on our disparate experiences and viewpoints—and to develop an overview of the magazine,
which finally affected our decisions almost as much as individual submissions. We worked collectively on each
piece, arriving at a consensus only after much discussion. Sometimes we frustrated those authors and artists who
had hoped to hear more from us sooner. As we worked, we found that we were indeed involved in a process of
communication with all the women who wanted to participate in this issue, as well as with each other. If this
process was at times confusing, it was also intensely satisfying.

As this issue went into production, Ree Morton, an artist whose friendship, work and commitment to feminism
made her close to many of us, died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. We will miss her.

Editorial group: Patsy Beckert, Lizzie Borden, Janet Froelich, Denise Green, Sue Heinemann, Diane Levin, Lucy
Lippard, Pat Steir, Elizabeth Weatherford.
And: Ida Applebroog, Karen Harris, Stephanie Brody Lederman, Karen Shaw, Theodora Skipitares, Amy
Snider, Carla Tardi, Mimi Weisbord.
Design/production group: Barbara Coleman, Paula Greif, Suzanne Kuffler, Francesca de Majo.
Our thanks to those who helped get out this issue: Barbara Baracks, Marina Cappalletto, Nicole Croiset, Tony
DeLuna, Debbie Dominguez, Birgit Flos, Maria Friedrich, Su Friedrich, Paula Harper, Laurie Leifer, Diana
Long, Mary Lou Lopez, Melissa Meyer, Margot Norton, Lawrence Pitkethly, Bernie Rohret, Sarah Schuman,
u Sillman,
inkeri.

Jackie Wray, Nil Yalter, Ruth Young; our lawyer, Eleanor Fox; and our photographers, eeva-

HERESIES: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics is published in January, May, September and December
by Heresies Collective, Inc. at the Fine Arts Building, 105 Hudson Street, New York, N.Y. 10013. Subscription
rates: $10 for four issues; $16 for institutions. Outside the U.S. add $2 postage. Single copy: $3. Address all
correspondence to HERESIES, P.O. Box 766, Canal Street Station, New York, N.Y. 10013. HERESIES, ISSN
0146-3411.
Vol.
revert
to authors.

1, No. 2, May 1977. © 1977 Heresies Collective. All rights reserved. On publication, all rights

This issue of HERESIES was typeset by Myrna Zimmerman in Palatino, with headlines set by Talbot Typographics, Inc. Also thanks to Daniel Shapiro. Printed by the Capital City Press, Montpelier, Vermont.

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Leifer.
Instead of writing individual statements, the editorial group has chosen to present photographs of the private spaces n Laurie
we K

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Woman has always been associated with the dark, with the
unknown. It has been in society’s interest to consider women unknowable; that has been one of the devices to keep us from
power. Separated then from the “light” of the dominant society,
we women have perpetuated a culture of our own, expressed in
our own forms, which has frequently been transmitted, as is the

I wish to create here a form appropriate to the subject of

case with other oppressed cultures, in subtle, uncodified ways.

woman's culture which reflects those attitudes and values integral

Not taught in schools, it is communicated in the home, through

to that culture. I think of this article as a conversation rather than

kinship lines, laterally through sisters, grandmothers, friends. Influenced and affected by the dominant cultures within or against
which it must exist, this culture nevertheless seems to incorporate
certain universal elements which may in part be due to the fact
that women everywhere are socialized into similar roles and oppressions. Ironically, despite our universal oppression, women

a monologue and have tried to create spaces that elicit response.
Rather than embody material, information, illustration in
footnotes that indicate a secondary status or a formal acknowledgment of authority, I prefer to provide complementary space
for the other voices which inform this article. A form that more

honestly acknowledges the informal and constant exchange of
ideas. I see these pages as places reserved for other women writers

seem to have survived as the guardians of certain human values

and artists to participate as partners. I invite the reader to use

necessary to the survival of humanity. At the same time, these

them to respond, think, make notes and add to what I have writ-

values undermine the anti-human thrust of contemporary indus-

ten according to her own insights and imagination.

trial and technological life. In bourgeois society, this contradiction is solved through the relegation of women to the home, and
our isolation from public life, which prevents those values from
entering the public sphere. Similarly, these contributions are fur-

“And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often

ther devalued through their association with women and they

than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of

consequently lose their power to influence the direction of the

the flower they themselves never hoped to see: or like a sealed

dominant culture. Certain survival values then persist in isolation

letter they could not plainly read.” (Alice Walker, “In Search of

within the circumscribed female domain.

Our Mothers’ Gardens,” Ms. Magazine, May 1974.)

Woman's culture is the complex expression of a woman’s sensibility, the interaction of knowledge, values, rituals, organizations
and attitudes resulting from the interaction of role, biology, historical conditions and memory. It has developed forms which

Deena Metzger

deny aggression, competition, rank and power—essentially nonhierarchical, intimate and cooperative forms. The tone with
which women address each other when we are alone, calling each
other immediately by our first names, the conversations women
have with other women are, in themselves, models of the entire
culture. Woman's conversation is a particular form of communi-

So we begin again here to negotiate a form as if this were a

conversation between us which contained references to other conversations, to our work, to those asides wherein we discover how
we come to know this, reminding each other of previous discus-

cation in which seemingly simple interchanges, as well as sophis-

sions, those stolen moments in the kitchen, carpooling, when we

ticated theoretical and analytical discussions, incorporate a com-

meet in the supermarket, in the offices, the TV stations, the lec-

plex of other activities. When women speak to each other, the

ture rooms, those moments when we emphasize an idea by ex-

sentence functions both to communicate information and to es-

tending our hands to each other, the pressure of fingers on the

tablish intimate connection between women. Woman’s conversa-

upper arm, speaking a sentence of verbs, nouns, prepositions,

tion is often confined to intuition, accompanied by non-verbal

affection, solidarity and acknowledgment. This does not come

interaction, touch, eye contact, which enhance the intensity of
the interchange.

from me alone; I learned it from you; we have been passing it
through our minds and bodies and conversations for years now.
Virginia gave it word-flesh when she asked us to create the woman's sentence. Well, we have made it, we are making it. The
woman's sentence, the woman's paragraph, the woman's build-

Women tend, when possible, to search for the common de-

ing, the woman's design, the woman's portrait. ..forms as com-

nominator, for the area of common and meaningful experience.

plex as their forms, but our forms, different forms, responsive to

Women so often talk about “women’s things” because they are

our own values, experiences, priorities. Each one of us knows one

more interested in the feeling of community than in an abstract

form. I will tell one, you another, then Barbara, Jane, Sheila, all

interchange, and what are commonly deprecated as “women’s
things” are in fact those events of daily life common to everyone's
experience. For example, when we introduce ourselves to each

the women I know.

“Give an example,” Martha says.
“Okay, Martha. Thank you.” Your urging helped me to
come to this form which is our form, a conversation not a disser-

other, we tend to avoid professional definitions, offering general

tation. Between sentences, I am listening for your comments,

statements about our lives, some bit of information which can

incorporating them, answering them, and listening for them once

create an intimate experience. Particularly since consciousness

more. That listening, asking, incorporating, is characteristic of

raising, we introduce ourselves in terms of personal struggle,

us, we who are attentive. But now we bring that form into the

openly communicating the current internal dilemma or problem:

public domain as one of the new ways.

“I've just divorced” or “I'm trying to get my life together.”
Women are willing to reveal the raw materials in order to
explore together. Women’s conversations may have a more “unfinished” quality because we begin at the unknown rather than
the known. If men’s conversations reveal, women’s conversations
explore.

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Women tend to focus on the person being spoken to. What
do you want to know? What do you need from me? Women do
not commonly tell each other jokes or puns, preferring more responsive forms. “You know how it is” invites identification and
laughter, often bitter. The tendency of some women to raise rath“Since childhood, women have always been bricoleurs,

er than lower their voices at the end of sentences does not imply

creating structures by means of events,’ making-do, constructing

uncertainty so much as invitation, willingness to negotiate and

whole lives out of leftovers, devising entire, though miniature

desire for response and interaction.

worlds out of their peripheral status and tasks. Such worlds
rivaled the male spheres in complexity, interest and involvement.
They were worlds made of smaller and homelier materials but
built in proportion, involving the entire range of social processes, as full-bodied as the external, male-dominated realm. In her
own miniature world, the woman was in charge, using time and
energy according to her own lights. Within the structured points

One of the basic functions of women’s conversations is nurturance. When women talk to each other, we simultaneously take
care of each other, provide comfort, communicate information
and verify a common reality through the discovery of basic common experience. It is not enough to find “common interests” but
to discover those that are essential to, not oblique to, existence.

of her day in the household, she did a great many highly diverse

The anxiety aroused because women talk about the essentials al-

tasks, all at the same time, always expecting to be interrupted,

lows for our conversation to be characterized as gossip, trivial,

never expecting full closure, bustling from one activity to the

materialistic. Women, in fact, talk about others, about children,

next, watching her work come undone as soon as completed.”

clothes, cooking, the “stuff of life,” because these are the univer-

(Barbara G. Myerhoff, from an unpublished paper “The Older

sals, the common essential ingredients of existence.

Woman as Androgyne: Sexual Stereotypes and Innovations.”)

Women who wish to participate in the public sphere as women rather than to conform to male standards as a condition of
both entry and survival need to examine our own forms and their
sources in order to integrate these forms into public institutions
and behaviors.
How does one communicate this information? The language
appropriate to formal presentation is heavy and abstract. Each
idea is confined within a noun and those are arranged in order.
One says “immediate,” “integrated,” “continuous,” “collective,”
“personal”... But when we speak about it together, we create
another tone and style...

When Sheila is invited to enter a design competition on the
subject of color, she asks women friends and associates of various
ages, including young girls, to respond to the color pink on small
squares. These are organized into a grid in which no piece is more
important than another. The poster permits women to respond to
a color which has been socially devaluated. Pink is assigned to
women; baby pink, thrust upon us during infancy, remains our
color through old age. Its associations are with infantilism, indulgence, frivolity. How, then, can we claim it? Yet the responses on
the pink cards indicate strength, assurance, energy. They contradict the preconceptions. When the piece is finished, the color has

SCRATCH
PINK
Y AND T
BLEEDS

heeri

URAIa ES

t

new associations representing a wide range of responses. The individual statements become a collective self-portrait, a self-examination, facilitating the reevaluation of pink and of ourselves. The
poster is responsive. It is a non-hierarchical structure. It is a communal effort. It evokes a variety of responses. It is complex. It
provides for reevaluation. It makes a feminist statement in form
as well as in content.
Why do I begin with Sheila? Because we came to this at the
same time although quite independently. Sheila was the organizer
of the first Feminist Design Program at Cal Arts. She is also one
of the organizers of the Feminist Studio Workshop and of the
Woman's Building. She was teaching design and I was teaching
literature. We were both pursuing our private design and writing.
Looking at women’s work from historical and critical perspectives, we discovered that it exhibited basic affinities despite historical and national barriers. This work does not yield easily to
analysis with ordinary critical tools, as it departs from the
dominant modes, goals and value systems. As we attempted to
weave an appropriate feminist critical perspective, we realized
that woman's work corresponds to a particular organization of

* Revised and excerpted from the manuscript of an unpublished
book, In Her Image: Woman's Culture, 1976.

time and space and to a frequent reference to the immediate and
the everyday.

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Perhaps we should pause here, creating an interruption corresponding to the interruptions that women expect and incorporate into our own work, the spaces that permit permeation and
invite response. We are not concerned here with the transfer of
information so much as a simulation of the experience in which
we come to know things; we are concerned with the context of
information, how it comes from us and from our lives. No matter

Interruption is a basic condition of a mother’s life. One of the

how abstract, no matter how formal, women’s work is connected

reasons for the segregation of the work world from the home is in

at one point at least to the fundamental realities, to our bodies, to

order to avoid the interruptions of the daily life. In the home, one

our everydays, to our dreams. When our work is our work, it is
always also of ourselves.

is constantly interrupted by need and continuous time is not
available. Home is not the place where one can establish a hierarchy of priorities. It may be more “important” to write an
address to the United Nations, but the crying baby takes precedence nevertheless. Women know that life has the terrible habit
of asserting itself. The woman writing her doctoral thesis, the
judge presiding at a trial, is also, simultaneously, thinking about
the broccoli for dinner, the child's dentist appointment, the death
of a friend. Women’s art forms reflect the condition of interruption and simultaneity in a variety of ways.

Scars on the Body Politic, a novel I completed in 1975, is
It is said that woman is nature and man is culture..….….It is
true that woman, for a variety of reasons, is more sensitive to
natural forces, cycles, rhythms, as role and biology always thrust
her into the immediate and domestic existence. If this sensitivity
is expressed in behaviors that are responsive rather than closed, it

actually interrupted several times by actual events, equivalents of
the “crying child.” They imposed “non-negotiable demands”
upon the material; they had to be heeded and incorporated in the
framework of the book. In one section I actually say, “This is the

place where the book was interrupted.”
Similarly, women’s works often have an unfinished quality

is mistaken to assume that response is negative or imposed. Re-

— are anti-art art pieces, more faithful to the reality correspond-

sponse requires openness, willingness, action, and like withdraw-

ing to the idea that only art, not life, can ever be finished. A jour-

al, implies choice.
It has been woman's habit to create structures and behaviors
that are both systematic and responsive. Women create culture as
men do, but not having created a dominant culture, we act pri-

nal, for example, which women are coming to recognize as a
work in itself, and not the source for the work, is often a collec-

tion of thoughts, fragments, ideas, perceptions, descriptions,
dreams, conversations, jotted down at odd moments, in sentences

vately within forms that remain largely invisible to the public

or codes, according to time and mood. In a class taught on
“Autobiography, Journals and Life Histories,” the students wrote

scrutiny although they are sufficiently forceful and intense to be

more fluently when they were freed from the tyranny of the com-

communicated laterally and historically.
When we hear the words “immediate” and “everyday,” we
associate them with values ascribed to the woman's sector. They
are the mundane, unimportant, banal, and we feel the anxiety

plete sentence. Given permission to write in fragments and notes,
they could record their lives in a way they felt was more appropriate to their experience. The women more than the men responded to the more open form.

which Western civilization terms “imprisonment in the here and
now.” “Imprisonment” itself refers to forms of closure that threaten male separateness and disengagement, such as possessiveness,
enchantment, the vagina dentata. Similarly, “flux” stimulates cultural anxieties associated with chaos, death, unpredictability, sexuality, male anxieties regarding mortality, against which are opposed principles of permanence, eternity and transcendence.
The male-dominated movie screen informs us that modern
“life” is a series of boring episodes which can only be interrupted
by violent explosions. But the ordinary, from a woman’s view, is
hardly ordinary. It is repetitive, it is full of trivia, it is necessary,
maddening, contingent, it is never-ending, but it is also, as in
Papilla Estelar, wonder-full or awe-full. And women’s art reflects
this power of the immediate.
Gertrude, for example, predicates a style upon the immediate
or the “continuous present,” as she calls it, “using everything and
beginning again.” And beginning again. A cycle of repetition, of
rhythm, everything told so completely and so simply that existence emerges as a fact and language becomes “an entire space
always moving not something moving through a space.”
Men are associated with behaviors that strive toward permanence as opposed to continuousness. That men legislate and
women gossip may be a reflection of men’s interest in autonomous social control as opposed to personal interaction. An organized and ordered society emerges. Facts of nature become
anomalies, violations. Economic cycles, plagues, age, rain, children, sun, disease, menstruation, fatigue, fiesta, are all disturbances of the perfect unchanging order, inconveniences rather
than essential conditions, factors to be mitigated or eliminated.

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Woman is more sensitive to flux, cycle, to the transitory as
the basis of experience. Change is part of her daily life while permanence, fixity are eccentric events. The cycle is a concept which
coordinates repetition and change. Completeness has a satisfying
resonance and is a reasonable female goal. Intensity rather than
eternity. That work and art which reflect these female concerns do
Integration is a significant characteristic of woman's work.
Many parts tend to be represented in a single work. Into the daily

life come the essential realities of existence, biology and death.
The universal weds the specific; the ordinary and extraordinary
dance; the wonderful refuses to be separated from the mundane.
Remedios Varo captures this integration in Papilla Estelar
(1958). The painting shows a woman dressed in black, seated in a

not always look like “work” because they are organized differently
is another reflection of the simplifying tendencies of the dominant
culture.

Sheila observes: “The organization of material in fragments,
multiple peaks rather than single climactic moment, has a quality
and rhythm which may parallel woman’s ontological experience,

poor, cramped and barren house set within the heavens. She is

particularly her experience of time. .….There are several genres of

grinding the stars through a kitchen meat grinder and feeding this

women’s work, quilts and blankets, for example, which are as-

stellar mixture to a domesticated moon confined within a bird

semblages of fragments generated whenever there is time, which

cage. The eternal and the contingent, the metaphysical and the

are in their method of creation as well as in their aesthetic form,

mundane coexist. This is one of several paintings by Remedios

visually organized into many centers. The quilting bee, as well as

Varo that capture the forms of woman's culture. It is ironic that
Remedios is categorized by art critics as a surrealist. Extraordinary as her vision may appear to the dominant culture, it is for us

the quilt itself, is an example of an essentially non-hierarchal
organization.”

simply the complex accurate image of a female world view.
Not exactly the lady one associates with quilting bees and
other domestic tasks, the monumental Gertrude Stein nevertheless
knit from one soldier's hospital bed to another during World War
I, providing cheer, socks and letter-writing services. In this behavior we can see the patterns which she also translated into literary
form. “You see,” she says, “I tried to convey the idea of each part of
a composition being as important as the whole. .….After all, to me
one human being is as important as another being, and you might
say that the landscape has the same values, a blade of grass has the
same value as a tree.”

An assemblage of fragments free of hierarchy. “Certainly,”
Sheila continues, “the quality of time in a woman's life, particularly if she is not involved in the career thrust toward fame and
fortune, is distinct from the quality of time experienced by men
and women who are caught up in the progress of a career. The
linearity of time is foreign to the actual structure of a day as well as
to the rhythm of women’s monthly biological time..….The assemblage of fragments, the organization of forms in a complex matrix,
projects this experience of time, suggests depth and intensity as an
alternative to progress.”
Our different organization of time and space requires that we
react differently to phenomena. We do not know things in isolation or in a continuum so much as we know everything at once.
The cycle is the long whole moment. (The implications of a different thought process ought to be considered seriously by psychologists and educators.) To know everything at once requires
that we utilize every sense.
“Woman’sintuition,” then, is the direct result of holding oneself completely open to the entire experience in its immediacy and
completeness. Intuition is simply knowing at the moment and
Remedios Varo. Papilla Estelar. 1958. Oil on masonite. 92” x 62”.
Collection Sr. Lic. Eduardo Villaseñor.

knowing entirely with one’s intellect, memory, body, emotions; it
is knowing caringly, evoking information and ordering it through
the personal context.
Intuition is simply testament to a context; it is knowledge
which exists in a complete relationship. To the extent that men isolate experience in order to know, they separate it from themselves
in the belief that emotion contaminates information. The subjective, the personal, the immediate, the evocative are seen as screens
preventing the analytical mind from knowing things in themselves, out of flux, out of the conditional.
But much of what we know, we know exactly in the condition, in the daily life, the actual, the flux, the contingent and with
emotion...

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“The materials I use in my work are found objects, discards
and natural objects. . .shells, feathers, etc. I merely recycle them.
A particular object may suggest a piece. Maybe a feeling about a
color or certain image or symbol will conjure a piece..….….

“I may work on several pieces at once, going from one to
another, selecting, rejecting objects, images, symbols, as if in a
trance. But it works. The fragments fit, the message is revealed
and again the magic happens. Dat Ol’ Black Magic!” Bettye Saar,
in Art: A Woman's Sensibility, California Institute of the Arts,
1975.)

“. .. what might have gone on last night while four women taled
about a quilt:

how it grows rather than being planned. aletheia's hair
piled on her head—the hair works loose through the
evening—one long strand of it falls on her neck. they see
it grow longer and longer until it's the longest strand of
hair in the world. it reaches the floor, then through the

house, out of the back door, around the neighborhood
—playing with children, talking hopefully to old people
and censes—moving on, still attaches to aletheia’s head.

the hair .

and the quilt as the time that moves in front of us. streets and
stores and traffic lights and the strangers that repeat every day,
always and never the same.” (Holly Prado, Feasts, Momentum
Press, Los Angeles, 1976.)

The quilt has come to be symbolic because it is an assemblage of odd bits, organized in a non-hierarchical order, and
because the quilting bee itself, the circle of women, remains to us
as a form of non-hierarchical collective labor.
“In the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. there
hangs a quilt unlike any other in the world. In fanciful, inspired,
and yet simple and identifiable figures, it portrays the story of the

Crucifixion. It is considered rare, beyond price. Though it follows no known pattern of quilt-making, and though it is made of
bits and pieces of worthless rags, it is obviously the work of a
person of imagination and deep spiritual feeling. Below this quilt
I saw a note that says it was made by ʻan anonymous Black
woman in Alabama, a hundred years ago.
“If we could locate this anonymous’ Black woman from Alabama, she would turn out to be one of our grandmothers —an
artist who left her mark in the only materials she could afford,
Anonymous. Crazy quilt. 1900-10. Lancaster, Pa. area. Wool
and flannel. 78” x 73”. Private collection. (America Hurrah

and in the only medium her position in society allowed her to

Antiques.)

Magazine, May 1974.)

use.” (Alice Walker, “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens,” Ms.

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The leaderless group, the circular form, the non-hierarchical

As I read these words, I want to tell you everything I know

structure are perhaps the most socially significant contributions

at once and everything in at least three voices. Just as our days

of the women’s movement.

are layered (I used to say “laminated” but Barbara said that was

Classrooms, organizing meetings, work sessions are physically organized to diminish the distance between individuals. In
contrast to seating arrangements in the male-dominated society,
where desks, stages, lecterns, daises both separate and indicate

too rigid, too hard, so I suggested “days like strudel” and she
agreed), so our experiences are strudeled and we want to bite into
them at once.

The cyclical form results in a literature and art that is dense,

rank and authority, physical position does not create hierarchical
structure. Women tend to sit close to each other in formations

consisting of many coexisting layers. It creates a book that is

which allow for the mingling of work, play, intellectual activity,

neither journal nor novel, but what Kate Millett refers to as a new

emotional nurturance.

form of literature, the experiential book. The new critical stand-

In this meeting of the Feminist Studio Workshop, one cannot

ard in literature seems to de-emphasize plot, aesthetic beauty and

distinguish the leaders from the participants, professors from stu-

form for a concern with the depth and intensity of the reality

dents. Likewise, there is mingling of ages, both children and older

presented. Once the relationship between plot and form is seen,

people are present. A number of activities are occurring simultaneously....

the arbitrary nature of plot is revealed. Plot, after all, is a pattern,
familiar and reproducible, which can be repeated, albeit with variation, in novel after novel. Plot may be convenient for the
writer, but it does not necessarily correspond to the way things
are. Plot demands abstraction, elimination, selection, editing. It
is a diminution of experience according to literary preconceptions. It removes the novel from the buzz.
As Doris Lessing asks in The Golden Notebook, “Why a
story at all . . . why not simply the truth?”

Consciousness-raising group. 1973. (Lila Pearce.)
The daily and essential realities are the focus of women’s
The first extant autobiography was written in English by a
woman. The Book of Margery Kempe is the first extant woman's
book. Today it seems that all of us are keeping journals, recording our own lives passionately. We use these forms for documentation and disclosure. The last few years have shown an undressing of woman's experience which seems in inverse proportion to
the intensity of the taboo against woman's nakedness. We are

lives and work. “Do I repeat myself? Well, then, I repeat myself.”
The statement is Whitman's. Perhaps it is not ironic that Whitman is a poet of power whose masculinity is always questioned.
Is it because of his repetitions that we recognize the female sensibility, or is it because he never forgot how close grass ought to be
to the skin? Life and work—how did they become separated, is

becoming more and more naked. And then we peel away the

perhaps a more sensible question than why we are so intent on

skin. Relentlessly naked. It is difficult to look. But we persist.

integrating them.

Sometimes the images are so strong we look away. The vulval

Even the popular media are occasionally sensitive to the nar-

ecstasy of Monique Wittig's Les Guérillères has that character,

row focus on work which is characteristic of the male dominant

or the overwhelming honesty of Kate Millett’s Flying, or the

society and which is always puzzling to women. It is the male

fecund kitchen dissections of Sylvia Plath and Gilah Hirsch, or
the psychological exploration in the art of Frida Kahlo which is
unprecedented in self-portraiture. In The Two Fridas she is her-

who creates industries, commercial centers, educational institutions that exclude children and other life forces from their boundaries. And it is women who have demanded that the doors be

self one of the fates, holding the scissors which sever the lifeline —

her own artery. The portrait examines the complexity, duality

opened, to day-care centers, older children, the elderly, to green-

and contradiction of the personality.

ery and the humanities of home.
Each day is a tapestry, threads of broccoli, promotion,
couches, children, politics, shopping, building, planting, thinking
interweave in intimate connection with the insistent cycles of
birth, existence and death.
Women are aware of their bodies very early and very completely although this awareness has not been shared until now.
Menstruation, lactation, pregnancy, menopause are long-term
conditions of physical reorganization. When the blood comes at
thirteen, we are always astonished even if we are well prepared.
My mother slapped my face in the Jewish tradition “to bring the
blood to my cheeks” and to punctuate the moment. The menstrual cycle is a repeated cycle of astonishments, physical disturbance
and enlightenment forming a bond of intimacy between women
that we are irritable at such times, but now we also need to admit
that this is the time it seems to us we see most clearly. Perhaps
this clarity comes from the regular cyclical connection with life
and death symbolized by blood. Life is both prepared for and

Frida Kahlo. Las Dos Fridas. 1939. Oil on wood.
67" x 57".

shed every month.
Is this the reason why women do not make war?

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4:56 UTC

The body, as one’s own, and as a woman's body, is the first
force that prevents women from becoming distracted by abstract
intellectual behaviors, providing the immediate and intense private experience which simultaneously connects us with others.
This dynamic is evident in the journal and the autobiography,
which are particularly female forms. Personal revelation is one
foundation of feminism and the new women’s consciousness. The
journal, as significant as consciousness raising, is a serious activity which cannot be pursued at proscribed times.
Recently I conducted a class in Secrets at Chino State Prison
for Women. While it was relatively easy to deal with some of the
consequences Of search, seizure, scrutiny by wardens and guards,
it was more difficult to evaluate the risk of revelation to one’s
fellow prisoners. It was relatively easy to understand that the
prison authorities were simply the active instruments of social
oppression and that acts of solidarity and revelation between

Judy Chicago. What is this secret place inside me that has held a

women inevitably undermined the oppressive forces. However, it

tear so long? 1974. China paint on porcelain. 6” x 6”.

was more difficult to gauge the trust that was possible between
women living under these conditions, whose lives were often
regulated through the subtle manipulation of one woman against
another. How much could they reveal to each other? How carefully would they honor each other’s secrets?
As an act of faith, I first read a “secret” from my novel.

Skin: Shadows
From SILENCE : A Love Letter in the Form of the Novel,
West Coast Poetry Review, Reno, Nevada, 1976.
It is afternoon. You've heard this story before. This is the
story I will tell twice and then again. It does not empty easily.
This story has left a scar and the scar needs to be cut out. This

story will be told again. =.

It is afternoon. I am alone. In an office. It is afternoon. I am
alone. In an office. It is afternoon. I am alone.
There is a knock at the door. Or the sound of the door opening in the outer office. Or a knock and the sound of a door open-

Then each woman wrote a “secret” to another woman in the
room, with whom she could but was not obliged to share her

ing in the outer office this afternoon. I am alone. Thinking of
things one thinks when one is alone in the afternoon. Almost a
daydream. Allowed to think. Why should I be startled by a
knock at my door or the sound of another door opening. Why

writing. One woman decided to share her secret with the entire

should I hear the door or even interrupt my thoughts which are so

group, confiding in us that this was the first time she had revealed

pleasant this quiet afternoon. All the work is done.

the event to anyone, despite three years of psychoanalysis. This
was perhaps the first moment of social trust she had experienced.
The secret, read in a trembling voice, was an agonized memory of
sadistic and sexual cruelty perpetrated upon her, pregnant at fifteen, by someone she trusted and loved. Reading her own words,
she now knew that she had not been responsible for provoking
this incident. Fifteen years of guilt laid aside. Yet, listening to her

Why bother to turn my head when I hear the floor creak?
My thoughts are so pleasant, nothing can interrupt them. This is
my time to muse. A rare afternoon alone. All the work is done.
Probably it is not a knock at the door that I hear and do not

respond to. Probably it is the sound of a door opening quietly
and of soft footprints across the floor. Or maybe it is the sound of
a knock, a tentative tap to see if I am in. But it is a quiet afternoon
and all the work is done and I am in to no one but myself, so I do

revelation in the hushed silence of the prison classroom, I won-

not answer the door. Probably there is no sound. It is not that I

dered if the support and love which allowed her to speak these

refuse to be interrupted but that my dreams are so intense that I

words were temporary. Would she be betrayed later? And how?
In any form, the guilt and pain had been a worm far more ravenous and lethal than any revelation could be now. Nevertheless, I
hoped she would not pay the penalty that is often exacted by such
nakedness.

hear nothing, not the initial knock on the outer door, (if indeed
there was a knock — probably there was no knock) nor the sound
of the lock turning, nor the cautious feet across the floor, nor the

cautious turning of the lock to my inner office and the stealthy
opening of the door, nor the hand raised against me. Nothing. It
is afternoon and I hear nothing, suspect nothing, till the gun is
pressed against my head and the hand muzzles my mouth.
“Say nothing,” he whispers.
It is a gun which is against my head. There is a man holding

it. I cannot see him. But I do not think I know him. He ties an
unclean and wrinkled handkerchief across my mouth. I close my
eyes because I am afraid to know him. Simultaneously I keep
them open in order to see this man. But I think I can see nothing.

“Take your clothes off,” he says. Everything he says is in a
strained and I assume disguised voice. Perhaps he is someone I
know. Which is more awful—an anonymous assault by a stranger or by a friend?

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My hands are shaking and he is laughing. I am struggling to
obey. My feet are shaking also.

I can only see his feet. I have told you before about his
scuffed black shoes which look like those with steel linings in the

toes. They are laced with frayed black laces. His socks are white.
Dirty white. His feet are wide. I suspect his legs are hairy and that
the hairs are damp.
It is afternoon. A quiet afternoon. No one is about.

No one is knocking at the door. “Take off your clothes,” he
says. My body is shaking. The dress peels from me like skin, a
heap of feathers disordered, plucked live from the skin, a mound
of fresh leather in a corner. And the animal is still alive! And the

deer stretches denuded flanks, twitching. I can see the blood run
across the hooves.

I am naked. He is wearing clothes. I do not wish to see his

Honor Moore's Mourning Pictures, an eloquent play about
the death of the playwright’s mother, closed after its first day on
Broadway because, according to Clive Barnes, it did not transcend the experience of personal loss. Women are choosing to
achieve “universality” through the exposure and identification of

legs hairy at the ankle bone. I cannot bear to see his clothes

the personal moment rather than through its transcendence. The

against my skin. I am naked. He is fully clothed.

most powerful lines in the play are also the simplest: “Ladies and

I remember nothing. I will remember nothing. I tell you this

Gentlemen, my mother is dying.”

without hearing my own voice. I tell you this again and again so I

will never remember it. I remember how naked I am next to his
clothed legs in order to forget everything.

Handprints on my back. Indelible markings. In later mirrors
it seems my back grows away from his hands. An announcement
in reversal. In recoil.

Women are the Fourth World say the women of North Vietnam. We read each other's autobiographies as if they were our
own lives. Nakedness is an ambivalent state implying weakness
and power simultaneously. The naked person is an image of helplessness and yet nudity is terrifying to the observer. There has

An invasion. A tree opening to fire. And a black hollow

been much critical distaste expressed for the confessional mode of

from which no twig can emerge again. Perhaps it is a gun pene-

woman's art, which has been considered blatant, vulnerable, self-

trating me and orgasm will be a round of bullets. Pain is a relief. I

pitying, raw, untransformed. Not often admitted is the puritani-

cherish it as a distraction from knowing. I am an enemy country.

cal base for the anxiety felt before work which, as an editor told

Destroy me with fire. But there is no distraction. The cloth rubs
against my legs. There is a gun resting on my shoulder. I do not

me about my own, is produced by “unrelieved personal disclosure.”

forget that death is the voyeur at this encounter.

Turning. Turning. The flesh of the spitted deer crackles
against the fire. I want to reach for a knife to carve myself into

morsels, to divide into portions, to carve a slit downwards from
my navel to my spine.
There is a circle of steel against my ear.
I have told this before. It is afternoon, a quiet afternoon, and

the taste of my own meat smeared on unknown flesh is in my
mouth. I choke upon it. It is afternoon. I do not know what is
thrust in my mouth. What banquet is this? What severed leg?
What joint? What goat, deer, bone? I wish blood were dripping
down my throat now. How long can I hold his sperm in my
mouth without swallowing?
It is afternoon. I have told you this before. It is a quiet after-

This common interest in our history and experience is not
only the response to historic anonymity, it is not merely a first
step toward liberation, but the revitalization and making public
of an honored female form which integrates the private and the
public worlds, the individual and the collective sensibilities.

noon. I do not hear the sound of someone knocking at my door.
I try to say, “Come in.” I would like someone to help me
from the floor. I need a pillow under my head. Wrap me in a
blanket. Turn the lights out.

It is early evening. It is night. It is tomorrow. I would like
someone to help me up from the floor. I cannot say, “Come in.”
to the knock on the door. I cannot yell for help. I need to be
wrapped in a blanket. I need a pillow under my head. And a
nightdress. And a cover of white cloth.

Everything is quiet. My body is numb. I feel nothing. My
body is dumb. It is early evening. :
There is a knock on the door. I cannot hear the knock at the

door. I cannot say, “Come in.” I need...
There is a knock at the door. I cannot say...I...
There is a knock...Icannot...I...
I can not...

“I am not completely satisfied,” Martha Lifson says, “by the
autobiographies of Gertrude Stein as they emphasize the public
world and the people she meets. I prefer the diaries of Dorothy
Wordsworth where the work and the ideas, commentary and
portraits are braided through the gardening, reading, cooking
and conversation. I am interested in the entire life and the whole
day.”

Intense revelation, but not confession. Because we are so
accustomed to confining intimacy to the private sector, the form
disconcerts us when it is present in the public world. Women
break down the wooden house and the anonymity and objectivity of the psychiatric privacy. We do not wish to speak alone. We
demand that the listener be a participant. We tell our secrets
openly and publicly without erasing them. We say, “These are
our lives.” We insist on telling these secrets to each other because
we know it makes a difference. That is intimacy—the insistence
upon response and equality. We want our talk to make a difference to ourselves and to others. We create open forms so that
someone can answer us.

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It is important to realize that for women the process of per-

sonal confession implies collective revelation. This is the recurring experience of journal classes, women’s writing groups and
consciousness raising.
One of the projects of the Feminist Design Program at California Institute of the Arts, directed by Sheila de Bretteville, was
a series of videotapes about menstruation. The groups consisted
of older women, young women, teenagers and mixed groups of
boys and girls exchanging information, personal experience. This
was one of the first attempts to eliminate the body of misinforma-

tion, prejudice, fear, and often self-hate which arises from the
combination of silence and social anxiety. The anxiety is easily
detected in the language which surrounds menstruation: “the

What word can we interject to convey our meaning of tan-

curse,” “falling off the roof,” “on the rag,” “unwell,” etc.

gible and certain? In lieu of concrete can we say braided, be

Menstruation has indeed been a “red flag” (to borrow the

fabric, be cloth?

title of Judy Chicago's well-known lithograph) for those who

“All mother goddesses spin and weave. In their concealed

accepted the taboo regarding the discussion of menstruation or

workshops they weave veins, fibers and nerve strands into the

the use of female imagery in art. This visual confrontation with

miraculous substance of the live body. Everything that is comes

the female reality is part of women’s contemporary insistence

out of them: they weave the world tapestry out of genesis and

upon being naked, breaking the silence that has surrounded us
and particularly our bodies. Looking at female biology is one part

demise, threads appearing and disappearing rhythmically.”

of telling the story of our lives and breaking the mystery that is a

I wonder how to credit Helen Diner for the above quote.

patriarchal prison, helping to create the mythos, the mystique of

Everything in me rebels against the learned footnote which does

woman.

not provide a space for the essential information—the thrill of

Often revelation has political consequences beyond con-

recognition which occurs when it is read. In graduate school I

sciousness, as did the public acknowledgment by hundreds of

vowed to avoid all the Latin forms, the op. cits., loc. cits., ibids.,

French women that they had had abortions, in order to achieve

which represented distant authority. But now it is possible to use

liberalization of abortion laws. Other times the revelation breaks

footnotes again and even to peruse them eagerly before one reads

a taboo or allows others to claim and understand their own

the papers they are included in. Women’s footnotes are of another

experiences which have often been deadened by seeming unique

form. They are not authoritarian, they do not necessarily refer to

Or eccentric.

texts, to abstract tomes, to objective external sources. Often emotional statements or conversational asides, they serve to enrich
the material by bringing in the strands, the choruses, the associations. They are informal, spontaneous interjections permeating
more formal, carefully constructed works.
There are times when I do not know at all which ideas were
mine, which Barbara's, Jane's, Sheila's. The ideas pass back and
forth between us, and our shared experience and communication
is their real source. The ivory tower shatters as an image for those
of us who cannot and will not segregate our creativity, finding it
as often as not in the kitchen as in the study. Footnotes no longer
function only to identify a single authority, but can also challenge
the concept in order to.acknowledge and record collective efforts.

Donna Henes, Web. 1976. Mount Royal, Montreal.

“When a woman artist positively identifies herself to us
through her work, she commits a courageous and daring act of
self-exposure, because her contribution has neither spoken to nor
been understood by the mainstream of the culture, and the content of her art has been bypassed by interpretations which could
reveal it. Thus a woman's saying, ‘I am, I know myself, and I feel

a fundamental optimism —a grasp upon my own survival as a
model for human survival,’ is saying something which challenges
the prevailing worldview. If consciousness is the content of feminist art, this level of human responsibility and hope is the content

of consciousness.” (Arlene Raven, feminist art historian, one of
the organizers of the Feminist Studio Workshop and the Woman's
Building.)

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Performance is a natural form of expression for women
whose history has been limited primarily to oral forms. Performance like conversation is flexible, often without script, responsive, and invites participation. It is not meant primarily for publication or to have a long run, but is often conceived for a particular moment. Like gossip, performance can be seen as a form
of social regulation which depends upon intimacy and associatiorı
with the subject. Like journals, performances allow for the collective and public scrutiny.of women’s past and.contemporary roles
in order to create attitudinal and behavioral change. Performances therefore often have a personal as well as a social, didactic function. Performance is also a way of modeling, providing
not only a critique of the past but alternatives for the future. Now

that the journal is becoming a public document, and we are revėaled in each other's books, the journal also may be a new
benign and creative moral imperative.

The woman's form is connective. It is a tapestry or a quilt, a
weaving or collage, an interlacing of all the diverse parts which
are obsessively differentiated in the dominant culture. For women
to come into the public world we must be cognizant of our historic and contemporary forms of organization and expression in
order to survive. At the least we must struggle like Penelope,
weaving half the day, unraveling half the night.
Within woman's culture, because of its plurality and tolerance, man can exist; within man’s culture woman is destroyed by
individualism and abstraction. Woman is an, appropriate word
for Man. She is an appropriate substitute for He/She because he
is contained in she—orthographically, physiologically, but more
significantly, ontologically. One culture encloses within; the
other segregates out.
Despite the frequent critical stance that female imagery,
woman's art, female sensibility is a limitation imposed upon culture, a narrowing Of vision, it should by now be abundantly clear
that woman's culture, being primarily integrative rather than
analytical, offers as rich and deep a universe as that which has
been the basis of “civilization” until now. To define a woman’s
culture is not to delimit or to create orthodoxy, but rather to
expand current cultural horizons and to provide the opportunity
to explore experience in new areas through the validation of
hitherto unrecognized and devalued expression.
Woman's culture is not a set of rules or restrictions, rather it
is a direction, an eye, a broad intellectual framework for discovering form and meaning. In its underground forms it is available to a few women and fewer men; named and public it is available to everyone. Now when we come into the world, it is in our
image—as Eve—the image of integration and relationship. In that
act woman challenges the dominant world culture.

Deena Metzger is a feminist writer, poet and lecturer who is direc-

tor of the Writing Program at the Feminist Studio Workshop at
the Woman’s Building in Los Angeles. She is the author of a novel,

SEa (West Coast Poetry Review, 1976) and a radio play,
The Book of Hags.

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INSIDE/OUT:
SUE HEINEMANN

it's more than that. — Simone Forti, Handbook in Motion
I remember my first class with Elaine Summers, a New York

Summer 1975. I went to California to participate in Anna

dancer whose teaching focuses on kinesthetic awareness. As I lay

Halprin’s dance workshop. Anna explains:

quiet on the ground, eyes closed, Elaine led me on a journey

In our approach to theatre and dance, art grows

through my body. Can you feel your toenails? Your metatarsals?

directly out of our lives. Whatever emotional, physical,

Knees, thighs, on up through eyebrows and hair. Amazing how

or mental barriers ... we carry around within us in our

much of my body I couldn't feel —no sensation. As if parts of me

personal lives will be the same barriers that inhibit our

had just disappeared. No calves, no armpits, no eyelashes. And I

full creative expression..... I work with the notion

wonder how many of us really sense our bodies as integrated with

that emotional blocks are tied into our physical body

our selves. Do we only acknowledge the body when “it” hurts,

and mental images...…..

when something's “wrong”? In how many ways have we learned

When a person has reached an impasse we know

to disown our bodies?

something in their life and in their art is not working.

I think of how we tend to enthrone our minds, all-knowing.

What is not working is their old dance. The old dance is

The body as a tool, only necessary to get work done. Or the body

made up of imprints imbedded in the muscles and

as an object, to be looked at, admired, displayed. The body

nerves that is reflected in behavior patterns manifested
in the way that person participates, interrelates and

remains an accessory, not integral to our definition of being. Just

performs their life and their art.”

to speak of body sensations, of how emotions are felt located
specifically in the body arouses skepticism. And I wonder if it is

Each morning we performed “movement ritual,” a series of

even possible to convey what “listening” to your body means to

exercises through which we listened to our bodies, “hearing” how

someone who has not experienced it. The difference between

we felt. According to Anna, “Daily movement ritual is a way of

knowing something intellectually and understanding it through

becoming aware of self, of your body and all the spaces and areas

your feeling in your body.

of your body, what you feel like and where your mind is.” One
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morning at the end of movement ritual, Anna told us just to let

doing cartwheels, moving freely, naturally. The girl's mother

our bodies move themselves, without imposing any preset pat-

called her over to walk beside mother and grandmother. The little
girl’s body stiffened, her “activity” constricted, as she readily

terns, without interfering with notions of what might look
“graceful.” I lay there, not thinking about how to move. I felt my

assumed the pose of “woman” in imitation of her mother and

legs gently pull apart, opening up my genitals, and my pelvis

grandmother. Three generations —a legacy ot how to behave as

tilted under, slowly lifting my torso upward and back down. The

woman. The little girl sits demure, hands on her lap, ankles

experience was both real and unreal, as if my body were literally

crossed —do not fidget. All those messages. And how do they

make me feel as a woman?

talking to me, telling me how I felt. I watched, observing how my

My body as a woman. I return to Anna Halprin's workshop.

body wanted to unfold, to open out, my pelvis widening, my
chest expanding. I got scared. And I retreated, my body closing

After three weeks of working together, the women and men sepa-

in, curling up tighter and tighter. My “dance” spoke to me about

rated to find out how we experienced ourselves as groups, women

my female sexuality in a way my head had never allowed.

interacting with women, men with men. The women began with
a rap session. Tentative, sensing each other, a preliminary.

My body as a woman. A biological given. Each month I go
through the menstrual cycle. I sense the changes inside my body,

Anna then led us through a “movement preparation,” to take

the shifts in mood. My lower back tenses in anticipation, as if to

us inside ourselves. While doing the exercise, we were to visualize

inhibit the flow, to deny my natural female functioning. Is that a

our “life histories as women,” to become aware of our woman-

learned behavior? Clara Thompson, a well-known analyst,

hood. We worked in pairs, focusing inward by concentrating on

wrote: “Because menstruation is obvious and uncontestable evi-

our breathing. I sat on my partner Sara's chest, pressing against

dence of femaleness, many neurotic attitudes become attached to

her shoulders as she exhaled, letting go as she inhaled. Then, in

it; many painful menstrual periods are not due to organic diffi-

another exercise, I gently pushed down on Sara's stomach as she

culties at all but to protests against being female.”^ The secrecy of

breathed out. When she inhaled, I raised her up, my hands grip-

menstruation, not to be mentioned, not accepted. If I let my

ping behind her, opening out her chest .….…. pulling her toward me

lower spine and pelvis move slowly, unrestricted, as they want to

as I lay back on the ground ready to exhale. Repeat, reversing

move, I can allow the flow to happen. Without the cramps of

roles in seesaw alternation. Release, letting go — expansion, tak-

protest.

ing in. A natural rhythmic cycle at the center of my being. And
yet how hard it is not to try to control this vital process, not to

Menstruation — a sense of inner rhythm, an obvious connection between my body and my being. And I wonder if the visi-

interfere. Letting go, giving up freely, “passive”; taking in, open-

bility of this connection, month after month, makes it easier for

ing up fully, “active” — the simple process of breathing acquires

women to get in touch with their feelings through their bodies.

connotations. Do I resist exhaling, stopping short, afraid of being

Margaret Mead notes: “It may be that the fact that women’s

“passive”?

bodies are prepared for a so much lengthier participation in the
creation of a human being may make females — even those who
bear no children — more prone to take their own bodies as the
theater of action.” *°

I think about Erik Erikson’s article “Womanhood and Inner
Space,” and the controversy it raised.’ Believing that play represents the child's experience of her/his own body, Erikson found
that the differing spatial configurations of play scenes constructed
by children reflected the girls’ preoccupation with inner space
(womb) and the boys’ with outer space (penis). In a recent replication of Erikson’s study, Phebe Cramer concludes, “In other
words, the exciting events of a boy's life are exterior — and here I
would say exterior to his own body ... Girls, on the other hand,
focus on the interior. Excitement occurs within...” I read this
as a positive assertion. My body is constructed differently from a
man's. The sense of inner space —not a void, empty, waiting to
be filled, but a possibility, in touch with growth, alive, whole.
My body as a woman. Have I learned to hold my body in a
particular way because I am a woman? How does my stance conform to and reinforce how I am supposed to feel as a woman? In
Elaine Summer's class I was working with my shoulders. The
exercise: to stretch my arm out from the shoulder joint as far as it
wanted to go, then release it slowly back to center. Repeating
this, turning my arm, rotating my shoulder first in, then out.
Afterward my shoulders relaxed, heavy, weighted on the floor.
Yet when I stood up, I felt vulnerable, my chest, my breasts exposed. Confusing instructions ran round my head—to be a
woman is weak, you must not be weak, you must not show you
are a woman. And I observed my shoulders rise in tension to protect me.

A friend told me that once, while working with her shoulders, she reexperienced her teenage embarrassment at being flatchested. She remembered intentionally caving in her chest so no
one would notice her “deficiency.” Expectations of how to be a
woman. Elaine mentioned watching a little girl running around,
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Often, doing the movement work, one associates in images.
Each of us drew the images evoked by the exercises, and we
showed our drawings to each other, relating how these images
reflected our experiences of ourselves, our experiences as women.
Dana had depicted a child-woman standing small before an enormous closed door, surrounded by empty space. No mother to
greet her. Alone. On her own. Alice had drawn a little girl seated
in a yoga position with her arms held tightly against her body.
She explained that at 31 she felt “too young” to have children,
that she herself was just a child. Alice looked at her breasts in disbelief; she couldn't be grown up. My own drawing showed an
interior space — delicately pasteled, tenuous lines flowing into
and around each other. Scribbled flames of orange-red anger surrounded the inner sanctum, threatening to penetrate, to overwhelm it. And all of this was rigidly encased in thick black lines
. . .contained.
Some of the women danced out their visualizations. The
process of drawing our responses to the original activity and then

possibilities of movement, new ways of being. Each woman per-

using these drawings as a score for another dance encouraged a

formed for the others, sharing her own discovery of the beauty of

dialogue with our experiences. Melinda had sketched an incident

her body, of her self. A celebration.

from her childhood: while trying to prove her strength by climb-

In contrast, we spent the afternoon dealing with aggressive

ing a tree, she had fallen in front of her father and sister (her sister

energies, with what Anna called “self-hate.” We worked again in

turned away from her in disgust). She asked us to call out con-

pairs. Alice lay down, hands beneath her head, elbows on the

flicting instructions — for her to be a “lady” or a “tomboy.” At

ground. As she tried to lift her elbows up to bring them together,

one point someone yelled, “You won't have any boyfriends.”

I offered resistance by pressing down on them — not so much that

Melinda lashed out at this voice and burst into tears. She closed

she couldn't perform the movement, just enough to make it a

her dance by convincingly repeating Anna's words, “I can cry

struggle. While striving to raise her elbows, each woman was to

and still be strong.”

let out a sound as a way of releasing energy and vocalizing her

Marlo's dance was last. Her drawing was covered with

emotional response. A welter of groans, screeching into shrieks,

words: “you can't get out,” “push me.” Like Alice, she explained

often climaxing in tears.

she felt “too young.” In response, we formed a birth canal, offer-

Again we drew our experiences and danced them out. My

ing resistance as Marlo tried to crawl between our legs. Several

image was a mountain, closed off in dense blackness, impenetra-

times she stopped, frustrated, and we taunted her gently, urging

ble, with a tiny figure struggling desperately all alone to the top.

her on. Finally Marlo reached Anna, who was waiting quietly at

A pretense of strength. The barrier from my earlier drawing ...1

the other end. But Meg, the last woman in the canal, still held

am afraid to cry, afraid to show “weakness.” I keep telling myself

onto Marlo’s legs. When the two separated, Meg curled into a

I can make it, I can make it, I don't need anyone. So I grit my

fetal position. The group gave birth to twins. Humming softly,

teeth, holding my feelings in, and lift my elbows... To perform

we became a chorus cradling the two women. Marlo rocked,

this score, I asked several women to hold me down so that I

nestled quiet in Anna's arms. Meg, in contrast, needed to laugh so

couldn't get up. How real this “game” became. Despite the resistance, I was stubbornly determined to stand up. I couldn't

that she could cry. And those of us surrounding the two women
were no longer simply performers enacting a score. We were par-

(wouldn't) let any sound out, let anyone know how I was feeling.

ticipants involved in a drama —not fiction but real. Each of us

The others’ taunts hurt me — “how constipated she is,” “you don't

was Meg and Marlo, woman finding her self, woman reborn.

want to take up our time,” etc., etc. —but the hurt remained

Woman secure in the presence of other women.

bottled up inside. Sure, I might have simply told the others to
stop at any time, but (psychologically) I couldn't. And I reflect on

The following day our movement preparation focused on
how certain feelings correlate with specific body positions, how

Anna's insistence that dance is a direct expression of one's life.

emotional responses are locked into particular body attitudes. We

That the same emotional blocks that restrict our everyday func-

sank slowly, vertebra by vertebra, from a standing position, curl-

tioning also limit our movement.

ing tightly into a ball, then opening out, spread on the ground. As

I have people clearly looking at their old dance, con-

we continued to shift from open to closed positions, we were told

fronting it and accepting what it is and by dancing it,

to imagine a man in our lives looking at our bodies and to note

experiencing that it is not working. Once this has hap-

how we felt about his gaze. I saw first my father, then my friend

pened, all that vital energy locked up in the old dance is
rechanneled as energy and motivation to be used in

Bob watching me. Again the feeling of exposure as my chest and
pelvis expanded wide. As if by opening, I were to give up my self.

creating a new one.

My arms reached to hug my knees to my chest. No, I would not

After two days of separation, the women and men came
back together. Each group presented its experience to the other.

show them my body, my femaleness.

The women chose to perform in a redwood grove. First we

Finally we spiraled on the ground, one leg rotating across the

sketched out a collective score, each of us offering suggestions as

body, reaching forward, the corresponding arm rotating out,
reaching back. We explored this movement, making it more and

the plan took shape. The atmosphere of our setting was compe!-

more sensuous, twisting slowly, luxuriously, until we were danc-

ling ..…. the silence, the needle floor muffling every footstep. We

ing our love for our female bodies, accepting our sexuality. Turn-

decided to make that silence the core of our dance — no words, no

ing the torso, tentative at first, reaching down to caress an ankle,

sound. Other elements impressed us. We noted the trees towering

a calf. Flowing from one movement to the next, exploring the

upright, the light softly filtering through, the sacredness, the

fullness of the chest, the length of the neck, opening up to new

timelessness of the place. We wanted to merge with this environ-

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ment without invading it, to recognize and respect its power as

felt among the women was our shared strength, each of us rein-

part of ourselves. And we wanted to convey what the two days of

forcing the other — not so much through isolated echoes, as in the

being together had meant to us, how our experience as a group

men’s dance, more in harmony. We were less insistent on an indi-

had strengthened us as individuals.

vidualistic integrity. The men seemed afraid of each other, afraid

We began our performance separated, each woman dancing

to let their bodies mingle, afraid to touch. An aggregate of domi-

her self in relation to the surroundings. I snuggled myself inside a

nant notes rather than a true chorus. (Some people have thought

tree stump, needing enclosure within the vastness around me. I

that the difference I sensed was because I was an observer of the

couldn't see the others. Yet I felt their presence, I felt joined in

men and a participant with the women. I don't think so. In later

experience to them. And I became more confident; I rose to meet

discussions, the men admitted how difficult it had been for them

the trees, standing straight and tall. My hands reached out to

to come together as a group, how hard it had been to relate physi-

clasp Alice's. We walked toward each other, slowly, silently,

cally, to get close to each other.)

deliberately. Other women too began to approach each other,

Differences in communication patterns. In Marge Piercy’s

linking hand to hand. Soon we formed a chain, and we wended

novel Small Changes, Wanda is showing the members of her

our way, step by step, downhill. At one moment we paused.

theatre group the different ways men and women occupy space.

Sylvia stood alone, below us, sunlit on the dust-covered road.

She chooses for illustration how people sit in public places. “Men

She just stood there .….…. silent, still, the only movement the rising

expanded into available space. They sprawled, or they sat with

and falling of her chest as she breathed in and out. That was her

spread legs.. .. Women condensed.... Women sat protectively

dance. And her dance spoke to all of our experiences. A sense of

using elbows not to dominate space, not to mark territory, but to
protect their soft tissues.”” And I wonder again about the ways
women have been taught to hold their bodies.
It's almost two years since I became aware of my body. And
I'm still learning. Finding my center. Me. A woman.
1. Ann Halprin, “Community Art as Life Process,” The Drama Review
(Sept. 1973), p. 66.

2. Quoted in: Fraňtisek Déak and Norma Jean [Déak], “Ann Halprin’s
Theatre and Therapy Workshop,” The Drama Review (March, 1976),
Sl.

3. n Halprin, “Life/art workshop processes,” in Taking Part by
Lawrence Halprin and Jim Burns (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1974), p.
174.

4. Clara M. Thompson, On Women (New York: New American Library,
1964), p. 25.

5. Margaret Mead, “On Freud’s View of Female Psychology,” in Women
& Analysis, ed. Jean Strouse (New York: Dell, 1974), p. 127.

6. Originally published in 1968, reprinted with a reply to criticisms in
Women & Analysis.

7. Phebe Cramer, “The Development of Play and Fantasy in Boys and
Girls,” in Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Science, Vol. 4 (New York:

inner strength, not assertive, just present. An inner rhythm, in
tune with, part of the world around. An openness both expand-

International Universities Press, 1975), p. S61.

ing, filling the space, and taking in, absorbing the space. One.

8. Anna Halprin, quoted in Déak, p. 51.

The men’s dance was totally different. I find myself resorting

9. Marge Piercy, Small Changes (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973),

to clichés. The men performed in a cove at the bottom of a sharp

. 438.

: Nancy Henley, Body Politics (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1977).
11. Martha Davis, “Nonverbal Dimensions of Sex and Status Differences”

cliff, where the sea battled the rocks. The women watched from
above. Each man stood isolated on his own rock. Each was cos-

(presented at American Anthropological Association Meetings, Nov.

tumed according to his self-image. Arthur posed erect, legs firmly

1976).

astride, a warrior, face painted, high above on the tallest rock.
Lower down, on another rock, Jamie writhed, moaning and

Research into sex-role differences in movement patterns is still

shrieking, shaking his seaweed hair. Each man did a specific

limited. Nancy Henley’s new book, Body Politics: Sex, Power

movement which the others then imitated. A male “chorus.” Each

and Nonverbal Communication,” provides a much-needed com-

note sounded, then echoed back in differing tones as each man

pilation and review of the research on male-female differences,

adapted the movement to his own body. The shouts, the power

and what this means in terms of status. Just the title implies the

flung amidst the waves pounding rocks. The aggressiveness, the
“maleness” struck me.

importance of body language in regard to social “position.” In
another study, Martha Davis, a clinical psychologist, points out
that a number of aspects of non-verbal communication have both

One by one, the men disappeared around a corner. Arthur
jerked his rattle in a frenzied dance, Jamie plunged into the icy

sex-role and status significance—“frequently confirming the ex-

water to swim away. We could only hear the triumphant cries of

pectation of lower status associated with female, higher status

the tribe gathering. Then they reappeared, to enact a healing

with male.”!! Davis concludes her paper with a description of the

ritual. How different from the women’s ceremony with Meg and

pictures of man and woman sent into outer space on the Pioneer

Marlo. The men danced around each other, they seemed to avoid

10 spaceship: “The man stands upright, wide, ready to go into

touching each other. Their gestures were bound; less gentle, less

action. The woman stands with her weight shifted to one side,

direct than ours had been; their mutual support less overt. And

one knee slightly bent and inward, her attitude more passive, a

then they invited us down to the rocks to be healed. To be healed

role difference apparently considered important enough to propel
beyond our solar system.”

by the men? Was this really a meeting, equal to equal?
I still wonder that so many women went down. The atmos-

My thanks to Jacqueline Morrison who took all the photos at Anna’s work-

phere created by the men’s dance was alien, alien to me as a

shop.

woman. To go down was to enter a territory already staked out

Sue Heinemann is an artist, critic and sometimes dancer living in New

on their terms. Again the stereotypes. And yet ... What I had

York.

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As a therapist I have seen feminists and
non-feminists in treatment. The women I

of the healthy adult, although feminists

critical of others, while they downgraded

are outside the culturally defined “norm”

their own perceptions and feelings, as if

refer to as non-feminists did not initially

for female behavior.

they doubted their validity. Their emo-

My observations are based on a study

mention women’s rights, nor did they

tional responses tended to be limited to

claim participation of any kind in the

of 60 women—32 non-feminists and 28

the expression of sadness, desolation,

Women’s Liberation Movement. When

feminists, ranging in age from 18 to 45,

pain, very frequently accompanied by

we later discussed this issue, their reac-

from varied racial and educational back-

crying.

tions ranged from indifference, to sym-

grounds, including single, divorced and

pathy for some (usually less radical) as-

married women in both groups. The femi-

The non-feminist often responded to

pects of the movement, to open hostility.

nist group was younger on the average,

questions by repeating observations

Passive self-references predominated.

the oldest woman being 35. My descrip-

others had made of her behavior, her

ferred to themselves as such and explicitly

tions of the behaviors encountered are

needs or the purposes of her acts. The

supported various aspects of the women’s

based on the first two or three interviews

absence of an active self-referent was so

In contrast, the women I call feminists re-

movement. All of them believed that

with these women, although my hypothe-

striking, that I began to pay attention to

women as a group are oppressed, handi-

ses are based on longer observation peri-

how often and in which context the per-

capped or otherwise impeded in their full

ods during which I intervened as a thera-

sonal pronoun “I” was used. Comments

development by external forces, whether

pist.

like “it feels better,” “my mother says,”

social institutions, cultural mores or

The non-feminists sought psychiatric

“friends don’t like me to” or “my husband

men. While they varied in the degree of

help for complaints ranging from vague,

gets irritated at me if” were frequent. My

their actual participation in the move-

chronic feelings of dissatisfaction, aliena-

impression was that of a woman accus-

tion or depression to marital conflicts, in-

tomed to relying on others’ understanding

sciousness-raising groups. Most of them

ability to be creative, inhibitions in sexual

or reactions to her and unable or unwill-

chose to see me primarily because I am a

functioning, phobias or problems with

ing to attempt a more active and self-

woman, being fairly convinced that a

their children. All of these women, with-

woman would view their concerns with

out exception, presented their problems as

acteristic of defining the self via others

more understanding, that she would be

signs of personal inadequacy. Frequently,

was found among the non-feminists re-

less biased than a man, or simply that

they were baffled by their discontent,

gardless of their education, intelligence,

they could talk more freely with a fe-

simultaneously pointing out all the ad-

age, race and marital status. It was even

male.

vantages of their daily lives. As one of the

ment, all of them had experience in con-

directed search for definition. This char-

present in those “active” women who

patients put it, “I have a kind husband,

demonstrated competence, at home or at

tween these two groups in their views of

three healthy children, no financial prob-

work, in areas requiring a certain level of

their problems, their behavior in our ses-

lems, freedom to study and I'm not happy

I have been struck by the differences be-

decisiveness and organization.

sions, and their relation to the therapist.

— what's wrong with me?” This last ques-

In contrast, the feminist patients’ com-

And perhaps even more important, I have

tion was implicit in the statements of most

plaints were largely related to a set of al-

found that feminists appear to have re-

of the non-feminists who expressed their

ready established ideas or goals. They

solved successfully developmental stages

malaise in terms of symptoms, had no

were dissatisfied at finding remnants of

that non-feminists have avoided. Let me

coherent way to explain them, and saw

old behaviors that contradicted their pres-

briefly explain. Since feminists seek

these symptoms as something in them-

ent goals, at their self-defeat in attempting

changes in others as well as in themselves,

selves that needed correction or change. A

to defy the old order, at the failure of their

they develop more interpersonal skills

few stated their wish for understanding,

behaviors to elicit the desired good feeling

and an ever-increasing sense of self. They

but on further inquiry it became clear that

about themselves, at their excessive sensi-

are less afraid of their aggressive impulses

for them “understanding” was something

tivity to criticism or conflicts originating

—in particular, anger. They question the

that would automatically “dissolve” their

in their attempts to alter their hetero-

requests and expectations of others. Femi-

discomfort. Others who wished to know

sexual behavior and relationships. Some

nists do not dislike their sex and have dis-

themselves saw a successful outcome as

of the most militant were attempting to

covered bonds with other women. They

contingent on their ability to correct

introduce changes in traditional organiza-

have achieved separation from important

“whatever I am doing wrong.”

others, whether parents, husbands or chil-

If one couples these statements with the

tions or institutions, or worked in predominantly masculine occupations and

dren. They have asserted their autonomy

behavior of the non-feminist patients in

were faced with tremendous pressure to

by defining, protecting and defending

the office, one finds a remarkable congru-

conform to mores at variance with their

their own needs, establishing their own

ence: these women were not assertive,

own. Their discouragement and distress

goals and directions, with increasing trust

they behaved in a compliant and submis-

at the frequently negative responses they

in their own perceptions, judgment and

sive manner, and they never questioned

encountered led them to reexamine their

experience. All of these are characteristics

the examiner. They found it hard to be

goals and their behavior in order to find a

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compromise that would permit them to

they react with open anger. When ques-

continue their own development or inter-

tioned about their feelings, they seemed to

them, the freedom to express anger ver-

est at less cost to the self. If they had

have great difficulty voicing their anger,

bally and the ability to channel some of it

particularly toward those upon whom

into groups or personal goals (fighting

periods of low self-esteem, sexual inhibi-

they were dependent financially or other-

school boards, the political system, legis-

tions or guilt feelings, it was not the

wise; more often than not, their quick

lation or simply husbands and bosses),

symptoms they focused on but the be-

acknowledgment of anger was followed

plus the sense of inner rightness about

haviors, interactions and conflicts that in

by guilt, self-incrimination and doubts

their claims, clearly differentiated them

their opinion resulted in those symptoms.

about their femininity. These women ap-

from the non-feminists.

These women appeared to have already

peared to dread becoming the stereotype

Anger was sanctioned and indeed en-

“symptoms” such as anxiety, depression,

ganizing and even paralyzing effect on

made a fairly exhaustive analysis of the

of the “bitchy,” “castrating” or otherwise

couraged in groups in which these femin-

cause-effect relations between their be-

aggressively destructive female. Anger

ists found validation and support for their

haviors and experiences and the symp-

toward men, in particular intimate male

perception of what made them angry.

toms they generated. They were explicit

partners, was frequently subdued,

Although they had been or still were

about their goals and aware of both intra-

avoided or quickly turned into “aware-

fighting the image of the “castrating” fe-

psychic and interpersonal conflicts.

ness” of their own “demandingness” or

male, they believed that this specter had

unreasonable dissatisfaction. The listener

been raised to dissuade them from open-

of external sources of pain and confusion,

was, however, simultaneously briefed

ness about their dislikes, or from con-

for which they did not feel responsible,

about these men’s demanding attitude,

fronting people with their contradictions

seemed to help them make more and more

their insensitivity, exploitation and other

and put-downs. “C-R groups” gave them

discriminating judgments between their

blatantly hostile behaviors, as if the pa-

an additional chance to contradict such

problems and those of others. Their con-

tient needed outward sanction of these

stereotypes, for these groups provided a

scious and purposeful engagement in

feelings by having the therapist voice

great deal of nurturance and mutual

altering the social context in which they

them first.

In this regard, the feminists’ awareness

support.

lived or the persons to whom they related

Anger was more freely expressed

did not hinder their examination of their

toward other women. The non-feminists

between the two groups was found. The

own motives, needs or inadequacies. This

tended to see other women as shallow,

feminists were able to feel a bond of

In this regard, an important difference

capacity was largely responsible for these

empty-headed, jealous and untrust-

loyalty and a common source of concern

feminists’ positive attitude toward their

worthy. Aside from one or two “excep-

with all women—an important develop-

“problems.” For although they saw them-

tional” female friends, these women seem-

mental stage for females. Their newly

selves as not quite equal to their expecta-

ed to believe that women (themselves

found “sisterhood” —based on attempting

tions, they also saw their attempts as a

included) were justifiable targets of con-

honest friendship, support without mor-

desire to grow, to become more capable,

tempt, tending toward envy, selfishness

alistic judgment, openness and trust, and

more self-reliant and more flexible.

and manipulativeness. They thus found

on the sharing of deep feelings and experi-

themselves isolated from other women

ences—was of extraordinary import in

Awareness of their inadequacy to reach
desired goals did not lead these feminists

and considered their company uninterest-

their ability to channel, utilize and toler-

to question their sanity or their intrinsic

ing and unsatisfactory. While they did not

ate angry and destructive feelings. Al-

“neuroticism.” Since for the most part

voice such feeling in relation to me, when

though aware that most women would

they believed that the traditional labels

questioned they did state that they were

part company with them on sticky issues,

“ill” or “neurotic” had been incorrectly

concerned about having a female thera-

attached to the victims of oppression

pist or that I might be one of the “excep-

them and were sympathetic to the plight

whenever they gave signs of their pain,

tions” they could trust. On further ex-

of women in general. They explained

their whole view of “treatment” and the

ploration, it became clear that they had

other women’s hostilities as the result of

psychiatrist's role in it was very different

mixed feelings. They felt freer speaking to

from that of the non-feminists. The femi-

a woman, but this was partly due to their

tion to see women as enemies, their com-

nists were more selective in their choice of

low esteem for women. They clearly felt

petitive strivings around men and the

therapist, more critical of his/her views,

that the important judges of their worth

utterly dependent state of most women.

their fear of awareness, their indoctrina-

The non-feminists were isolated from

more knowledgeable of and attentive to

and attractiveness were men and that it

therapists’ tactics or ideologies that

mattered much less whether a woman

this realm of female experience, having

smacked of disguised oppression. While

found them satisfactory. My status as a

had perhaps a few close women friends,

the feminist patients sought alleviation of

psychiatrist did, however, tip the scales to

but neither knowing nor believing in

their pain and discomfort, they rejected

the other side. Their tendency to respect

women’s capacity to help one another and

symptomatic treatments. Drugs and

my role as an “expert” and to trust my

biological treatments were suspect as re-

opinion somewhat uncritically was in line

usually able to communicate their deepest

pressive tools. Their active, inquisitive

with their tendency to respect “authority”

worries only to the psychiatrist or minis-

and critical attitude toward the therapist

(particularly malelike authority) and their

ter, they had no way of realizing how

contrasted with the pliable, unassuming,

compliance with it.

common their concerns were to those of

dependent stance the non-feminists took

The feminists, on the other hand, dis-

to join in creative action. Being alone, and

other women, or of discovering their own

played a greater capacity for critical judg-

potential capacity to understand, help

The non-feminists often portrayed the

ment—of the therapist as well as of their

and decide about their own lives. The

behavior of others in a way that left the

cultural milieu—which was in direct rela-

feminist women had already tested this

listener with no doubt that the behavior

tion to their tolerance of and ability to

ground in “rap groups” where they had

was destructive, hostile or decidedly un-

voice angry feelings. Although at times

validated their own perceptions, gained

just. Yet they voiced no criticism, nor did

the intensity of their anger had a disor-

confidence in their own experiences,

in the beginning of therapy.

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achieved a new sense of self-enhancement

viduation and making discriminating crit-

others. Independence and autonomy are

and the ability to assert the self (yet not at

ical judgment possible. The freedom to

achieved by struggling against confining

tolerate anger, to voice it and to channel

expectations at variance with those of the

the expense of others). Although the feminists felt alienated from much of conven-

it into meaningful activity is a prerequisite

tional society and had to bear consider-

for further change. The pervasive inhibi-

able stress, they were not alienated from

tion of aggressive impulses in non-femin-

their own sex, and they believed that not

ists drains them of energy; those impulses

knowing who they were or what they

tend to be directed against the self, result-

wanted was more insidiously destructive

ing in self-depreciation, depression and

by far than a rude awakening.

feelings of worthlessness. This state of

My underlying contention is that feminists have advanced further on the devel-

affairs prevents moves toward selfassertion since these moves are perceived
as threatening the precarious balance of

opmental ladder and are at a psychologi-

dependency on others. In contrast, fem-

cal advantage compared to non-feminists.

inists' attitude of defiance is an affirma-

self. This posture of feminists forces active interaction with others and opens the
way for individuation and self-control.
It seems important to conduct a further
study of feminists and non-feminists who
do not seek treatment. The findings discussed here are relevant only to those
women who have actively sought help.
Teresa Bernardez-Bonesatti is a feminist psychiatrist whose special research interest is wom-

en and mental health. She is an associate pro-

of aggressive impulse plays in regain-

tive stance that provides the ability to

fessor of psychiatry at the College of Human
Medicine, Michigan State University, and chair-

ing self-esteem, achieving separation-indi-

weather disapproval and criticism from

person of their Affirmative Action Committee.

I regard as crucial the role the liberation

teachers or students at schools and museums where I came as a visiting lecturer, or where there was an exhibition of my work. Often as I
talked about my work, explaining my idea of “connection” to them, I
asked for a “souvenir” handkerchief, a bit of lace, an apron, a tea
towel — some object from their past which they would be willing to
have “recycled” in my paintings. I saw this as a way to preserve the
history of embroidered, often anonymous works which are our “connection” to women’s past. I have used the pieces women sent me in
these collage-paintings. — MIRIAM SCHAPIRO

Miriam Schapiro lives in New York City, is a painter and member of Heresies
Collective. She will be teaching at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia in the
spring of 1978.

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. BODY, SPACE AND

w a
Merilyn’s Kitchen.

cerned the observation and documenta-

project through their space, personal

Some people don't make good subjects because their lives are too much in flux or

tion of a 24-hour period in a woman's life,

ritual and body movement. For instance,

too disintegrated. With others it is hard to

long enough to allow a certain time, body

many feminists have approached me, but

separate what the subject believes to be

state or space to dominate. To date I have

I want to document women’s space, not

true from what I observe.

documented six people and am still in the

just feminists’ space.

My initial ideas for this project con-

process of observing four of them, includ-

cal-ideological commitment they want to

It is important to me that the subject

Two events have been significant in my

really understand what the project is

ing my mother, Rose, my sister, Merilyn,

use and understanding of my own space

about on her own terms. I have to feel

and my sister's four-year-old daughter,

since I began this project. First I painted

comfortable with my subjects, to feel that

Anda (who occupies one bedroom and

my bathroom and then I moved from my

I am not intruding too much. What they

one playroom).

500-square-foot home to a new apartment

do and don't want photographed is infor-

with 1200 square feet, which I trans-

mative, though I don't want to be con-

In my photographs I try to locate the
feelings and sensations of my subjects,

formed into a fantasy of space that I had

trolled by what someone wants me to

though sometimes it is just a scanning

had for a long time — large, empty, quiet,

see. Concealment is a delicate issue I've

low stimulation. The second event was

thought about a lot. The project is really

process. I am concerned with a person's
experience at a particular time and in a

being hospitalized for ten days with a

about disclosure, about how much a

particular space. Past and future apply

serious pelvic infection. I was given a little

woman is able to disclose to the artist. As

only when they obviously relate to the

tray with powder, cream, toothbrush,

soon as the camera comes in, there is in-

present; for example, a woman in her

toothpaste, mouthwash and cup. Nurses

evitably a certain amount of playacting. I

ninth month of pregnancy who has gained

and doctors took over the care of my

have to understand that, and at the same

40 pounds has a different energy than in

body, which was so much a part of my

prepregnancy, and her movements be-

personal ritual. I adapted to this external-

picture as possible of everyday ritual and

come cumbersome, fewer, and more

ly imposed space, but as I recovered, I

space.

focused.

began to reassert my control over my per-

time minimize my presence to get as real a

The key to personal ritual is found in

My selection of subjects has been criti-

sonal ritual. When I shared a room, it was

different places for different women. It

cal. I have chosen for the most part by

with a very sick woman who had cancer. I

may appear in the areas to which a

instinct. External circumstances, such as

observed what happens when the disinte-

woman devotes the most energy during

economic constrictions, are major factors

gration of a person's body breaks down

the day. And yet a dirty kitty-litter box

in occupation of space, so I have selected

her ability to control her own space and

may say something more important — or

women from diverse economic, educa-

ritual. I listened to the nurses and doctors

plants (when they are watered or moved

tional and cultural backgrounds. There is

repeating how good she smelled from

into the sunlight), or the humidifier (the

also a wide variety in the degree of inti-

baby powder. I began to think about this

ritual of keeping it filled and the space at

macy, as my subjects range from my

and what happens in prisons, mental

the proper temperature), or the medicine

mother and sister to total strangers. I am

institutions, hospitals, nursing homes,

cabinet, the phone, the television set, a

documenting a lesbian couple because

dormitories, the army. I thought about

workspace, shopping bag, refrigerator,

women living openly with other women

how a person maintains her personal

cupboard shelves, cosmetics drawer. The

in love/sexual relationships is one of the

ritual or utilizes space in such involuntary

pace of the daily ritual is particularly

important recent changes in women’s life

circumstances, what a woman takes with

important. In one case the care and time

styles. I had thought about documenting a

her to such places.

taken to wrap a head of lettuce indicated

transsexual and a pair of identical twins,

My project is primarily concerned with

general “compulsive perfection.” The
same woman told me that she had once

but I finally decided that such unique

how a person takes up space, whether or

situations emphasized the anomalies and

not she seems to fill a room, how her use

sent out her cloth napkins to be cleaned

detracted from exploring the essentials of

of space relates to that of her husband,

and pressed for her husbands birthday

children or roommates. I had trouble

dinner party. They “didn't look right”

ask, “Why do you want to be docu-

understanding one woman who seemed

when they came back from the laundry,

mented?” The answers often contain vital

perfectly at ease with her body; perhaps it

so she rewashed and reironed all of them.

clues. Some people just want to be ob-

was just that which lessened her need to

served. Some have a fantasy or a politi-

order or definitively affect external space.

body, space and personal ritual. I always

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Rose
Jewish, 57 years old, married for 37 years, three grown children,

home earlier and they have (to her joy) more social life. Rose also

part-time housewife recently returned to nursing on part-time

entertains her friends at home (a two-story house) with weekly

basis. She has started studying Spanish to understand her non-

dinners of lox and bagels (paid for on a rotating basis by “the

English-speaking clients and volunteers her nursing services

girls”), followed by a Mah-jongg game. Bedtime is usually nine or

periodically at a second clinic. Still spends a great deal of time

ten, sometimes earlier, but never without an evening bath. Prob-

cooking, cleaning, and caring for people (husband, grandchild

ably the greatest changes for her at this time are the recent loss of

once a week, often visiting children). The day always starts early

her mother, the coming of a second grandchild, and the full

and goes quickly, with great activity. Her husband, a car dealer

transition to “grandmotherhood.”

(age 63), used to put in an eight- to 12-hour day. He now comes

Subject awakens at 6 a.m., cuddles with her husband for a while.

I would like to express my appreciation to Carolyn Ashbaugh for help in organizing many of the ideas in this article.
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Merilyn
Married, 34 years old, a mother, expecting her second child,
working on a Ph.D. in human development— “busy, researcher,
clinician, social worker, psychologist, woman.” She feels a lot of
pressure to fulfill many roles. The pregnancy has made both
physical and mental activity more difficult, with many days
needed for rest and many nights to bed early. What is obvious
about Merilyn is the pleasure and time she takes for personal

Morning bath with her daughter Alexandra, nicknamed Anda.”
A

Getting dressed, holding on to cabinet for support.

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3 short fictions lucy r. lippard

1. the cries you hear
The rocks trembled every day for over two months and in parts of Tibet a sick person or a woman who had given birth
to a child was carefully prevented from sleeping. Sometimes the flower is so constructed that the insect cannot get at the
nectar without brushing against a stigma which, perhaps because males tend to fall asleep more rapidly than females after
intercourse, returns to stone needles. In the process of collapse the star's outer layers compress. Lying naked in the pouring
rain, our wetness the world’s wetness, our hard bodies the makings of rock. We took no photographs. The vacant plains
were a featureless screen on which we projected our memories of rivers forests oceans and mountains, of elsewhere — quick!
Before it....
Meanwhile, the females of the indispensable earthquake rest quietly in the half-closed blossoms, sharing the power of
sleep, oblivious to our pain. I was long in doubt concerning the origins of these conditions of stress, horror and exhaustion.
That two different organisms should have simultaneously adapted themselves to each other. During the third severe shock
the trees were so violently shaken that the birds flew out with frightened cries. Bubblelike cavities formed by expanding gas.
Solid pieces blown violently out of the womb. Glass surfaces, brittle and gleaming, formed by rapid solidification. Touch
me here. Wrinkles, pores in the earth's skin, basalt lavas swelling from beneath, channeled in fissures, dust and ash. The
cries you hear are only the continuing shock of life.

* * *

“It is a fatal delusion which presents the earth as the lower half of the universe and the heavens as its upper half. The
heavens and earth are not two separate creations, as we have heard repeated thousands and thousands of times. They are
only one. The earth is in the heavens. The heavens are infinite space, indefinite expanse, a void without limits; no frontier
circumscribes them, they have neither beginning nor end, neither top nor bottom, right nor left; there is an infinity of
spaces which succeed each other in every direction.”

* * *

A mountain chain is an effective barrier. The slow movement of underground waters carrying silica into sandstone.
Limestone metamorphosed is marble. Bedding planes obscured and mineral impurities drawn out into swirling streaks and

bands, swirling streaks and bedding planes obscured. He is tall and arrogant, questioning and vulnerable. Cold tar will
shatter if struck but will flow downhill if left undisturbed for a long time. Shattered and flowing, flowing and shattered if
struck. Hard things that were soft. Soft things that were hard. Hot things that were cold. Cold things that were hot. Wet
things that were dry. Dry things that were wet. Old things that were young. Young things that won't be old. It stops somewhere? Prove it.
Under the mist a solid prose of rocks, rocks and water, hard rocks and flowing water, safe rocks and treacherous
water. Rough rocks, motion frozen to the touch, thorny black volcanic piles, a vein, an aggregate, a channel worn away, a
pit blown or swirled out, grains, knife edges vertical. And smooth rocks, covered with pale and slippery algae, soothed to a
fine old gentleness. Patterns of water, ancient muds, slow curves.
In some alpine mountains high above the timberline, sheets of frost-shattered rock fragments creep slowly down the
valleys making curious tonguelike forms. My mouth. My tongue makes love to my mouth, searching its cavities for the
softest, wettest places to fondle, sliding past and over the hard sharp teeth so that it hurts a little, overlapping, lapping its
own roughness, slipping across the toothmounds under the gums and falling into the dark throat. Craving in. Prose, not
poetry. Its tentacles reach in more directions at once, from a solider base, at a natural pace. It circles and radiates, has a core
and a skin and a network of capillaries instead of only arteries. Memories wear away the present to an older landscape.
My leg, thicker at the top than at the bottom, stronger at the bottom than at the top, stranger at the top than at the
bottom, more useful at the bottom than at the top. At the top, plump flesh held firmly between thumb and forefinger, a few
long fine hairs on the broadest whitest part. Smooth and soft and secret lining where other hairs intrude from other sources
— darker, coarser. A crease separating the leg from the rest of the body, a crease that changes character as the leg is used for

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different things, a soft crease when I am sitting, a mysterious crease when I am lying with one leg curled to my stomach, no
crease at all when I am walking, but creased again when running, sometimes. A taut surface when held back, a valley
between bulges when not. A leg slimming gradually to a knotted center where the bones assert themselves. A hard hairy
hilltop, then a wrinkled old topography flattened into valleys. A leg that swells again, harder this time, smooth again, with
a neatly turning strength of its own, a leg that is straight in front and soft-hard in back, flat then rounded, a leg that finally
gives way to ankle and foot, the working parts detached from pleasure places above. The bony not so pretty skeletons of
motion, fleshed only around the ankle bones, arched over the instep and finally twice in touch with the earth.

* * *

Each major time unit is brought to a close by orogeny, also called revolution. Disturbance, disruption, disintegration,
under pressure. Even the strongest rocks may develop fractures. Deep decay and rotting of igneous and metamorphic rocks,
from blocks to egg and sphere shapes. Water entering into union with minerals. Metamorphic rocks have undergone kneading and shaping, baking and shaking, shale turning to slate when split by cleavage, by slippage, during the process. Slate
when struck sharply rings metallically. Clay comes in all colors. Playing the geomorphic role of a weak rock, staring at each
other but not speaking until finally. A poetic geology to take back to the red hills, white clay to merge as pink. Isolated
submarine mountains, the ocean floor pulled apart here, causing a rift, a certain cruelty. Alone is better I say. Then stop the
invasion. If you see two scorpions together they are either making love or one of them is being eaten. Aries energy stepped
back into the earth. My rock, your mesas. Ice needles pry apart joint blocks, tremendous pressures and bare high cliffs fall

off into conical forms, especially in dry climates. Niches, shallow caves, rock arches, pits, cliff dwellings. Come now.
Yes/No. In deserts, flash floods and earthflows, mudflows result from the inability of the dry land to permeate the permafrost. Shrinking and swelling. Given sufficient time, barriers can be broken down and new topographies arise. An unbridgeable gulf does not exist between organic and inorganic matter.

* * *

Drift, and erratic boulders are ascribed to mineral richness, to the action of great waves, but women’s tides told in the
caves refute such theories. Play pale beyond. In a climate warmer than that we warned each other, islands separated from
_ ice cover by a wide expanse of ocean, foregoing clubs for quieter power, fleshed fat and knowing. Warm interglacial leaves,
` closer to the fires, hands in a ring, shadows on the ceilings, circles drawn at dusk, footsteps from below. The occasional
peculiar transportation of boulders in a manner not in harmony with what we see ice doing at the present time. But little
girls are crafty. Our laughter pits the ocean floor. Echoing with pebble talk, scratched on anemones. Walls curving inward

toward us. No windows. Pictures nonetheless. Melted between sisters in collision. Only global catastrophes could have
brought about that smoothness. Only torrential rains, wet hair, wet cheeks. Each other. Barren stone and fragmented debris
stops here, swept back while lakes and valleys are dug out by other women. Each a specialist in her field. What generates
the enormous forces that bend, break and crush the rocks in mountain zones? What indeed. Women’s cataclysmic work,
traced by fingers in the meteoric dust. Giving birth to each other. Excessive.

2. into among
Stepping down and out. Someone else can move into this house. It looks o.k. from the outside but the inside needs
some work. I only regret how long it took to get down those stairs to the basement. Overhead the pretty flowered curtains
make wavered patterns on the sunny floor. A tomato is rotting fuzzily in the icebox drawer and other closets capture other
odors, other faults. Under the bed dust gathers roses smell acrid. The sheets at the hamper’s bottom were stained last winter,
not since. I've opened the windows but not the doors. It's all yours, if you want it.

* * *

Nesting fantasies. I am high in the tallest tree in the world and it sways in the wind. Exhilarating, precarious. I cling to
my egg which is disguised as the sea. When the fish hatches I swim through the air until I find a cave, brown, humid, and
grainy, where after a night with the boulder another egg is laid, this one transparent. I'm happy watching the beginnings of
a new dream. It sometimes has petals, sometimes blades. One morning the walls are opaque and that’s that. Dead leaves
turn to stone and I would leave but for the field of snakes that writhes beyond the entrance.

* * *

Shuttered. Unhinged. Falling off the roof. A nice white clapboard house with a soft green lawn, lace curtains at the
windows, roses on a trellis over the door, the old fanlight sparkling when the light hits it. We need a very long time to move
up the flagstone walk. In the process a war takes place, peace reigns, men land on the moon and women defend it, black
blankets of oil are thrown across birds’ coffins and the sea stinks. Still the little house remains, the sun always dappling its
freshly painted walls, the sound of piano scales twinkling delicately behind the curtain of warmth. When we reach the door
we are exhausted, gray, crippled, and in pain. The doorknob, though brilliantly brass, is cold to our touch and the door
sticks. It takes our last strength to open it and throw ourselves across the threshold onto what should be a rosy hearth but is
instead a deep dark well, the bottom of which, at this telling, we have not reached.

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3. headwaters
For reasons of their own, women are suspicious of diving and frown on their menfolk going down. D----, who has starred in

several underwater films, has never received a fan letter from a woman. — Jacques Cousteau
We are already down there. We have already gone down, our breasts bumping the boulders struggling to rise. Our
menfolk don't know where to send the fan letters. Can dive, but not delve. Perhaps far down are boundaries between layers
of water not obvious at the surface of the sea and quite independent of surface phenomena. Not just still waters. Rapture of
the depths. At a town called Headtide there is an old white church unconsciously marking with its spire the spot where the
Sheepscot River, short and wide, a tidal estuary, comes to an end in a stony brook and then goes underground. The term
tidal wave is loosely applied. Some rivers braid long plaits of sand with thinning streams, and others — always full, muddy
and sated — lag in fat banks. Tides are most marked when the sun is nearest the earth. Tides thigh tickling, oozing over the
edges and hummocks, a band of foam, making liquid land. Creeps up me toward immersion. Hold your waters. Making
waves, seeing red. I flow she flows we flow. Lunar and solar tides coincide, are fully cumulative only twice each lunar
month. While fans unfold, snap shut, and leave the flowers no escape. Underwater, irregularities rise and, cursing, fall.
Two or more wave patterns at the same place and time. There can, however, be independent waves. And long rivers pass

through different landforms like changing lovers. Impatiently cutting gorges, willing waterfalls and rapids to flatness.
Unfamiliar bodies hurled at each other. Beneath the rumbling, boulders lurk and lurch, needing a pool.

* * *

My traveling dreams are washed in foreign waters. In one I swim along a beach. The water is warm and the same pale
blue as the sky — bleached but not burning. Behind me swims a large black dog and before me floats a group of exotic birds,
brilliant pink feathers wet but still light, raised above the water in a tangle of wings. The end of the beach is distant; all
sand, no rocks or trees in sight. My swimming is leisurely but purposeful. In another dream I wake alone and rush to find
my lover. He is in the bathtub and I yell desperately at him: Did I sleep alone last night? Did I sleep alone last night?
Another night, my child, my lover and I are going to see a lighthouse through a swamp. The waterway is not very wide.
Trees hang dense over the edges but in the center where we swim it's blue, unshaded. A long trip to make boatless, but we
are swimming, accompanied at times by a fat friend. I'm not struck by the fact that we are swimming so much as by the
length of the trip, not tired so much as a little bored. Once again the water is tepid, body temperature, lulling. The lighthouse when we get there is on a broader bay, still inland, mountains in the distance. There is some talk of leaving and
returning in the afternoon. But there isn't time.

* * *

The waters broke with no warning. Lie still, pretend while it crests. Above our caves the divers’ forms pass dimly,
unaware. Destructive advances of the sea upon the coasts have two distinct origins: dreams like sunwarmed flats when the
tide comes in very slowly, visibly; earthquakes and storms. Neither related to the tide, and often not actually waves. Floating, I am a fleshy layer between sea and sky. Why go down? Letters melt and corals build. Why go down and not feel the
moon in the pit of your stomach? Or hear ripples whisper on the floor? The ocean's bedrock blurred. Unexpected, the cold

and purifying northern channels. With no warning, water on the brain, the belly, breast and buttock. Internal waves
stained pink affecting everything below above. Doesn't hold water, that’s all. Divers ring their bells but fail to reach us,
cannot pierce the bubbles that contain them. And we are already down there, friendly, calm, constructing small places in
which to wait, making room for others, settling in, exchanging disguises, rearranging caves and mountains, waiting until
they stop pouring oil on the waters, till they stop throwing rocks, sinking ships, turning our tides.
Lucy Lippard is a feminist art critic who also writes “fiction”; it has been published in Center, Big Deal, Tractor, The World and elsewhere.

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。 に

LETTER UTTERINGS YVONNE RAINER
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Yvonne Rainer is an American filmmaker currently living in Berlin. Her most recent film is Kristina Talking Pictures (1976) and she is the author of a
book, Work 1961-73 (The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design).

25

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Photos by Amy Sillman and Su Friedrich

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It's a guilty struggle, indulging in fantasies of myself in new

MEA CULPA *

clothes and roles and then rejecting each of them on “political
principle”: material projection of self seems at odds with a serious commitment ... And then the cycle twists and I defend artifice as a great form of subversion.
Women stride in boots.

SU FRIEDRICH

Little vests are super — little fur vests, little vests in gold at night
... Don't let anyone talk you into one of those suit-with-a-vest
routines — a take-off on men’s clothes is not what it's all about...
— Clothing ad in Vogue, 1976
There is no intrinsic sin in riding astride a horse, or in wearing

I used to read Vogue “for the photography” the way I read Play-

boots and breeches, but there is harm in violating those decent

boy “for the articles.”

rules by which the conduct of either sex is regulated.
— London Medical Times, 1897

Help keep America beautiful — Cosmetics ad

(quoted in Gay American History)

To assemble the props for this project, I spent an afternoon in the

So now, disguised as a “project,” I'm exposing myself to an over-

room-sized closet of Helen, a clothes maniac. When I lived with

whelming array of visual, emotional and intellectual costumes

her, I was always carrying on about “the renunciation of material

and it's becoming very difficult to overcome the predetermined

wealth as a primary political act”; I return one year later more

identities built into these clothes.

humble, less certain that this renunciation is actually as easy as
The wearing of one scent alone can become as much a part of a

They make it seem.

woman's behavior as the way she speaks, parts her hair, wears
down her lipstick ... and it's deliberate.

We are well past the days when beauty was an idle woman's way

— Editorial comment in Vogue

of passing the time — and we're secure enough to know the difference. Today, when time is something no one has enough of—
when women have jobs, families, and half a dozen other commit-

I usually don't think of myself as having the same soft curves that

ments — caring about yourself isn't the icing on the cake. It's one

I see displayed everywhere. I imagine that they belong to women

of the responsibilities of everyday life to look as well as you can

with very different perceptions of themselves. But no ..…. in the

. .. for yourself . . . and for the delight of others.

right clothes I'd be indistinguishable from them. Breasts, legs,
pink, smooth, a mute smile.

— Vogue's “Point of View,” 1975

And then I know that underneath they're as full of blood and
Helen is a perfect resource because of her indiscriminate attach-

guts as I am.

ment to all clothes. On the same day she'll buy a satin kimono,
She dresses for herself but we dress her. — Clothing adin Vogue

suede pantsuit and pink mohair sweater and then pack them
away and continue to wear her Hellenisms. If I were a freudian,

More than a way of dressing, Halston is a way of life.

I'd triumphantly claim her for my “clothes as a sexual surrogate”

— Clothing ad in Vogue

thesis. But I'm more interested in squeezing the lifeblood out of
the deadly aphorism: Clothes Make The Woman.
Helen's attic.
Tonight, I feel as ethereal as a silken butterfly. This afternoon, I

I slip on an apricot satin gown. It gleams. Soft, fantastically

helped him change a tire. Is it magic, the moonlight, or Cheryl

soft, cool on my thighs, hanging loosely over my breasts. My

Baron's slither of silk? — Clothing ad in Vogue

usual garb doesn't exact such erotic responses from my skin. I
begin to act out a seduction but it’s very unclear whom I'm seducing. I enter a male fantasy. I see more clearly than ever the

I must remain alert during this project, wary of its seduction. I

motives for this madness.

have what some people consider the bad habit of rarely confronting myself in the mirror. In fact I'm usually surprised to see
myself. My appearance runs the short course from plain lesbian

I was nine years old, reading comic books in the seclusion of my

feminist to affordably classy dyke. Even these images seem rigidly

back porch. Eagerly, I flipped to the Frederick's of Hollywood ad

codified and I am confused and dissatisfied with them.

in the back, my fingers slowly tracing the outlines of those drawings, lingering over the firm pointed breasts and outrageously full

Do you blame me for wanting to be a man — free in a man-made

hips. Stroking, stroking. Squeezing my eyes shut I dreamt of per-

world? Do you blame me for hating again to resume a woman's

fect curves and crevices, of cleavage and sculpted limbs on those

clothes and just belong? — Cora Anderson in 1914, who, after

crazy high heels.

living as a man, in man’s dress, and
marrying a woman, was “exposed”

In the more discreet magazines of high school and college I recog-

and ordered by a court to resume

nized Frederick's aesthetic translated into Tasteful and Chic.

wearing female clothes (cited in Gay

They had merely disguised it as “The Fresh Young Look” and

American History)

“The New Romanticism.”

Gentlemen prefer tuxedos ... When it's you. In your best ...

In 1678 Abbe Jacques Boileau published “A just and seasonable

double breasted satin tux...

Reprehension of naked Breasts, etc.”
— Quoted in The Unfashionable Human Body

— Clothing ad in The New York Times, 1976
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Feeling guilty: “How can I worry about the world of fashion

frost my lips, sculpt my lids with manufactured nature.

while the world out there is falling apart?” The World and The

Why does it feel so natural to perform this ritual? I want to feel
terribly strange. I want to experience it with the same bewilder-

Fashion World? It's clear how divisive and misleading man-made

ment that someone from a preindustrial culture would feel on see-

categories are.

ing the first photograph of herself, but I feel as if I'd never been
away from it.

I recall the months of hours spent in Catholic girls’ high school
earning the admiration of friends and the disapproval of the
nuns. Their typically “altruistic” rationale for our hideous uni-

The Papuans, for instance, have a high regard for the vibrating

forms was that they were freeing our energy for pursuits more

buttocks of their women who early learn to cultivate a provoca-

tive walk. — in The Unfashionable Human Body

honorable than vanity, but by basing this rationale on their priorities (chastity before comfort) rather than our own, they were

— First in class to shave my legs. Brave.

destined to fail. Precisely because everything.was so ugly (to our

— Discarded my bra with my Catholicism. Subversive.

self-conscious eyes) we spent that precious energy undermining
the dress code.

— Wore sandals and a long braid at the university. Intellectual.

Red bras or naked breasts shone through the thin white blouses,

— Feel professional in my velvet jacket. Adult.

high heels and gym shoes replaced the tyrannical saddle shoe,
arms were laden with clattering jewelry, eyes and lips and

I see how powerfully Their definitions have defined my reactions,

nails changed color every day, and 3:00 brought the hysterical

how much my spontaneity has been predetermined. This affects

rush to change into presentable street clothes.

not only how I “choose” to dress but how I respond to others.

The consciousness of being perfectly dressed may bestow a peace

ance.

such as religion cannot give. — Herbert Spencer

And the delightful confusion when a woman in Ladydrag gets

The “Ahh, I thought so” when a woman's actions fit her appear-

ANGRY, gets FURIOUS.
The disappointment when gym shoes and labyris protect a hypo-

In the days when I should have been daydreaming about boys, I

crite.

was busy admiring magazine models, my classmates, and myself.

The disorienting pleasure when a “butchy” woman speaks tender-

I was being trained to appreciate the artificial and real curves,

ly to me.

gestures and textures of women, but while I never wanted that
physical perfection in those to whom I was emotionally attracted,

How ludicrous.

I demanded it of myself. It seemed, however, that the harder I

But I challenge anyone to say that she doesn't go through the

tried to achieve that perfection, the more elusive it became. I saw

same gyrations.

how arbitrary the rules actually were; I learned to laugh and to

I hate it. I hate it and I keep doing it.

formulate some of my own ideas.
Powerful feelings of rejection set in: even my most stalwart

Everyone tells me not to worry, “Everyone does it.”

friends were trying to “grow up,” to dress and act “maturely.” In

A lousy argument.

response, I discovered nervous habits, too much unwanted atten-

Whatever happened to self-definition? To inner-directed fantasy?

tion, too little love, self-consciousness and ANGER.
. . . there is a woman among the Snakes who once dreamed that

Thanks for the anger.

she was a man and killed animals in the chase. Upon waking, she
assumed her husband's garments, took his gun and went out to

“Dressing should be exactly that—a tasteful overlaying that

test the virtue of her dream; she killed a deer. Since that time she

brings out the best in me. And you know what: This is the year I

has not left off man’s costume ... by some fearless actions she

can really be me!” We understand you at Saks Fifth Avenue.

has obtained the title of “brave” and the privilege of admittance

— Clothing ad in Vogue

to the council of chiefs. Nothing less than another dream could
make her return to her gown.
— Pierre-Jean de Smet (quoted in Gay American History)

Like most mothers, mine is respectful of Culture. I once went
with her to The Ballet, in old jeans, my favorite peasant blouse,
and without shoes. I try now, seven years later, to remember her

The danger lies in rebelling on Their terms, replacing one dictate

shame, and her rage (at me). She asked, “Why do you DO it?”,

with another. Are we really appeased now that we can wear

sounding as if I was poisoning babies. But I don't predicate my

pants to work? No ... we embrace the egalitarianism of pants

appearance on how effectively it will offend others. I am con-

and then create socioeconomic distinctions between pants, slacks

fronting how I alone want to dress. If I am ostracized because I

and trousers, between fine and grubby pants.

dress like a “slob” or a “dyke,” she mutters something about my

Fashion changes, but its significance remains: style costs money.

“deserving” it. They all do. The impulse to please her, to con-

We have been taught to be grateful for the “democratic” variety

form, is a glass splinter in my gut, dangerous to extract but fatal

in our lives, but our clothes reflect our economic tyranny. Not
only can few of us afford the ever-changing demands of fashion,

to ignore. What else can I do but try?

but we are also destroying animals and the earth to satiate our
I admit the monster in me. I salute the witch. My ancestors were

insatiable “needs.”

proud and fierce and slaughtered. My sisters remember. We

This isn't a fixed reality, it's been built from egocentric and ruth-

remind each other, we snarl.

less fantasies. Alter the fantasy and we alter the reality.

Spot tip: to reduce a too-full upper lip, outline it with a white

The mystery of fashion is that this sudden change of detail is

pencil and smudge it down. — Beauty tips in Vogue

imposed on women: they cannot escape it . ..… In matters of style,
women obey some hidden law analogous to the one that decides
the colors of the wings of birds or the petals of flowers.
— in Feminine Fulfillment

I go to Woolworths for makeup for this project. I have to work
some black magic on my unkempt face. I expertly “blush on,”
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We must begin to believe in a value-free body aesthetic; free

People resent anyone who won't dress “nicely.” We defile their

choice will come only when the options aren't value-laden.

sanctified spaces.
“Irreverent!”

I'm tired of sad-looking women, of drab suffragettes, of dull and

“It’s just a phase.”

unbecoming colors. — Valentino, clothing designer

“When I was your age...”

Trying to extricate myself.

I am not a string of phases. I am no age.

Trying to think without Do's and Don'ts, feminine and mascu-

In childhood they taught me that acceptance and success would

line, fame or famine.

come only with conformity. But my acceptance of myself has
come only through nonconformity. They call me selfish because I

Growing up a Catholic middle-class white girl taught me the

don't want to validate their “need” for discretion and propriety,

value of disobedience. I have a vivid sense of my difference and I

their need to belong. I answer that the incessant craving to be

want to exploit this to catalyze a reaction, to force a confronta-

legitimate is the corrupting force in all of us.

tion of values.
My appearance is an immediate, nonverbal statement and what I

I don't want to have to dress like a man to get in.

do subsequently either confirms or destroys people's assump-

I'm not interested in looking like a Lady to receive sanction.

tions; they don't want to hear an articulate defense of my “bad

I'm tired of being fooled by flannel shirts.

habits.” They want room to condescend.

I'm not a feminist because of my boots.

They tell me I'd “improve my chances” if I wore the right things.
Chances? Is this a lottery? Who are they to decide my worth?
I know that we need to feel okay about ourselves, but the question here is using clothes to get or keep privilege.
. . . as hard times were crowding upon us, I made up my mind to
dress in men’s attire to seek labor as I was used to men's work.
And as I might work harder at housekeeping and get only a dollar
per week, and I was capable of doing men's work and getting
men's wages, I resolved to try.
— Lucy Ann Lobdell, 1854, age 25
When I feel jealous of women who “survive” by wearing the right
trinkets smells shoes colors, I remind myself that with the game
comes the terror of losing. I had assumed that being a dyke meant
not playing the game, but I'm in the same trap as an obedient sister. She has to remain desirable by Their standards while I have
to continually fight Their insistence that I be desirable. I fall into
the trap of thinking that I had no interest in being desirable.
Of course I do, but not on Their terms.

There is a way of dressing — a way of looking — that to American
women is like a way of life. It has to do with a certain free-wheel-

and down. — Vogue

ing casualness and dash that goes through and through and up
Slob.

. . . elegant clothing becomes your coat of arms, by which others
will recognize that this is indeed yourself. A rag can be eminently
elegant, as we see in Andalusia with the beggars ... We understand that elegance is not conferred by luxury but rather by
poverty; the latter brings us close to a state of nature where noth-

ing is useless. — in Feminine Fulfillment

Hippie.
* During Catholic mass, the assembled chant “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea
maxima culpa” (through my fault, through my fault, through my most

Thank you, Arthur Richards. At last, someone recognized that

grievous fault) as they beat their breasts three times.

women prefer what gentlemen prefer. And that's the fit and qual-

ity of menswear tailoring. — Vogue

Thank you Helen for your clothes, and Amy Sillman and Cynthia Carr for

Dyke.

assisting in the photography, and Jonathan Katz, Gay American History
(New York: Crowell, 1976), Bernard Rudofsky, The Unfashionable Human

Confidence is a Lady in a Leon Levin. Vogue
Ballbreaker.

Body (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1974) and Jean Guitton, Feminine Fulfillment (New York: Paulist Press, 1965).

The new bareness ... and what it takes to wear it. — Vogue

Su Friedrich teaches photography to the women at Bedford Hills (N.Y.)
Correctional Facility, is a freelance photographer and lecturer and a mem-

Whore.

ber of the Heresies Collective.

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SPACES :

Alice Aycock. Wooden Shacks on Stilts with Platform. 1976.
A-frame: 6’ x3’ x 17⁄2’ h. Platform: 18’ x 10’ h.

Hartford Art School, West Hartford, Conn. =

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This content downloaded from
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son ALAA APND RR OTHE iicusz AT NISI l
Mimi Weisbord. The House at Night. Watercolor. 9” x 13”. Collection Dr.
Alma Bond. (D. James Dee.)

S, : BERAN. At
Anonymous. Little village on island in northern Wisconsin.

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SECTION ABS

INITIATION SPACE | |
(INCEPTION MOURAUD
MATERIAU BETON

Tania Mouraud. Project: Initiation Space No. 1. 1970. (André Morain.)

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Jody Pinto is a sculptor who lives in Philadelphia. Her work deals with
private body images in urban architectural situations.
8

312”. x

Audrey Hemenway was born in Brooklyn early in the Great Depression.
“Family camped summers and I developed lifelong passion for sunlight,
raise daughter, now full-grown artist herself.”
Yayoi Kusama is a sculptor living in Tokyo. While working in New York in
the early 1960s, she executed happenings on the Brooklyn Bridge, in front
of the Stock Exchange and elsewhere.

The woman who made the miniature village in the woods on an island in
northern Wisconsin remains anonymous.
Ellen Lanyon is a painter, printmaker and ceramicist who lives mostly in
Chicago. She has been called “the new Audubon” for her work with natuuse of nostalgic objects.

Mimi Weisbord is a painter whose obsession with houses has recently led
her into a third dimension.

Elena Borstein is a painter who lives in New York. She also teaches painting and photography at York College and is a member of the Andre Zarre
and Soho 20 galleries.
Tania Mouraud is an artist in Paris whose walls, feminist photo pieces and

environments have been widely exhibited in Europe. She lived in India for
a year and frequently concentrates on meditation enclosures.

children, Jane and Douglas.

1966. Since then she has worked. primarily with very large architectural
pieces in and of the landscape; one, near her home in Buskirk, N.Y., is Over
three miles long.

ingtonville, N.Y. and teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Mary Miss is a sculptor living in New York. For the last six years she has

concentrated on large-scale indoor constructions as well as making outdoor
pieces.

outdoors in street works and indoors in rooms.

Mary Miss. Sapping. 1975. Wood, steel, paint. 9’ x 20’.

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also lose an important part of the history

vide up to eighty percent of the food and

tory as the product of “mankind's” efforts.

of women’s roles in world culture, for in

as an extension of their expertise in plants

Most of the events and achievements

societies whose traditions remain intact,

and fibers (with which they make nets),

chosen for posterity as significant have

the roles women play are central to their

been dominated and determined by males.

cultures—not on the sidelines, where our

the women construct usually consists of a

However, there are histories other than

culture seems to wish us to be. In light of

framework woven like an inverted loose

those of modern post-industrial nation/

this, contemporary feminists’ identifica-

basket, covered or thatched with avail-

Human culture has been viewed by his-

they are also the builders. The dwelling

states. In traditional societies, located in

tion and re-creation of “women’s culture”

able materials such as large leaves, bun-

what is often called the Third World,

can be seen not just as a protest against

dles of grass or woven mats. These shel-

women have played a crucial role in the

oppression, but as a recognition of the ar-

ters share significant characteristics across

formation of cultural features vital to

bitrary denigration of the history of

cultures. They are flexible, often flooded

human existence. One such area, not usu-

women’s activities. The discovery that

with translucent light, and scented with

ally credited to women, is architecture. In

architecture is a traditional woman's art

the smoke of fires and fragrant floor cov-

traditional cultures, women are often the

opens up the possibility for a new under-

erings. They are round, ovoid or conical,

builders and owners of structures, pro-

standing of our role in the formation of

with no edges or planes to interrupt the

viding shelter and creating the conditions

human culture.

flow of space. Their size and shape maxi-

for social interaction.

Grass Houses

mizes physical and psychological contact

Although I will use the “ethnographic

Societies of gatherers and hunters lived

among the dwellers. Anthropologists sug-

present” in most of this article, many of

in small bands, constantly moving within

gest that such human proximity is particu-

the traditional non-state societies in North

a relatively large territory from which

larly conducive to intuitive and non-

America and Africa on which I focus here

they foraged for plants and animals. These

verbal communication, to the develop-

no longer exist, or no longer exist in their

groups, which include the !Kung of the

ment of internalized cultural rhythms.”

original forms. Their structures differ

Kalahari Desert in Namibia and the

In our Western cultures, such tacit syn-

vastly from those of modern states. Some

BaMbuti (Pygmies) of central Africa's

chrony is usually found only in mother-

of these societies are small bands of

Ituri Forest, bands in the Sahara Desert,

infant relationships, a vestige of what was

gatherers and hunters, some are semi-

Algonkian and Athabascan groups in

nomadic peoples who seasonally follow

North America, are intriguing in their so-

herds, and others pursue a form of farm-

cial harmony and their knowledgeable,

ing called horticulture, where the local

non-exploitative interaction with their en-

the organic nature of gatherers’ dwellings

economy is self-sufficient and women are

vironments. Women and men regard each

is a cultural extension of the biophysical

other as equals. Among the BaMbuti,

environment of the womb. But in fact,

frequently the farmers.

once the nature of communication between both sexes and all ages.
A freudian theorist might suggest that

hunting is a joint effort, men care for

these shelters can be extremely open and

virtually all those societies that remain are

babies and women enter public discus-

unwomblike. They include unsheltered

now undergoing “modernization.” If we

sions.!

areas where the work of the household,

Initially victimized by colonization,

lose the histories of these cultures, we will

In gathering societies women may pro-

such as plaiting mats and scraping skins,

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takes place. The house life overflows into

the focal point of women's creative activi-

of the grass house remained essential. For

outdoor space, allowing the activities of

ties. Since it is usually constructed from

semi-nomadic desert dwellers, such as the

its inhabitants to expand. Many gatherers’

materials that can be replaced from avail-

Pima and Papago of the American South-

dwellings are easily adaptable, and when

able natural sources, it also binds society

west, the convenient raw materials for

to its natural environment.

building might still be plant fibers, par-

not easily expanded (as in the hemispheri-

ticularly where the women were highly

cal scherms of the IKung) there is flexibility as to who inhabits them. Children do
not have to sleep with their parents, and

Desert Dwellings, Wigwams and Tipis
Semi-nomadic peoples live some part of

skilled basketweavers and had developed
ways of weaving fibers into other forms,

can either stay with their grandparents or

the year in relatively permanent camps

such as cotton cloth or yucca-fiber san-

make camp with other children of the

when an adequate food supply is avail-

dals. Up until the twentieth century the

same sex at either end of the settlement .?

able — wild plants, such as the wild rice of

Pima were dispersed in the winter and set-

Thus the gatherers’ house is not a struc-

the Great Lakes region, or those provided

tlements were occupied only for a few

ture enforcing family isolation, but serves

by temporary cultivation. Some semi-

months during a short growing season.

as a shelter of great social fluidity.

nomadic peoples follow herds of wild or

The women built structures that mingled
the style of mobile peoples with that of
the ancient Southwest Pueblos. Their
houses were grass but the interiors were
slightly below ground. Sometimes earth
was used to anchor the lower portion of
the exterior wall, a feature which perhaps
explains the evolution of the earth lodges
built by the Navaho and by the Mandan
further north.

Another feature of grass houses is the
tensile flexibility of the structure, which
was later developed into the tent form. In
the desert or plains it might be adjusted or
even formed in relationship to wind patterns; the walls might be opened, or
closed tightly, to adapt to the wide ranġe
of temperatures characteristic of these
environments. The tent consists of a
framework over which a tight covering is
stretched; it may be low and rounded or

IKung gatherers and scherms.

In these mobile cultures land is not individually owned and no dwelling is permanent. Women possess the building
know-how rather than the actual structures, which they may erect collectively.
The building activity may be almost ritualized, as the “performer” sets into motion a body of traditional knowledge
shared with other women:
Now she squatted down making her
own home, driving the saplings into
the ground with sharp thrusts, each
time in exactly the same place, so
that they went deeper and deeper.
When she had completed a circle she
stood up and deftly bent the fito over
her head, twisting them together and
twining smaller saplings across forming a lattice framework. Then she
took the leaves we had collected and

domestic animals part of the year and

tall and conical, but either shape, with its

slit the stalks toward the end, like

spend the rest gathering and hunting, or

flexible covering, is perfectly adaptable.

clothespins, hooking two or three of

trading. These societies are not sedentary

Tents also differ from grass houses in that

them together. When she had enough

because they or their animals must range

the coverings, and sometimes the frames,

she started hanging them on the

for some proportion of their food and the

are carried with the band as it moves. All

framework like tiles, overlapping

basics for making material goods. Gen-

the components of such tents, including

each other and forming a waterproof

erally they inhabit arid desert lands or

those of the Tuareg, Algonkian wigwams

covering. There were leaves left over
when she had finished, so she let

plains choked with grasses, where farm-

and Plains tribes’ tipis, are made by wom-

other women take them for their
houses.
The dwelling in the gathering culture is

en —exterior and interior walls, floor

ing is difficult.

The architecture of such semi-nomads

coverings and frames. There is a tradi-

grew out of forms developed within gath-

tional basic form, but the tent is by no

ering societies. Certain structural features

means standardized. In each society wom-

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en have created subtle variations on the

the touch than those of the men; and

frame or the arrangement of tent flaps for

but the traditional sacred designs and high

indeed their entire muscular system is

ventilation. In the arid Atlas Mountains

far more developed and they are proportionately stronger in the arm.5

standards of work are still rigorously
adhered to.

of North Africa, Tuareg women weave
and embroider wool coverings for their
tents. The frame has a number of possible
shapes, demonstrating the interplay between individual choice and cultural
tradition.

Similarly, the tipi-builders of the Great

take a project. An older woman held the

the construction of their dwellings. They

society's medicine bundle, filled with

developed one of the most striking forms

objects of spiritual power, and with the

in women’s vernacular architecture. The

vower, performed the rituals necessary

Plains societies were mobile; they moved

for the work to begin and end. She would

from winter hunting camps to large sum-

instruct the younger woman in needle-

mer ceremonial villages and the women

work and the society's ceremonies; then

carried not only the skin coverings and

the entire group started work together.

interior liners, but the poles with which

Afterwards the woman who had vowed

the tipi was erected as well. These were

the task continued alone, although she

hard to find on the Plains, and made a

could consult with society members

useful sled (travois) for carrying house-

whenever a problem arose.

hold property and people over long distances.

Men and children were not allowed to
touch or see the work until it was com-

When more permanent materials were

pleted, when members of the society dis-

used for making dwellings, women often

played the piece to the public. Following a

cooperated in their manufacture. In mak-

ECURIES

The Quillers’ Society met when a woman of the community had vowed to under-

Plains were responsible for all aspects of

feast, the women whose work was on

ing an ordinary tipi, the owner scraped

view became a member of the society, one

and tanned the hides from which the

of the most respected institutions of her

cover would be made, frequently using

world. Among the Cheyenne a woman's

treasured tools which she had inherited

achievements in decorative craft were

from the women of her family. Then a

valued as highly as a man’s deeds in war.

female specialist was called in to cut and

Moreover, the Quillers’ Society :

fit the skins, and neighbors gathered to

. . . was spoken of as being similar in

Tuareg tent and structural variations. (From
Nicolaisen.)

Algonkian-speaking groups, originally
inhabiting much of the Eastern United
States, were pushed west to the Great
Lakes region after the white invasion.
They hunted, gathered, fished, collected
maple sugar, gathered wild rice, and had
gardens. Some, like the Kickapoo, constructed wigwams of frames covered by
mats. Others, including the Ojibwa, constructed conical tents covered with thin
sheets of birch bark sewed together with
small roots until long enough to cover the
sides. Ojibwa women cut the poles for the
frames and made colorful mats from reeds
to cover the walls, and to serve as carpets,
beds and sofas. Softening, bleaching and
dyeing these reeds was a complicated
process. The completed mats were carried
from site to site. Early white observers

help stitch them together with sinew.

were greatly impressed with the women’s

Making a tipi could also fulfill a sa-

strength, as shown by this comment from

cred function. Plains women formed spe-

1855:

cial associations, notably the Cheyenne

It may be easily supposed that these
squaws, owing to their performing

Quillers’ Society, for the ceremonial decoration of tipis and their interior walls with

conception and attitudes to the
Sacred Arrows [most sacred Cheyenne men’s society], one very important difference in behavior may be
noted. During the four-day arrow ceremony no talking, joking, or laughing was allowed in camp. The mak-

all the work of joiners, carpenters
and masons have blistered hands. In

dyed porcupine or bird quills. More recently these tipis have been made from

tended by a good deal of joking,

fact, their hands are much harder to

canvas and decorated with glass beads,

teasing, and fun. While the cere-

ing of the sacred beading was at-

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mances took place there and it was both
dwelling and workplace for the many
families of the clan to whom it belonged. `
By controlling the longhouse and the food `
stores, women played a vital part in the
political affairs of the tribes.^ Through |
manipulation of supplies they could encourage or prevent war parties. The
senior women, who controlled the longhouse, also played an important role in
social policy decisions. They appointed
spokesmen for the clan in village and
tribal councils, and they could also “remove the horns,” that is, remove those
spokesmen from office if they did not do
their job according to the women’s interests. The longhouse stood as a symbol of |
the society at large; the confederation of |
the Iroquois tribes recognized the signifi- |
cance of this woman-owned institution by F
naming themselves The League of the |
Longhouse.
There are few matrilineal cultivating
societies remaining in the world. One of
their striking characteristics was that they

monial character of the work was

were subsistence societies —that is, no

recognized, it interfered in no way

wealth was accumulated from year to

with the social pleasure of the occasion.

Separation of the sexes does not necessarily serve as a foundation for male

Female Farmers

domination. Cultural practices that en-

When societies obtain their food pre-

courage one sex to feel communal soli-

dominantly from horticulture, it is practi-

darity and to express itself in opposition

cal for the people to settle in more permanent villages close to their fields. Jobs

to the other seem to yield much autonomy
to both men and women as groups, indi-

are traditionally assigned to one sex or an-

cated by the development of separate eco-

other. Sometimes men and women culti-

nomic, social or ritual spheres outside of

vate different crops and even speak different languages.
Even space within the village might also
be divided along sex lines, and the architecture reflects and affects sex-specialized

the activities that demand the involvement of both sexes. The position of women is particularly strong in matrilineal
societies, where they are leaders of clans
and owners of the fields, of harvest, food

tasks. Women generally dominate culti-

storage and dwellings. The longhouse of

vation but building tasks are specified and

the Iroquois-speaking tribes of North

divided according to sex. In much of

America, built until the mid-nineteenth

Africa the characteristic building form is

century, was controlled by women, and

round, with a gabled and thatched roof

was a remarkable example of communal

and walls made of wattle and daub. Each

living. The longhouse served as the center

component is made separately by men

of Iroquois social life. Ritual perfor-

n"

< e.
£ WOMEN'S ^Q,

or women. Male and female tasks vary
from society to society. Among the Kiku-

8 BED e N
. ua" THEGI

yu of Kenya, men construct the walls and
women the roof. After the men finish their

l v O..."

g A * (store) 4

work, they go to the feast celebrating the
house building. They goad the women,
calling them “slow chameleons” who will
miss the feast if they don't hurry. The
women, who are working on the thatching, typically respond in chorus:
You men, you lack the most important art in building, namely thatching. A wall and an empty roof cannot

o . l

si N
N 2
: GECECOS
Y7
Sga
co Entrance
`~ o °°
$ S iuit H o` GIRLS’ d
1 ree z Z ú ' BED

o° GETHAKYU o

protect you from heavy rain nor
from the burning sun. It is our careful
thatching that makes the hut worth
living. We are not chameleons but

e

4

O (Veranda) ©

Floor plan, Kikiyu women’s quarters. (From Kenyatta.)

year. Although the source of food and the |
type of settlement differed, they shared
this feature with the gathering peoples |
mentioned earlier. The change from subsistence society to one in which it is possible to accumulate wealth frequently
comes with the addition of livestock or
herd animals to horticultural life. Such a
change in process was observed in the
early nineteenth century among the Mandan, a cultivating society living on the
North American Plains. Basically, the
Mandan lived two life styles. The matrilineal one dominated the life of the vilage, where women were the farmers and |
owned and built the houses; the second
was patrilineal, occurring during the sum- :
mer months, when some of the women
tended the fields, while most of the men _
and a few women went into the Plains to
hunt buffalo. This resulted in an important division of economic tasks and calen- |
dars — the women living by an older agricultural calendar, and the men by the seasonal migration of the buffalo herds. |
In the Mandan village, the lodges the
women constructed were admirably :
suited to the climate of the Great Plains.
They may have originated as structures |
like those of the Pima. Walls of willow
saplings and brush and a final layer of
earth were erected over a wooden frame.
The walls were built quite thick and the
lodges were cool in summer and warm inf!
winter. Quite possibly these were the
prototypes for the sod houses built by
pioneers settling in the Plains in the nine
teenth century.

|
>
|

38

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After L.H. Morgan.

If the Mandan had survived the epi-

Near East and Africa, woman is associ-

oriented to interiors, and interiors alone.

ated with the domicile as its caretaker, not

The home, as the exclusive province of

as its owner. The isolation of women in

women, has become a significant cultural

the home is, of course, a function of

image on many levels — almost an arche-

wealth. In poorer cultures the woman

typal reflection of the privatization of

may be forced to work for the family’s

women's lives and the resulting obsession

survival, but in most places, she is sup-

with house/home. So now we paint,

posed to remain in the home. In Spain,

write, sculpt our houses; so far, too few

she decorates her house with whitewash

of us are creating architecture.' In learn-

demic of smallpox which destroyed the

as a symbol of purity — both of the domi-

ing more about the options available to

tribe in 1840, it is possible that they would

cile and of its keeper. When a woman's

women in other cultures, we become

have become patrilineal, giving up culti-

life is relegated to the private sphere of

more conscious of our own untapped

vation altogether to pursue the buffalo as

society, her significance in the culture ap-

potential.

other Plains tribes did. In patrilineal soci-

pears merely symbolic. She is a posses-

eties, as we have seen with the Cheyenne,

sion to be protected. In Berber villages,

the woman's position is secure when she

she weaves inside her husband’s house;

continues to control important cultural or

the loom is not considered her tool, but a

economic features. Frequently these two

symbol of male protection. Sitting behind

spheres are connected, as in societies

it, she is shielded from the door and from

where women have a specialized architec-

the street life that lies beyond it.” Thus

ture for their own activities. The Igbo

women are isolated from the world of

society in Nigeria is patrilineal, but with

confrontation, conversation and public
interaction.

the exception of the yam, all produce is
considered women’s property; they sell

With the advent of industrialism and

anything left over from feeding their fami-

the wage economy in any society, separa-

lies, becoming successful traders. A cen-

tion of home life from public work be-

tury ago, when this marketing activity

comes firmly entrenched. The many roles

was increasing, the women also began to

of women are reduced to motherhood and

construct ritual sanctuaries in groves out-

housekeeping. The number of craftswom-

side the villages. Called mbayo houses,

en, artists, businesswomen and builders

these were maintained by a cult of the

decrease. Separation of home from busi-

earth goddess Ala, and were decorated

ness premises makes it more difficult for

with male and female symbols and erotic

women to share in a work world domi-

figures.

nated by men. Machine-made products

In patrilineal societies women may
have certain economic powers; if so, they

limit the type of paid work that can be
done in the household. Control over the

usually own their own houses within the

design and construction of buildings

compounds of their husbands’ families.

passes into the hands of “professionals.”

But when men control agriculture and

Women’s creativity is confined to plan-

herding, or have access to a modern cash

ning interiors and obtaining or making in-

market, the domicile and all public build-

terior decorations according to mass-pro-

ings fall totally under male control. Men

duced guides like women’s magazines.

erect the structures; if they are dwellings,
women may decorate the walls. In Medi-

Ironically, this vestige of woman's importance as architect and builder is used

terranean villages in Spain, Greece and

against her when psychology and popular

the Balkans, and in Islamic villages of the

belief insist that women are “by nature”

1. Colin Turnbull, The Forest People (New
York: Natural History Library, 1962),
pp. 156-157.

2. Edward T. Hall, Beyond Culture (Garden
City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1976), Chap. 5S,
passim.

3. Patricia Draper, “IKung Women,” in 7oward an Anthropology of Women, ed. Rayna

Reiter (New York: Monthly Review Press,
1975), p. 94.
4. Turnbull, pp. 59-60.

5. J.G. Kohl, Kitchi-Gami: Wandering Round
Lake Superior (London, 1860), p. 4.
6. Alice Marriott, “The Trade Guild of Southern Cheyenne Women,” Bulletin of O klahoma Anthropological Society (April 1956),
p. 24.

7. Jomo Kenyatta, Facing Mount Kenya, Reprint of original 1938 edition (New York:
AMS Press, 1976), pp. 80-81.

8. Judith K. Brown, “Iroquois Women: An
Ethnographic Note,” in Toward an Anthropology of Wòmen, pp. 235-251.

9. Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The Berber House, or the
World Reversed,” excerpted in Rules and
Meanings, ed. Mary Douglas (Baltimore:
Penguin, 1973), p. 100.

10. Two recently published books have begun
the documentation of women in architecture: Doris Cole, From Tipi to Skyscraper:
A History of Women in Architecture (Boston:
i press, 1973) and Susana Torre, ed., Women

in American Architecture: A Historic and
Contemporary Perspective (New York: Watson-Guptill, 1977).

A native of Tennessee, Elizabeth Weatherford is
an anthropologist on the faculty of the School of
Visual Arts.

39

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The child's mother first wipes her sexual organ with the shirt and

Whose womb do I have for my womb?

then the child's face, saying:
Flee marvel from marvel.

The gull’s womb I have for my womb.
Whose womb do I have for my womb?

Here is a greater marvel.

The sea-fowl’'s womb I have for my womb.
Eskimo. For a woman in childbirth.

White partridges flew by and brought white milk.
They pour it out of the stone,

(From William Thalbitzer, The Ammassalik Eskimo, AMS Press, New

they pour it round out of the stone.

York, 1914; Twitty version.)

One hand fastens the sleeve of the other.
The axe by itself cuts the Evil Eyes.
Let the Evil Eyes melt away
like bees over the flowers,

Earth-Woman, Earth-Woman,

like lard on the coals,

may you fall sick.

like foam on muddy water.

Your milk turn to fire.

We shall tread over the water,

May you burn in the earth!

we shall make the Evil Eyes wither and dry up,

Flow, flow, my milk.

that they appear no more.

Flow, flow, white milk.

A southern Slav charm collected by Phyllis Kemp, who practiced

Flow, flow, as I will.

medicine there before World War II, and made an extensive study

My child is hungry.

of folk medicine/ magic.

Gypsy. The Earth Woman is thought to suckle children so that

(From Phyllis Kemp, Healing Ritual, Faber and Faber, London, 1937,

they refuse their mother's milk. She has many sister spirits—

p. 141.)

child-stealers and child-destroyers like the Hebrew Lilith and the
Islamic Karina—who appear’to be destroying shadows, the
woman's double.
I dance a strong dance.

(From H. von Wlislocki, “Zauber und Besprechungsformeln,” Æthnologische Mitteilungen aus Hungarn, v. 1, no. 1-2, 1887; Twitty translation.)

The god comes on the rainbow
to his shrine.

He comes with the red rain
and the blue.
It is the sign of the god.

May the lion take you coming out of the thicket.

He comes down here to earth.

May he eat your flesh. May your bones be lost.

Dance, all ye children of his!

May Gaweg beat you when he is angry.

From Ifaluk Atoll, an island south of the Marianas, where the

May God protect me! How can weeping be stolen?

women write all the poetry. This is an invitation to a god.

Ethiopian. A woman's angry song. Someone else has taken her

(From Edwin Grant- Burrows, Flower in My Ear: Arts and Ethos of Ifaluk

mourning song and sung it. Ethiopian women traditionally invent
and sing the dirges for the dead.

Atoll, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1963, p. 353.)

(From Enno Littman, Publications of the Princeton Expedition to Abyssinia, E.J. Brill, Leyden, 1910-1915; Twitty version.)

I cut all witchcraft from you.
Hiao!
I cut off the rainbow curses from you.

The woman who cannot nourish her child:

Hiao!

Let her herself take a piece of her own child's grave,

I cut all spirit-husband harm from you.

then wrap it up in black wool and sell it to traders.

Hiao!

Let her then say:

I cut from you the evil talk

I sell it: buy ye it,

of the watering place.

this black wool, and seeds of this sorrow.

Hiao!

Anglo-Saxon.

I cut from you the harmful talk

(From J.H. G. Grattan and Charles Singer, Anglo-Saxon Magic and
Medicine, Oxford University Press, New York, 1952, p. 191.)

of the firewood-gatherers.
Hiao!
From Adayme, Africa. The pregnant woman is bound with magic
strings. Then, as the charm is said, line by line, each string is cut.

* From a collection begun while working with Julia Blackburn, who found

First around the head, then the neck, then the waist, the knees

two of the poems.

and the feet.

Anne Twitty is an American writer and translator who lives in London and

(From Hugo Huber, ‘“Adayme Purification and Pacification Rituals,” The

in Deyà, Mallorca. She is currently working on a book of collected origin

American Anthropologist, v. 29, 1927, p. 178; Twitty version.)

myths and magic songs.

42

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August 26, 1973

August 6, 1973
Dear Jacki Apple — ... When I read the c. 7,500 catalogue I was

Met Jacki Apple today, big surprise. A professional woman,

overjoyed to find that I am working alongside of a great many

I expected a stringbean like myself. Jolted me to realize women

other women, especially you. I am enclosing a resume, a descrip-

from different circumstances are doing similar experiments with

tive list of works to date, and transcriptions of videotapes for you

identity. She runs her own design room, draws a pair of pants,

to peruse. Also a photograph of me invading homosexual con-

chooses a fabric, a pattern cutter cuts it, two Hispanic women

sciousness...

sew it up. Her designs on Macy's third floor, Sportswear. Any-

Recently I have been working on a piece called “Male Imper-

way, I was shocked when I saw her: She looked professional all

sonator” and on method acting concerns. I find that in front of

over, eye makeup to high heels. I thought artists weren't sup-

the camera I don't feel particularly male or homosexual or what-

posed to look like that. A sexist belief, something inherited from

ever; the identity shock comes when I look at the photographs of

Gertrude Stein, a woman has to be un-pretty to be taken as seriously as a man. I “believe” this, questioned Jacki’s intelligence on

myself in those roles. I am considering an actual invasion of
another identity: being picked up on Halifax waterfront as a

the basis of her appearance, even though I had read her work,

prostitute. That would involve real risk. I don't think I would be

yikes.

able to forget who I am, though, in spite of the immersion. To
lose myself was my original intent, I think, in December of 1971.
September 18, 1973

Also I used to worry about audience verification of my success a
good deal more than I do now. In the method acting exercise, I

Jacki —I xeroxed all the “Selfportrait” notes and am waiting for

wanted to track the images that would cause me to, say, cry,

an 8x10 enlargement to come back from the drugstore. Now

using a tape recorder, and I found that the intellectual process of

working on an idea sparked by Yvonne Rainer: images of my

talking about emotion prohibited me from experiencing it.

perfection/ deformity. Also a piece about the chemistry of camera
presence which came out of our conversation. Drop me a card.

Who are the “four people” in a relationship? Do you distin-

Martha

guish between real self and perception of self? How do you document your interchanges, exchanges and redefinitions? .….….
Hope to meet you someday. If you're ever in Halifax (ha)

October 14, 1973

you can sleep in my studio. Martha Wilson

Dear Martha —I've been trying to write you for weeks, no—
months, and this is the second letter I've started. I came away
from the hour we spent together feeling it was much too brief,

August 26, 1973

that we were like two people at a banquet wanting to taste every-

Martha Wilson came to see me last Thursday. She is in the c.

thing, with only enough time for a first bite. So the hour left me

7,500 show with me, and after receiving her pieces and talking on

stimulated and looking forward to corresponding. Part of my

the phone, I was excited about meeting her. We talked with

excitement was in discovering another artist, a woman artist,

familiarity, not as strangers. Yet there wasn't enough time — little
more than an hour—allowing us to barely do anything more than

working with concepts similar to my own, and with the attitude

become aware of each other's positions... We jumped from sub-

of experimentation which is so important to me. Another part of

ject to subject like two people sampling a feast of appetizers,

it was your own personal openness and energy and curiosity.
The day your postcard arrived I had gone to the c. 7,500

wanting to taste everything. She is full of curiosity and hunger,
and buoyancy, asking questions, taking in information, talking

opeñing at Moore College in Philadelphia. I have a number of

rapidly, never resting.

mixed feelings about the show, and it was an interesting experience for me. One thing which I was surprised about (and prob-

She has an open face, quick to smile with her eyes as well as

ably shouldn't have been) was the discovery of how far from the

her mouth, a gamine quality with a sense of camp. Short shaggy

mainstream both of us are. Your perception of that from the cata-

yellow hair, plucked out, bleached eyebrows, fair skin. She wore
pants and a short-sleeved printed shirt. She laughs easily, and has

logue was more astute than mine. In the final analysis the work

a natural extroverted sense of theater. Yet there is nothing theatri-

that was most interesting to me, the work that was not “conventional” or “acceptable” in its approach, its intent, the work that

cal about her appearance.

seemed to attempt to present a different perception—a female

I liked her immensely. I also recognize something of myself

perception through female experience — was less prevalent than I

in her, younger. The energy, independence, restlessness; the

had hoped. I suppose that my personal criticism was that much of

quickness of response, so direct yet somehow elusive, testing, try-

the work, like much of conceptual art, was boring. It is amazing

ing out life. I liked her optimism. She has a quality of motion and

how quickly a “Movement” becomes academic. How easy it

sunshine, and underneath a vulnerability. I hope we will be able

becomes to fit into the formula, to make bland ideas appear

to expand the relationship, write to each other, even make the

important, to inflate them through fancy presentation. So much

correspondence a piece in the future.
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conceptual art has become slick documentation without real sub-

ing-card-sized chips of color to place before me as I confront a

stance. It is a difficult problem, very much related to commercial-

(stranger? Haven't worked this out yet) during a ten-minute inter-

ism and egoism (fortune and fame). How ironic that “dematerial-

val. The number and combination of chips would suggest the

ized” art has become almost more “material” than painting and

tone of the confrontation (for me). As I explained in New York, I

sculpture, without the compensation of pure sensual pleasure.

used to worry about the content of my subjects’ consciousness,

I think that what really disappointed me was not the art but

but it’s too hard to document it. On the other hand, for the

seeing other women fall into the male-role prison, women falling

“Chemistry of Camera-Presence” piece, I've decided the only way

into the forms and patterns of male-defined concept art, and

to keep the element of surprise is for me to surprise other people

wanting acceptance within that framework; women not com-

with a camera; since I am going to set up the piece, I would

municating through their knowledge and experience of them-

always be aware of the possibility of being filmed. I want to blow

selves as women. Worst of all was seeing women behaving

up the adjustment process as an individual realizes s/he is being

towards each other very much like male artists I see each week in

filmed. Also I want to do a piece next week on videotape record-

Soho — guarded, competitive, assessing each other, vying for

ing the time it takes me to act out an emotion. Method actors

position, not interacting. When we have a chance to do things

recall certain images to make themselves cry, etc. I'm not as inter-

differently, because we've never been in this position before, I

ested in the tears as I am in the images. These will be written and

hate to see us blow it.

read silently while I'm on camera (?). I've discovered that reading

Right now I am working on some new pieces and I am con-

out loud does not produce tears or whatever, and neither does

cerned about pushing myself to the next stage, not doing things

description into a mike; the intellectual process cancels the

which are repetitive. Yet I also think it is important to work

emotional experience. Silent fantasy is necessary. I'm wondering

things through, not be precious, risk losing it, experiment on
several levels at one time.

what the camera will do to me, since I'm not an experienced
actor....

I am interested in how a person changes his/her perception

I have been taking Graphoanalysis by correspondence, and I

of him/herself through both self redefinition and definition by

am happy to inform you that you are highly intelligent, have

others. Right now I am considering a piece which will involve a

initiative, spurts of enthusiasm and determination, don’t hold

person, then a group, experiencing then reexperiencing them-

grudges, are sympathetic, not too precise, but were pessimistic

selves through their color aura, their self-color, and then their

when you wrote the letter. Oh, yes, very original, as indicated by

alien color...

figure-8 “g” formations. I am typing because when I get excited,

I would like to hear more about the piece you are doing

my handwriting becomes code.

about the “chemistry of camera presence” as it is something that

Now for the facts: I plan to cut first term a week short and

has been both a concern and a conflict for me. Do you plan to do

come to NYC. If I came on, say, Monday the 3 of December,

the same piece twice, with and without a camera, and see how

could I stay with you through Saturday the 8th? We could use the

they differ?...

week to get together a performance in 420 West Broadway such

Would you be interested in doing a piece with me? Some

as “Identity Exchange” or we could do our color pieces simul-

thoughts, possibilities: (1) Both of us doing the same piece sepa-

taneously and trade off. I could do a reading of “Routine Per-

rately. (2) Exchanging pieces and carrying out each other's pieces,

formance” et al. in front of an audience instead of a video

then doing our own. Showing the four interpretations. (3)

camera; also I've been wanting to try out “Body Images” on a live

Perhaps doing my “Identity Exchange” piece together as we are of

audience. I hadn't thought about it before, but perhaps I could do

similar coloring, size, and sign. I have never performed this piece

“Composure,” the piece which was in the c. 7,500 show, in front

myself. It was enacted by Geoff Hendricks in February 1972 at

of an audience with the aid of a mirror.

Rutgers University. If you plan to be in NY we could do it as a

I have been thinking about “Identity Exchange” and (don’t

one-day event. (Like a Saturday in Soho— unofficial use of

worry, I won't tell you) I can't help associating New York with

galleries!)

you. In your case, I think it is valid to associate place with char-

I've been taking ballet classes twice a week now since the

acter ; I just hope I don't make you think of Mackerel...

beginning of July, and it is changing my body awareness. It

I'd like to attend a women’s meeting in NYC; a group has

makes me think about movement pieces. It would be good to

finally started meeting here, but for some reason I don’t feel close

work with a dance group.

to anyone as yet. I'm not trying to prove myself as strenuously as

Write and let me know what you are doing and thinking. I

I used to through my appearance, as they do. Appearance is still

am looking forward to hearing more about the pieces you men-

critical to me, but I'm settled now and they aren't. Many of them

tioned in your card, and everything else going on in your life. Let

see me as a teacher (which of course I am to some of them) with

me know when you plan to be in New York again, and hopefully

all the connotations of that position attached: wise, old, re-

we will be able to spend more time together. I will take a day off.

served, yuk.
Thanks again for your letter. Martha

Jacki

October 23, 1973

January 3, 1974

Dear Jacki — Your letter put adrenalin back into my blood. Actu-

Dear Jacki —Richards met me at the airport; he and Marcia

ally, I'm an avid letter writer, but I hesitate to write copious

arrived the day before. He guessed that I might sue him, and said

letters to non-writers or post-carders; now I have an excuse.

I would have to do it, but we reached an amicable peace even-

Did I tell you about my “value scale,” composed of colors

tually. We sat in the car for an hour talking, and he ended up

that have emotional value for me? When I read the part of your

saying that he couldn't believe how strong I was. Last night I

letter about “color aura” I started glumping around my empty

didn't sleep at all and consequently felt rotten all day today, but

kitchen making soft exclamatory noises. Friday I'm going to a

today I got an apartment which I can move into January 12th. I

paper company downtown to get a sheet each of high-intensity

am envious of the way Richards looks at Marcia, but that’s all. I

orange, blue, red and green, the colors that represent the four

don't think Marcia is any shakes. She has this defense mecha-

points on my emotional compass. I was thinking of making call-

nism, looking wide-eyed, that really annoys me.
44

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Enough of that. I am depressed but doing rather well..….….

February 28-March 2, 1974

I wrote a movie on the plane. I'll show it to you. Love, M.

Dear Martha — . .. Rereading your letter I get the feeling R. and
M. are really bugging you underneath the bravado. That is very

January 13, 1974

real, a painful fact you have to deal with daily. It's understand-

Dear Martha — Chin up and smile. We are all with you all the

able. Hard to avoid them. Glad your friends are supportive.
Don't worry. As you've begun to discover, facades become reali-

way. You are going to make it, beautifully too. Whenever you
begin to feel the depression closing in, think of the whole world

ties, and it takes about six months and distance for a lover to

waiting for you here.

become a stranger in your mind. Love, Jacki

I'm exhausted. Can't wait till you get here. For some reason
I've had trouble getting my fire going since the piece. It's as if so

March 8, 1974

much power was used, such intense concentration, that I need

Jacki— ... I got an assurance that our piece could be shown in

refueling. Talk about an energy crisis! I've also discovered how

the Mezzanine Gallery here at NSCAD, so I will take installation

photos when it’s up.... '

jealous people can get when you get yourself together, have any

I don't talk to Richards anymore; we speak if we bump into

power, and can affect others. The threatened ones work very
hard at undermining you, searching out your vulnerabilities. No

each other, but don't seek each other out. I'm speaking to a

wonder the alchemists banded together in secret societies.

female lawyer on Tuesday and I may sue Richards if I'm legally

I worked today, wrote the second half of the piece up (down-

capable because he really did step on me. Otherwise I'm dating a

town part). Anne has really come out since the piece. She just

concert pianist who lives out in Hubbards. He now plays only to

told her shrink about it this week. He was so turned on that he

amuse himself and directs plays in experimental theatres and

asked to see me. He can hardly believe it, thought it was the most

prisons for his living. He knows I'm leaving in May. He says he
was first attracted by my independence. Men like that are hard to

extraordinary thing he'd ever heard. Should I charge him $40 an

come by....

hour to talk to me? If he wants to write a paper about it, it will

I keep my social life full as possible so I don't have to think

have to be with our final approval and permission before release.
After all, we have “all rights reserved.” ..….

about being in Halifax near Richards, etc. I'm going to a shrink
who is sending me to relaxation therapy because I don't know

Have a lot of things to talk to you about. I hope we can share

how to relax.... I'll let you know how the layout progresses.
Love, Martha

our strengths and weaknesses and balance each other, and support each other. I need your opinion on a few things... .
Stay strong and don't let R. screw you out of what's legally
yours by doing a number on your emotions... See you Friday
night the 25th. I'll make a lovely leisurely dinner, and we can sit
and relax and talk.
Take care of yourself. Love, Jacki

January 30, 1974
I noticed after the Bar Mitzvah that when I stood on the
corner of 57th and 6th Avenue in my braless red dress that lots of
people looked at me as though I was a call girl, even though it
was 3:00 in the afternoon. Definition by circumstantial evidence.
Photographs of me in the same outfit on various corners in NYC:
57th and 6th; West Bway and Spring; 1st Ave and 69th; Wall
Street; Bway and 125th. Costume acts as a mirror; bluejeans
could do the same?
February 15, 1974
Two letters from Martha Wilson. She has become interWilson and Apple, March 1976. (Judith Vivell.)

twined in my life since December, and I ought to examine the
events, and the complexities of feelings that have come out of

March 31, 1974

them. I am slightly antagonistic towards her today. Somewhat

Dear Martha — . .. There are a lot of things I want to get into in

resentful of her carelessness, her total self-absorption, the com-

relation to the really extraordinary experience that we've been

plete subjectivity of her way of dealing with things, always seeing

through. I don't think either of us realized just how far we had

through her needs, never beyond them or around them. Perhaps

gone. We placed ourselves in the most vulnerable of positions. As

itis her youth, her limited experience. No matter. Combined with

two strangers we entered into immediate and intense intimacy

all that intense hungry ambition and that fine sharp intellect, it

with total trust. We took an enormous gamble. It was very

fills me with a vague sense of annoyance. I have been very gener-

daring of us. And I think we both suffered from aftereffects not

ous with her, given of myself—my friends, my home, my

anticipated and not immediately perceived or understood. I don’t

clothes, my time, my ideas, experiences, knowledge, my food,

have the time right now to explore this and I think in another

my energy, and finally advice when asked for. I find her to be less

sense it is kind of another piece. Certainly the subject of another

sharing. At first her sunshine smile, her eagerness, seemed so

part of our piece and worth investigating...
This weekend I worked up my “Brunette” piece. It’s turned

unassuming. But her apologies are aggressive, and her assumptions border on arrogance. Yet underneath there are still the self-

up some interesting surprises for me. Perhaps a subconsciou

degrading gestures, the feelings of inadequacy, the fear. She is full

equation — Blonde-Female, Brunette-Male (hmmm.....ċ. in
relation to identity/image projection (mine).

of contradictions, inconsistencies. Overriding everything is the
impressive professionalism of her art... Our relationship seems

Reading books on Archaeology for the Digging piece in

to have gone around in a full circle. I think we will have to talk

May. Fascinating. Also, I'm enjoying my privacy. Like being

about these things.

alone.

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each other's lives off a high diving board. We went very deep,

I'm very glad you called me that day as it cleared a lot of
conflicts and questions and complex mixed-up feelings all collid-

very quickly, and perhaps suffered the mild bends coming up for

ing in my head. It relieved a few tensions, and I felt a release of

air. It could be a very important tape to go with the piece. Also

certain anxieties after talking. It was also good to talk with you as

maybe a photo of us today, six months later. Call me when you

the extra dimension in voice clarifies the meaning in words so

get to New Jersey...
Love, Jacki

often misread in print..….….
Take care. Love, Jacki

May 3, 1974

Taking diet pills, haven't slept in 2 nights. Cried on bus w/

April 5, 1974

Dear Jacki — ... It's wonderful to hear about L's interest in the

Marcia, talking about Primal Scream and ego-coasting, being

piece. It is so bleak up here, and New York gets more and more

alone. She said R was unoriginal, I was the “individual” which

frightening to contemplate from this distance. I keep questioning

shocked me. She sees me as courageous, she said in her letter to

whether I can survive as an artist and get worry wrinkles thinking

me, envies me. I love speed, it relieves the panic, the separation,

about it.

substitutes euphoria, wholeness? I wish I could stay on it. Have
Your letter was tremendously supportive. Today I do a

lost some double chin. Dinner tonight with R and Marcia. Sat

videotape of making myself up first as beautiful and then as ugly

with R yesterday watching John Watt tapes, didn’t feel much. I

as I can. I have been thinking a lot about “vomiting” on people; I

admire him from a distance. I plan to break down in the car

see this as playing a joke on myself... Love, Martha

tonight, tell him I am alone, afraid. He is my father substitute
because of his aloofness. I should be doing something all the time,
can't do fruitless activity.

April 28, 1974
Dear Martha — I wanted to write to you immediately, as soon as I
got back from London, as I am bursting with things to tell you.

May 5, 1974

That was two weeks ago, and my life has been in turmoil, so I am

Kicked and screamed w/ R last night, he said there was no

beyond apologies...

sense pretending he wasn't happy. I saw that he was. I felt very

First I want to tell you about the c. 7,500 show in London. I

hurt, cried a lot over loss of children, middle-class life which his

called Tony Stokes (at Garage Arts) when I arrived and he

marriage to Marcia represents to me. I can't do that now? Now

seemed very relieved that I was there. On Saturday morning I

I'm in the kitchen and I feel lethargic, desperate, speechless,

went down to Garage and then with the help of a terrific group of

embarrassed, like being at home. I have to be intellectual around

London women artists I installed the show in the Warehouse next

him. I snap at Damian, can’t play, indulge him. Had a dream that

door. It was a perfect space for the show. Very New York raw! I

I stayed in the room below them. I am a frustrated child and I

must say I did a fantastic job. Did two terrific walls for us, put-

communicate that frustration to Damian, I frustrate him. I don’t

ting our work next to each other's. Added the B&W contact sheet

let myself feel. Ate cheesecake out of the fridge this a.m. R repre-

from “Transformance” with your article in the middle. It really

sents home situation which I am trying to resolve. I feel like I

looked good....

have to perform for him. He came in to ask what my plans were

I have been going through some fairly difficult changes and

and for a split second I felt guilty? Not a barrel of fun to be with.

conflicts. I long for my own psychic space, room to grow in, to

Have to learn to love myself, whatever that means. Art about

experience my art in. The time has run out for me to continue in

performing for others. Double exposure = “Exposure”

the double life of full-time work (job) and full-time art. I am
exhausted, overstrained, and colliding with myself, struggling
May 11, 1974

with hostilities and overextension emotionally. I don't have

My emotions are frozen. I am frightened, not attracted to

enough time and I feel like I'm suffocating from spinning too

men. Metaphor, describe my parents as luggage. I do what they

quickly and not being able to slow down to breathe deeply....

and authorities say because I am afraid they will not love me.

Not having money is as paralyzing as not having time. They
equalize and neutralize each other. Besides, earning one's own

May 10, 1974

money is part of both the real and psychological independence
and liberation from the role of the woman-child. So I have to

Feel generally OK. Felt good to see Jacki last night. Saw

search for alternative possibilities. This is especially difficult now

Nancy Kitchel show at 112 Greene St. which put me in awe.

because the economy is a disaster area. There are no jobs any-

Darkness, “masking,” lit tables, notebooks, folders for papers.

where.

Her involvement with Vito, a story about tragic encounter, her
I am at a point of change in my life, trying to create new

grandmother's gestures. Talked w/ [Jane] Kleinberg at Whitney

structures. The piece we did together was a culmination point for

about how women are making art about separation. I fantasize

me, the end of a cycle.... I find myself looking into another

about my loft. I discover who I am as I go along. “Borders”

mirror, seeing a different image.

occurs to me. I will take photos of rooms during search. I'm tired.

The DIGGING piece has become very complex and multi-

Art about not knowing how I feel about things. Accept, discard.

layered. It is just a beginning now, and it might take months to

Divide objects. Retouched photos of how I want things to appear.

complete. The actual “dig” itself will take place in several weeks.

How much are we defined by our surroundings. Deprived of

When I think about it I get very excited, like someone about to

middle-class life. Photograph the fantasy. Marcia and I occupy

take a journey into unknown territory, like going to a foreign city

the same space in relation to R, but opposite sides of a single

after having read a book about its history... It will be good to

personality pulled in two directions. Forced into a position. Men

see you and sit and talk for hours.

= authority figures, never women. Dad wanted me to pity him,

Also it will be interesting to do a tape about the other part of

told me he was nearly out of a job. Apparently she is ambitious,

TRANSFORMANCE — what we experienced with each other,

an egomaniac, a blood-curdling bitch. She uses people, squeezes

the risks we took, how far we went, how we reacted later, over-

them dry, dumps them. Actually, she’s sensitive, retiring, sweet-

reacted, then rebalanced; where we are now. We plunged into

tempered.

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May 12, 1974

achieve power and position in the art world we charge forth into

I used to feel like women were the “enemy,” men were my

battle to prove this, and the result, which is often successful, is

best friends. Then I didn't have any respect for myself, treated

also often indistinguishable from the acclaimed and established

them like authorities to please. Now I feel more comfortable with

art created by a male sensibility. Again we reenforce their system,

women, even have a distaste for men. I look at attractive men on

their concept of reality. Perhaps the only answer, at least the only

the subway and experience revulsion. Dad made me afraid of him

one we can come up with, is to work through an internal view

to cover his weakness. Sylvia Plath got at that real hatred every-

coming from our female experience of reality (or lack of it!), and

one feels for his/her parents. For how they have hurt you. Trem-

that out of this will come some alternative perspectives that also

bling hands, my own fear of incompetence. Videotape of a simple

do not end up putting us all together in yet another box. Still the

task, hands hammering nails. Unfamiliar, incompetent, bad

same old questions go round in a circle. Cultural conditioning

craftsman, danger, “hammering.” Stuttering videotape, head w/

and biology. Well, how do we change the patterns of the condi-

eyes closed, Mother & Dad dialogue of unsaid phrases.

tioning, making our viewpoint carry equal weight? “Claudia”
was a magnification of role models and stereotypes of power,
July 26, 1974

media images programmed into all of us. The “power” of the

Martha and I have lunch at the Plaza Palm Court. Reprise.

beautiful, rich woman. The illusion of power. We exaggerated it,

An attempt to reexamine, redefine “Claudia” (TRANSFOR-

“lived” in order to also shatter it, expose the illusion, blow it up,
not reenforce it, or validate it. It's a fine line, a delicate balance of

MANCE). Same setting, shift in context, intent. We want to see
how we feel, how we act. The mystique dissolves. It is, after all,

form and content, intent and context. Both Martha and I have all

like having lunch any other place. Just a restaurant..….….

kinds of ambivalences about that work and whether it worked. In

Over too expensive spinach salad we pursue the question of

two years perhaps we will be able to see it in the right perspective,

female sensibility, questioning whether women artists have

with the distance to analyze it better, understand it in relation to

become caught in a web of confusion between subject matter and

female sensibility and art.

“sensibility.” Often they choose objects, acts and symbols associated with the stereotypes of the female role in our culture as
Martha Wilson, performance artist, began executing private performances

content, when they are in fact the objects and conditions created

or “transformations” in 1971. In 1975 and 1976, she performed five chap-

by male sensibility and value systems. Do too many women

ters of The Arnotated Alice in which the heroine encounters contemporary

artists perpetuate the “system” by attempting to elevate a certain

conventions— social, sexual, logical and linguistic. Jacki Apple began
doing performances in 1971. Since 1975 she has been doing installation

kind of subject matter out of proportion to its significance? On
the other hand, liberation declaring equality continues to enforce

works exploring psychological space. She and Martine Aballea are writing
a collaborative novel between New York and Paris. Martha is the founder
and executive director of The Franklin Furnace Archive for artists’ books

the concept of there being no female sensibility. “Anything they
can do we can do as well if not better” thinking. In the struggle to

in New York City, and Jacki is its curator.

LAMENT ON THE EVE OF HER

SEPTEMBER SOLITAIRE

DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY

ANN LAUTERBACH

ESTELLE LEONTIEF
My head doesn't ache

There are always added difficulties: unwashed glasses,

no one pulls out my fingernails

the box with some sweaters, the floral arrangement

what I eat sits easy

in the kitchen, the kitchen floor. It was a grid
of pale blue and gray linoleum; it no longer exists.
All of us move in time for winter.

On this long

blue night each year

Things are most dangerous when habits are kicked;

l even forget that

birds, and the way you imagine.

hard hard laboring

We tell stories.

a magician

This to restrain the sense that we would give in

hacking a woman in two

too easily when the time came. The time had come.
The first red and the first green are not the same;

If I lie still

between death and birth are radical colors,

your thirty-six years

of which the trees are stain. I told stories for hours,

blow my mind

each made from imminent, rendered places; talk itself
a terrain. I recall games: ducking and kisses and tails.

If I try to reach you

Someone is always blinded. Someone was removed in a chair.

I'm too short

But now at last
night darkens
into day

and you may wish for
What you want

Ann Lauterbach is a native New Yorker. She has just compiled her first

What is it

collection of poems, titled Chalk.

Estelle Leontief was poetry editor of Colloquy magazine, has published two
books of poetry—Razerol and Whatever Happens—with Claire van Vliet

Write me

Tell me something

of Janus Press, Vermont. She is now a reader of poetry and fiction for the
Partisan Review.

Sing

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our marriage stands now before us

Prologue

like a teenage child who can
the woman who emerges from the fatherless child

no longer be dominated

is like a May fly still wet from an evening hatch
if the sun is not unnaturally warm
her wings will not dry in time to escape the trout's

Thus spake the high energy physicist :

dinner hour

How can I respect you when you are sick and spoiled.
Dialogue (or, perhaps, Monologue)

sick and spoiled

Hold up her shoulders and she will be able to see.

spoiled and self-centered

wet hair matted to small large head

selfish and insecure

phlegm sucked in squishing sounds from unborn torso

insecure and illogical

body working intuitively in waves of painless pain

illogical and insane

self-centered and selfish

shoulders belly knees enter exit in bursts and slithers
words constantly turning on themselves
You have a girl this time, Katherine.

like an Escher spiral

throwing self back into scrambling hands of husband and nurse

a high energy physicist does not know that

a daughter

Escher's logic is sometimes fallacious

i have a daughter
How frequent is this violent vomiting?
i can't leave the children

every six months for the last three years
Vomiting is indicative of emotions being unacknowledged.

yet i am not here now

Are you angry?

my inner spaces have contracted

no. i never feel anger

like a uterus which after the fullness of birth

Are you unhappy?

tightens into a clenched fist
the sperm child can no longer penetrate my gates

no. i have three lovely children and a responsible husband
Are you lonely?

how can i help them understand

no. i have my work

that if my spiritual contractions continue

Vomiting is indicative of emotions being unacknowledged.

i will abort my self

Until you recognize your feelings your body will have to rid

are such abortions classified

itself of them physically.
are you angry?

illegal

no. i never feel anger

or

are you unhappy?

therapeutic?

anger swooped down like the Wicked Witch of the West

waking each morning

i, like Dorothy, smiled and skipped

to see the sun

but it didn't help (and Wizards are out of style)

stream through the amber decanter
then the realization
that no decision is made

metamorphism (noun) a change effected by pressure. ….….

and the instant illness

that results in a more compact and more highly

stomach a fist

crystalline condition

gripping my windpipe
highly crystalline conditions may be hazardous

and plunging a knuckle into my diaphragm

to your health

Take two before meals and at bedtime.
You made a contract with me.

facing one another across antique Oriental carpets

It must be honored.

murky shadows hover in the spaces between us dimming
perception

a contract

I don't know how you do it, Katherine.

requests made

I have listened for hours and I don't understand

the child accepted
the woman rebels

a goddamned word you've said.
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contrahere ME, fr L to draw together

Lindsey my son

contract (noun) a binding agreement between two

with your Byronic look

or more persons or parties

a child who soars in the sunlight
and crawls on caterpillar legs over creviced bark

marriage is a rootless noun
when the germination period is over

you of all will someday understand

and summer finally comes

that i was losing my ability to soar
and that without the sun

the new growth may not portray the stem

i could not be
like contracts
the mother
you knew
the birthday of my first born

eight boys of ten romping

Epilogue

crepe paper looped in circus tent colors
orange and red cups encircle the clown candle king

the protective mountain lake is behind me now

who tells in shrinking size

i knew its terrain and seasons well

that the march from chocolate smeared high chairs

yet security is a Pandora's box

to cheese cake and football

on opening more springs out than bargained for

has been a steady one

now riffles and deep holes are my domain

Thank you, Mrs. Roy. That sure was good. My mom never
fixes cheese cake.

and the linearity of my new world
thrusts me onward

birthday pictures of my tall blond son
You and Daddy get in this one, Mom.
I want one of us all.

Julie Gross. 1977. Graphite and pastel. 42” x 59”. “This Julie Gross is a painter living in New York whose recent
body drawing was made by sitting cross-legged on paper work ‘came out of an impulse to get back to myself. My

and drawing around myself.” process is now coming from real things, real feelings.”
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Cities of the Interior

Anais Nin is a writer. She was born in

Ladders to Fire

1920 in Neuilly near Paris. When she was

D.H. Lawrence—An Unprofessional

eleven her father left her. He was a Span-

Study

ish pianist. Her mother, a Spanish dancer,
lived with her and her brother. When her

House of Incest

father left her she started writing a diary.

On Writing
Realism and Reality

It was really a letter to her father to try to

The Four-Chambered Heart

get him to come back to her.

And, many others. She is a great writer.

The family was living in Richmond Hill

When Anais Nin'’s father left her she

in Queens and her father went to Paris to

wanted him to come back so much that

become a famous pianist. She had even
actually sent him a letter, only her mother

she became a Spanish dancer. (Since he

didn't mail it and said it had gotten lost in

was a Spanish pianist she figured he could

the mail. When she was about 24 years

play and she could dance.) She performed

old she wrote some very beautiful poems

in Paris under the name Anita Aguilera,

and stories but since she was a woman

and even though she was a writer and was

(and there weren't many women writers)

doing it for her father, she was a very

no one would publish her works. But

good dancer.
Anais Nin has been interviewed in

Anais Nin thought that they were good

many magazines like Ms. and The Femi-

enough to be published; so she set up a

nist Art Journal and many more. She is

printing press and she published all her

very famous.

works herself. Since then they have be-

Anai’ Nin has a policy about answering

come very famous.

her mail. When she was young she wrote

Anais Nin’s career started very late

to Djuna Barnes and she never received an

and, still today, she is writing some of her

answer, so she decided to answer all her

best novels and stories.
Anais Nin is unlike most people. When
she dreams she wants these dreams to

it with all her friends. They were very

mail if she ever became famous. Even

happy living out her dream together.

though she gets many letters each day
sooner or later no matter what else may

come true. She says that dreams won't

Anai’ Nin has written many books. Her

come to you. You have to make them

Diaries, of which there are now six pub-

stand in the way, she will always answer

come true. Once she dreamed about a nice

lished volumes, and

them.

big houseboat. Then she saw an ad for a

Children of the Albatross

houseboat on the Seine in the newspaper.

A Spy in the House of Love

She bought the houseboat and moved into

Solar Barque

Anais Nin, whose diaries have made
her famous, is a great writer thanks to her
father.

Claudia Danielle Orenstein is a seventh grader
at the Fleming School in New York City. She
has acted in several Off-Broadway plays.

pte LE OUa

P: O. Box 26598

Z

e kpt A Hear Fam ga AAE

_p pret

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© a

@® Ai
a Ni© la =.. ows
| Asa

mike mot peop N dhe dium ake wark - D. Ain, Amosa A Phrograp Re Supplement to

Ehe. Axams te temu tii Za SS i the Diany Anaia Nir. Re Y ah : Harcourt

j e wa't tome to youn. Weu Kaw te make © Baaca Sovamaich , ISH.

É thers. Come Arns. Ome ne rame d |
abut a miee Ain Aviah . Ehen d 3S Pl saita A laebosh ov
Re pau am adk fori a houseboat a [Anao Xin Xu Jak Aes Karitan

U deime imite meatpana . De ily H,
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( toqguthk
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Amdi Xir Bno ita Many | o A

Look. Hlin Diariegputh thus anu S Pohu R L tva, wih È tase naika t

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A Day im the Moust f Love,

Shn Barge h o
T ope isties

BR ipii
| A
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kadita Fa

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Hoiacof Trat

e Reatisn andake Hun
Reokty.
Ramanad tsan
Ano, ii Arw. Dhe ia a guatwrite,

A friend once told me about a feminist workshop in which each woman was asked to acknowledge her matrilineal ancestry by
repeating the phrase: “I am the daughter of ...” and then naming her mother. To everyone's amazement, many of the women in that
small, randomly selected group spontaneously responded: “I am the daughter of Anais Nin.”
A major theme of the women’s movement has been that biology is not destiny. Therefore a doctor's words to the youthful Anais are
ironic: “You were not built for maternity.” Instead of becoming a biological mother, Anais Nin was the spiritual mother to an entire
generation of women writers. As a biological mother and a feminist, I can think of no greater gift to my own children than a spiritual
parent. It was with this in mind that in 1974 I suggested that my ten-year-old, Claudia, contact Anais Nin.
One of Anais recurring motifs has been the transcendence of loss through artistic creation. I wanted to share this motif with my
daughter. My husband and I had recently separated. I was teaching a college course on Anais Nin’s Diaries. I began to realize how very
much like my own children Anais had felt when her father left her at approximately the same age. Claudia's English class project was to
write the biography of a famous person. She had chosen Shakespeare, but was making little progress. It occurred to me that the painful
after-effects of her parents’ separation might be connected to this “writing block.” But I found myself in the position of being unable to
help her at the time she needed me precisely because I was her mother. The person my children missed most in the world was the person
against whom I harbored extremely bitter sentiments. I felt torn between my own anger and my children’s need for me to understand that
they still loved their father. I knew instinctively that Anais Nin, through the Diaries, could do the spiritual mothering I found impossible,
that reading about how she had used her own pain as a source óf creative energy might give Claudia confidence that childhood wounds
could be overcome.
When I spoke to Claudia about Anais, she perked up and instantly switched her topic from Shakespeare to Nin. Then she wrote to
Anais, telling her about the project and asking if there were any possibility of obtaining the childhood journal, written, as Anais tells us,
“as a diary of a journey to record everything for my father. It was written for him and I had really intended to send it to him. It was really
a letter so he could follow us into a strange land, know about us.” Claudia included some of her own poetry with her letter and soon
received an enthusiastic response.
If Anais Nin’s Diaries can speak personally to a child of ten, it is because Nin herself has never lost sight of the child she was. It is this
intermingling of past, present and future that gives the Diaries their universal and timeless aş peal for the young and old alike. She says in
the fourth Diary: “We live back and forth in the past or in the present or in the future. With the young one lives in the future. I prefer
that. Changes occur constantly according to the vision, image or myth that possesses one..... We never discard our childhood. We
never escape it completely .. …. The young'’s attraction for the old is the protection of their future. The need of faith and the elder's vision
into the future.” If, as Anais states, “changes occur according to the myth we are possessed by,” it is no wonder that those who read the
Diaries and become possessed by the myth of transcendence through creation undergo the therapeutic effects of a transpersonal healing. It
was precisely this faith in the future and the elder's vision that I wanted to pass on to my daughter and that caused just such a psychic
healing to take place.
I think Claudia was helped most in handling that difficult period in her life by the knowledge she gained from Anai’ that reality need
not only be composed of what you live, but more importantly of what you dream, and that the creation of the Marvelous in life is not
denied those who experience loss or pain, as long as the creative will prevails and transforms that suffering. Of all the papers I have read
on Auais Nin, none has moved me more than the very simple project written by my own daughter.
Gloria Feman Orenstein is an assistant professor and acting chairperson of Women's Studies at Douglass College.
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These are the questions: With what weapons did women in the

Women’s Emancipation between Revolutions: The Apostles

mid-nineteenth century actually fight? Did they have allies? Was

In spite of the setbacks, women had perceived the possibilities

their enemy simply the male? What goals did they fight for? How

for freedom. Soon after the turn of the century the social utopians

were women affected by the reactions to the first French Revolu-

appeared before the public with plans for a new social order,

tion in 1789, and what laws controlled them? Why did they seek

Searching for a new identity and lacking their own theories,

to join the early socialist groups and why were they rejected or

women believed they had finally found their place in Saint-

disciplined as soon as they asserted their own interests? Why did

Simon's Association universelle. Here man and woman would

their hopes in such apostles as Saint-Simon, Fourier, Cabet,

form the future “social unit” in a structure free of all enslavement.

George Sand or in the workers’ alliances turn out to be illusions?

However, Saint-Simon himself provided only general formula-

How is it that women of all classes were able to unite, so as to

tions. The exegesis of his gospel was left to his apostle Père

form an autonomous women’s movement?...

Enfantin.^ And Enfantin again placed woman on the very throne
that had always stood in the way of her liberation: she became an

1789: The Pioneers

ideal figure to be worshipped. Enfantin and his numerous fol-

The women’s movement .of 1848 sought victory in a battle in

lowers, men and women of all classes, awaited the appearance of

which, since the Great Revolution of 1789, it had only experi-

the Mère—the female messiah who, with the Père, was supposed

enced defeat. In 1789 women had left their homes, had climbed

to form the Saint-Simonian papal couple, the “Divine Andro-

down from the allegorical pedestals of freedom and fatherland to

gyne.” This “Mother” was also supposed to break the “seal” on

fight for these values with weapons in their hands. The “amazon

the shackles of women. But despite an intensive search, which

of freedom,” Thêroigne de Méricourt, and her sisters throughout

included expeditions to the Orient, this worthy woman was never

France formed amazon corps. It was women who advanced on

found. The seal on women’s chains remained.

Versailles to bring the royal couple and the crown prince—”the

Enfantin loosened one bond, however, with his réhabilitation

baker, the baker's wife and the baker's little boy”—to Paris.'

de la chair—the “liberation of the flesh” from the bonds of Chris-

As long as they integrated themselves into the fighting lines and

tianity’s aversion to the carnal. This meant the moral relaxation of

subordinated themselves to common goals, they were accepted.

the bonds of marriage to the very boundaries of promiscuity and

But when they followed the men’s example and established clubs

was first perceived by Saint-Simonian women as progressive.

to demand civil rights and freedom of economic activity for

However, it proved to be neither a theoretical nor a practical step

themselves, then the amazons of freedom became hateful Meg-

toward their liberation. The dualism of body and soul was main-

aeras. As a companion to the “Declaration of the Rights of Man,”

tained. Woman continued to be flesh, but her corporeality was

Olympe de Gouges proposed in 1789 a “Declaration of the Rights

elevated as a means of dignifying the male spirit. By making the

of Women”: “A woman has the right to go to the gallows; she

body divine, woman could be sexually exploited that much more

must also have the right to mount the speaker's platform.”

easily. In addition, no women sat in Enfantin’s Conseil suprême,

In the same declaration she concluded, “Oh women, women!

and in 1851 they were completely excluded from the hierarchy.

When will you stop being blind? What advantages have you

A great many women learned a lesson from these disappoint-

gained through the Revolution? Greater contempt, more flagrant

ments. They began to search for a new apostle. Former sup-

disregard. In the centuries of corruption the only thing you con-

porters of Saint-Simon wrote in the first issue of their women’s

trolled was men's weaknesses. Your empire has been destroyed.

journal, Femme libre (1832) :

What is there left? The conviction that men are unjust...”
Even though in 1790 the Constituent Assembly introduced a
law enabling daughters to inherit property and, in 1792, a divorce
When everyone is concerned about freedom and the

law, it was only the wives and daughters of wealthy men whose

proletariat demands liberation, in the face of this great

lot improved. Women’s more basic demands for education, the

movement of social emancipation taking place before

free exercise of an occupation and political rights were rejected.

Our very eyes, shall women remain inactive?...Is our

Napoleon's “Civil Code” of 1804 stated outright: “A wife owes

lot so fortunate that we have no demands to make? Up

obedience to her husband” (Article 1). Although Article 488 of

to now woman has been exploited and tyrannized. This

the code states that all unmarried women of legal age are “..….ab-

tyranny, this exploitation must cease. Like men we are

solute mistresses of their person and property” and are able to

born free; one half of the human race cannot be sub-

carry out all acts of civil life,? as long as a single adult woman was

jected to the other without injustice.*

not able to support herself through her own work, she would
hardly pass her twenty-first year unmarried. By 1826 the restoration government had rescinded the divorce law; the women’s

* Excerpted from Honoré Daumier und die ungelosten Probleme der burgerlichen Gesellschaft: Katalog zur Ausstellung der Neuen Gesellschaft

clubs had already been banned in 1793 by the revolutionary
government's Committee of Public Safety.

für bildende Kunst, Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, 1974.
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Women saw themselves here not as a minority, but as one half of

woman's own interests; and George Sand—“that woman writer”

humanity. If the male proletariat, numerically a smaller group,

who has inspired literary ambitions in the heads of faithful wives

could demand liberation, why not women?...

—is the source of all evil.

Yet women were not in a position to create an autonomous

What did George Sand really want and what kind of views did

emancipation movement. For too long they had been forceably

Daumier credit to her blue-stockinged followers?! In 1831 the

prevented from gaining any insight into social relationships. Be-

Baroness Dudevant had left her husband and experienced her first

fore 1848, no matter what family and social role the women’s

success as a feuilletonist for Le Figaro under the pseudonym

rightists envisioned for themselves, they always viewed their

George Sand. Soon after that, in her novels Indiana and Lêlia, she

liberation in conjunction with that of the most oppressed classes.

created heroines who protested the tyranny of marriage. The

However, even these classes, which the women held to be their

subsequent development of Sands political consciousness was

natural allies, rejected them as soon as they demanded the end of
sexual domination.

similar to that of countless other women. She moved from the
Saint-Simonians, who wanted her to be their “Mother,” to the

Flora Tristan, for example, led a lifelong battle for the cause of

social utopians and Lamennais and eventually, at the end of the

women and workers because of the dual oppression she had her-

1830s, she converted to the views of Pierre Leroux, who fought

self experienced. After the early death of her father she went to

capitalism through forced development of new methods of agri-

work as an illuminator. Her youthful marriage to her employer

cultural production. George Sand took Leroux'’s position in her

was unhappy; Tristan left her husband and took her children

so-called social novels written àfter 1840. She made farmers and

with her. According to the law at that time the marriage could

workmen her protagonists and declared them to be the deter-

not be dissolved and the husband was able to persecute his wife

mining social force, paralleling the actual historical role of these

for many years without punishment.

classes from 1830 to 1850. Her opinions placed her in the left wing

Tristan's major work, The Union of Labor, appeared in 1843,

of the petit bourgeois democrats.

shortly before her death. Long before Marx she proposed and ex-

As for the women’s question, Sand—like Leroux—did not ex-

pounded her idea that although the emancipation of workers must

pect a solution until a new social order could be established. But

be achieved by the workers themselves, it would only remain an

it is not only because of this blind faith in automatic change that

illusion without the emancipation of women. Tristan also sug-

the women’s question is peripheral in her “social” novels. From

gested to the workers the text for a declaration which ends, “We,

her extensive work with society and politics she could have come

the French proletariat..….recognize..….that the neglect and dis-

to a clearer analysis of the present and future role of women in

regard which men have shown for the natural rights of women is

society. But Sand was no longer concerned with the women’s

the sole reason for unhappiness in the world..…..Sons of 1789,

question. Having been accepted as one of their own by the most

this is the task that your fathers have given you to do!”

influential men of her time, she believed she had attained eman-

Because of this declaration and especially because of her por-

cipation and was, indeed, already beyond it. She had become a

trayal of the misery of proletarian marriages, Tristan did not

man out of conviction and had nothing but contempt for her

meet with sympathy from her public. Marriage and family were

former sex. Thus even in 1848 she disassociated herself very

the last reserves where the worker could exercise control on

clearly from the women’s rightists.

account of his sex. Thus labor and trade associations recognized

The George Sand who is the central figure in Daumier’s Blue-

Tristan’s work belatedly, if at all. In a letter to Considérant she

stocking series is still the early Sand, opposing marriage, al-

writes with disappointment, “Almost everyone is against me. The

though by the time the series appeared in 1844 she had already

men, because I demand the emancipation of women, the property

begun the development described above. Sand was the perfect

owners, because I demand the emancipation of wage earners.” 7

model even for Daumier's travesty of emancipation—portrayed
simply as the imitation and exchange of sexual roles. She dressed

The Bluestockings Corrupt the Moral Tradition of Marriage

like a man, smoked, used male gestures...Daumier’s Blue-

The Bluestockings (Les Bas-bleus) were not a specific organiza-

stockings have only first names, which makes them anonymous

tion. Originally the term referred to a group of female scholars

and insignificant. Among the precursors of these Eudoxies,

and writers who owed their nickname to a certain blue-stockinged

Ismenes and Arsinoes are the French précieuses of the seventeenth

Mrs. Stillingfleet, a literary lady prominent in London around

century, whose legacy is visible today in the petites bourgeoises

1780. ° By the mid-nineteenth century, Daumier and his contem-

who imagine themselves to be leading intellectuals.

poraries used the term to mean any emancipated woman from the

When intellect and creativity, considered to be masculine qual-

bourgeois class, which, being their own class, posed the greatest

ities, are appropriated by daring women, they supposedly be-

threat and inspired the strongest defenses.

come—if not men—then at least sexless creatures. Thus, in the

Since bourgeois married women revolted naturally not against

first plate of Daumier’s series, an unattractive Bluestocking gaz-

employers, but against their husbands (who were not recognized

ing at her own likeness in a mirror takes comfort in Madame de

as employers since housework was unpaid), marriage was the

Stael’s words, “Genius has no sex.” !! Nevertheless, Daumier's

focal point of the emancipation efforts of the caricaturists’ Blue-

Bluestockings still have families and still assume the duties of pro-

stockings. In Daumier’'s series Conjugal Mores (1839), the battle

duction and reproduction of manpower, although because of

between the sexes took place in the parlor or bedroom, the target

their intellectual predilections, they are unwilling to do house-

the flaws of a lower- or middle-class marriage. The sixth plate of

work. Indeed the very existence of the family is in danger, when

the series points clearly to the Bluestockings. A husband in his

the children are always falling into the bathwater or when the

underwear holds out his torn pants to his wife, who is reading,

husband must care for them while his wife writes an “Ode to

and complains that George Sand keeps wives from mending their

Motherhood.” It escaped Daumier’s notice that the traditional di-

husbands’ trousers: “Either we should make divorce legal again

vision of roles gives far more occasion for comedy when the hus-

. . .or outlaw this lady writer!” ° This print evokes the three chief

band is writing an ode praising the joys of motherhood while the

complaints against the Bas-bleus: wives refuse to mend trousers

wife keeps the children out of his way.

and even want to dress themselves in this symbol of their hus-

In contrast to the women in Conjugal Mores, whose activities

bands’ power; marriage and family are neglected in favor of the

were limited to the domestic sphere, ambition drives Daumier’s
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So that men could hear them, these working and bourgeois
women gained the right to speak in democratic and socialist
men’s clubs like the Club Lyonnais or the Club de l'émancipation
des peuples. At best the men tolerated or smiled at the women’s
presentations. Once again women learned from these experiences; they organized themselves autonomously. They came
together from homes and factories to form their own clubs and
editorial boards. “The natural agent for your liberation is
woman,” points out one of the women's papers.!?
The two largest women’s clubs in Paris were the Club de
l'émancipation des femmes, founded by Jeanne Deroin and Dr.
Malatier, and the Club des femmes, founded by Eugénie Niboyet.
Clubs founded newspapers, newspapers founded clubs. Thus
Jeanne Deroin published the Opinion des femmes! and Niboyet
the Voix des femmes. To properly evaluate the achievements and
significance of the women’s newspapers, it must be kept in mind
that they appeared daily and that newspapers were the only form
of mass communication.
Among the editors of the Voix, Niboyet had worked for a long
time on women’s newspapers,” and Deroin was a teacher who
wrote for the Opinion des femmes as well. Désirée Gay was a
worker and later founder of a women laundry workers’ union. A
large number of other writers for the paper signed their articles
with first name and occupation only. With its first issue on March
20, 1840, the Voix called for support of the aforementioned de-

Neus varla donc itunes pour tenme Le Sans Culotte
je premiei numero de netre jeurnaÌ

enr Lamnenert tch:snans taut

mands of the women’s organizations.

ns cammencer par échmer 7

-littéraire qu'est te mans

The battle dealt primarily with the right to vote and the right to

fi

work. On March 5, 1848, the provisional government had proclaimed “universal suffrage.” The next day it specified exactly
Honoré Daumier. “Well, we’ve gathered here to write the first issue of our

who was allowed to vote—all men over twenty-one years of

journal...The Women's Literary Sans-Culotte....What do we want to
wreck first?””—‘“For a beginning. .….let’s smash everything!” Lithograph.

age who enjoyed the rights of citizenship. Mentally retarded people and minors were not permitted to vote. The women belonged

1844 (No. 33 in the series “The Bluestockings”).

to this group.

Women rose up in arms. In an address to the provisional government on March 16, women artists, workers, writers and teachers demanded equal political rights for both sexes. Delegations

Bluestockings to take the first steps out of the house and found

from the “Committee for Women’s Rights” went to Marrast at

organizations limited only to their own sex. They are either gaped
at or hooted at as salon socialists; they change the function of the

City Hall and insisted on the right to vote because the voting law

ladies’ tea party and meet as a circle of drinking companions who

failed to specifically exclude women. The Jacobin Club released a
trial balloon with the nomination of George Sand as a candidate

parrot revolutionary ideologies. Daumier deals with the real, and

for the National Assembly. The women’s clubs enthusiastically

more threatening, women’s newspapers and clubs only twice. At

endorsed the nomination. The Voix des femmes of April 16 pro-

a meeting to found their journal The Women’s Literary SansCulotte, Bluestocking journalists discuss the contents of their first

claimed, “We have nominated George Sand!” A woman in the

issue: “What do we want to wreck first? For a beginning, let's

National Assembly, one whom men had declared to be a genius,

smash everything!” And in the second print— the chaotic meeting

would have to be heard! But in the newspaper La Réforme Sand

of a women’s club—it is typical of Daumier that once again the

clearly disassociated herself from the movement. She admitted

ironic caption speaks only of women’s incapability of working as

that freedom of opinion was the right of both sexes, but protested

an organization. The observer learns nothing about the reason

the unsolicited support of women whom she did not know and
with whom she did not wish to associate.

for the meeting or the topic of discussion. These sheets do not

Eugénie Niboyet had realized that Sand was no women's

give the vaguest notion of the explosive power that the women’s
movement was about to develop in the February Revolution

rightist. In the Voix on April 10, 1848, she returned the affront.

of 1848.

“The candidacy of Madame George Sand was decided by men in
clubs where women are not permitted.... The republic has not
done away with the privileges of the talented, but it has limited

The Women’s Movement in 1848: Goals and Organization

them by imposing responsibilities.” In the election on April 23

The February Revolution again called women to the battlefield.

George Sand was defeated. One half of the French people still had

Again the overthrow of an old social order loosened their bonds,

no voice.

and for a short time in the anarchy of law and morals they escaped the control of their masters. Since 1789 they had expanded

Organizing by Women

their demands and made them more precise: without the com-

The right to work meant economic independence, a funda-

plete abolition of the domination of one sex by the other, the
revolution could not be victorious. Their common goals were the

mental step towards women’s liberation. Finding work for

right to work, the autonomous organization of wage-earning

women had nothing to do with charity. “Under a republican gov-

women, abolition of educational privileges, and the procurement

ernment privilege is replaced by equality, just as charity becomes

of political and civil rights (suffrage, divorce).

fraternity...” (commentary in the Voix on April 3, 1848). The

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women's demands were presented before the Commission du tra-

seamstresses: for a twelve-hour day they could earn at the most

vail of the provisional government in a very general and rather

1 franc in the city, in the country no more than 60 centimes. In

feeble form. An address directed to Louis Blanc, the commission

general, women earned only about one-third of what men

chairman, read:

earned. Female workers sewed national guard shirts for the government and received piece-wages. Since most of them were un-

Many women are in a desperate situation.... Good

trained, many barely received 30 centimes a day, far below the

morals build republics and it is the women who are re-

subsistence minimum. The substantial wage differences within

sponsible for good morals! Let the nation praise wom-

the ateliers also made women unhappy. The complaints multi-

en's labor through your voice. We hope that through

plied. An editorial in the Voix on April 14, 1848, declared:

our will work done by women will have a status in the
present reorganization of labor and that you will urge

Why do women revolt? Because women’s workshops

that the fundamental principle of association be applied

are controlled by men, because favoritism brings higher

to the kinds of work that are carried out by women.!6

wages than work accomplished, finally, because some
have too much and others too little. What the female

In a postscript the woman writing this appeal demanded auxili-

worker wants is not an organized hand-out, but rather

ary protective measures to make it possible for women to work

ajust reward for work done....We want all people to

and to make their work easier, such as the establishment of

be able to make a living from their labor..….….

“national restaurants,” state laundries, day-care centers and so
forth!”

On April 18 Désirée Gay wrote:

The women’s movement sought to organize female workers in
two ways. First, through the creation of associations at existing

Female workers are dying of hunger. The work that

places of work. Second, by demanding that the state set up

they are given to do is only bait. The organization of

national workshops for women to reduce unemployment.

women’s work is only despotism under a new name.

Workers’ associations already existed under the July Monarchy

The appointment of women’s delegates is a false pretense thought up by men who want to get women off
their backs.

in embryonic forms, but they were constantly exposed to persecution by Louis-Philippe’s government. However, with the
February Revolution of 1848, the concept of an “association”
took on an almost magical significance, for it represented both an

Because of her energetic advocation of women’s rights, Désirée

end to all exploitation and a “brotherliness” which would be real-

Gay was fired as division leader several days later. The govern-

ized in all social realms.” Women also formed associations.

ment threatened to imprison her and close the ateliers, if there

Pauline Roland founded an association for socialist teachers. The

was an uprising among women workers.

alliance of midwives, Sages femmes unies, demanded medical

In the government decree of June 23, 1848, on the closing of the

training, better care for the working classes and state wages. The

National Workshops, the ateliers des femmes did not even need

Voix des femmes added that women should reclaim gynecology

to be mentioned. They had already become ineffectual due to the

and no longer surrender their bodies to profit-seeking, incom-

participation of women in the June insurrection. ”'

petent doctors.!?

The most infamous society of female workers formed for the

The Voix also founded an association for domestic workers,

liberation of women was a paramilitary group, a feminist “mili-

Association des femmes à gages, to eliminate the isolation inher-

tia,” called the Vesuviennes. The members adopted this nick-

ent in domestic work. In October, 1848, Jeanne Deroin launched

name, mockingly applied by the public, and gave it their own

the Association des ouvrières lingères. The female laundry work-

interpretation. Actually it described their situation superbly: like

ers organized their businesses themselves, from soliciting orders

long dammed-up lava, they would cause social upheaval. With

to delivery. One quarter of the profit was paid out in wages, one

weapons clashing, the Vésuviennes marched in front of the City

quarter went into a relief fund for the workers and the other half

Hall and at the Place Vendôme under the command of Josephine

went back into production.” Finally, in August 1848, Deroin

Frenouillet. This was grist for the mill of Charivari. From the end

founded a central French labor union movement. In answer to her

of March onwards, the house caricaturist Cham was already lash-

call delegates from a large number of associations met in Paris to

ing out at the “Vesuvian marriage” under the weekly heading
Revue comique de la semaine. He had the husband of a Vésuvi-

discuss suggestions for a federation — 140 associations formed the
alliance. In 1850 Deroin was imprisoned for half a year as an

enne sigh while minding the children, “Since early morning my

enemy of property, individualism and male domination in the

wife has been in front of City Hall at a proclamation ceremony

state and in the family.

and here little Gugusse has been proclaiming for two hours that
she wants to be fed!”

In March 1848, the suggestion was first made, in the Voix des

The ideal “Vesuvian marriage” is presented in the “constitu-

femmes, that the government's National Workshops also be
established for women. In the course of their campaign, delegates

tion” of the Vésuviennes.” Divorce is permitted—but every

of female workers finally established Ateliers des femmes (work-

woman over twenty-one and every man over twenty-six is

shops for women) through the Commission du travail. Désirée

obliged to marry. If a woman should refuse to marry, or if it is

Gay, a worker and editorial writer for the Voix, was chosen as a

proved that she is adopting her husband's political views, she will

delegate by the female workers of the second arrondissement of

lose all her rights as a female citizen, rights which she otherwise

Paris. She gave regular reports in the Voix about the organization

enjoys without restriction from the age of fifteen. In a Vesuvian

and development of the newly opened workshops in the second

marriage” ...the spouses are partners, united by interest and

district, and from her reports we get an idea of what was happen-

feelings. Neither one is allowed to dominate.” Both marriage

ing in other ateliers.

partners are to be gainfully employed; housework is shared. If

Every 100 female workers were under the command of a divi-

the husband refuses to do housework, he must then serve in his

sion leader (daily wage: 3 francs). Every ten women were in turn

wife's place in the Civil Guard as well as his own in the National

assigned to a brigade leader (daily wage: 1.50 francs). On March

Guard. It is a program of equality consistent to the last degree:
even sex-related clothing was gradually to disappear.

20, 1848, the Voix published figures on the average earnings of
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George Sand was also suggested and rejected as a candidate,

In the face of such goals, it is no wonder that the Vésuviennes
were the favorite butt of satirical attacks. While Daumier'’s

Again she demonstrated that she did not think of herself as a

“Divorce Rightists” series did not appear until August 1848, Char-

woman, for she disapproved of both active and passive suffrage

ivari had already been printing the twenty-plate series Les Vésu-

for members of her own sex. In Sands view women were political

viennes by E. de Beaumont since the first of May. Beaumont pic-

minors, incapable of making decisions because of their funda-

tured the Véêésuviennes almost exclusively as capricious young

mental disenfranchisement. The women’s movement could only

girls, as ballet pupils upon the drill field, their rifles held, as if by

cause promiscuity and put the home in danger. Only in the dis-

accident, in delicate hands.

tant future, under changed social conditions, would women be

The relationship between the Vêésuviennes and other women’s

able to participate in politics and share in the decision-making

organizations was probably strained due to methods rather than

process.

goals. Except for a few stones thrown through the Charivari win-

On the subject of Deroin’s candidacy, Proudhon again spoke

dows, the socialist women rejected violence as a political instru-

out, in the journal Le Peuple, taking a strong position against

ment.

women’s emancipation: “What woman must free herself from is
not man. In our modern society there is little progress to be made

The “Socialist Women”

in this respect. As with the proletariat, it is capitalist despotism

After the June (1848) insurrection, all political activities, above

which tyrannizes her heart and throws her into the milieu of the

all the organization of clubs, were forbidden to women. The Voix

workshop where slowly her morale and her body are de-

des femmes had to cease publication. These measures were based

stroyed.”

on a decree by the Assemblée, which was initially worded:

And Jeanne Deroin replied in her paper, L'Opinion des

“Women and minors may not be members of a club nor attend

femmes: “Pardon me, Monsieur, women are trying to free them-

club meetings.” After protests against the defamatory way in

selves from men. .….……it is not so much a question of getting wom-

which women and minors were put in the same category, minors

en out of the workshop as a need to change the workshop itself

were eliminated from the decree, but the ban against women

and to ennoble it both for women and for the proletarian worker,

remained.

since it is the source of work and independence.” 2

As a consequence, women turned to political banquets (bankettes), which because of their inflammatory nature, partially re-

1. Cf. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (New York: Knopf, 1953); Léon

placed the clubs. At the beginning of 1849 Proudhon protested

Abensour, Histoire Générale du Féminisme (Paris, 1921); Clara Zetkin,

against the participation of women in a banquet presided over by

Zur Geschichte der proletarischen Frauenbewegung Deutschlands
(Berlin, DDR, 1958); Sheila Rowbotham, Hidden from History (London,

Pierre Leroux. Daumier referred to this on January 25, 1849, in

1973).

Charivari. A woman in one of his caricatures complains, “And

2. Quoted from Daniel Stern, Histoire de la Révolution de 1848 (Patris,

Proudhon does not want us to go to socialist banquets..….the

1878), II, pp. 378-379. Cf. also d’Agoult (Daniel Stern), Mémoires 1833-

unfortunate man has never been in love..….otherwise he would

1854 (Paris, 1877).

realize that a woman graces any occasion by her very presence!” 25

Cf. Gazette des femmes, no. 53, 10. 10. 1846.

The conspiracy against husbands, the resistance to obedience

Cf. Edith Thomas, Les femmes en 1848 (Paris, 1948), pp. 7ff.
Ibid., p. 10.

and the neglect of the home are once again presented as the chief

For the following cf. Zetkin, pp. 161ff. and Thomas, pp. 18ff.

goals of Daumier's Femmes Socialistes.” In this series, however,

Thomas, p. 29.

he also addresses himself for the first time to contemporary
events: the closing of the clubs, the banquets, and the election

2NA

Brockhaus, K/. [eines] Konversationslex. [ikon] (Leipzig, 1886).
Charivari, 6. 30. 1839; [Loys] Delteil, [Honoré Daumier, 10 vols. (Paris,
1925-1930)], no. 629.

campaign of Jeanne Deroin, who had intended to capitalize on

Cf. G. Sand, Gefahrten von der Frankreichwanderschaft [Compagnon

the fact that there was no law which made women ineligible for

du tour de France] (Berlin, DDR, 1954), with an afterword by Rita
Schober; Edith Thomas, George Sand (Paris, 1959); Jean Larnac,
G.[eorge] S.[and] als Revolutionarin [George Sand as a Revolutionary}.

public office. At the meetings of the Democrat-Socialists she took
the floor and demanded that she be nominated, explaining, “They

. Charivari, 1. 30. 1844. Delteil, nos. 1221-1260.

are Democrat-Socialists, they desire the end of exploitation of

. Voix [des femmes], 4. 20. 1848.

one man by another and of women by men, they want a complete

. The successor to the paper Politique des femmes.

and radical abolition of all privileges of sex, race, birth, class and

. There were countless other journals for women, but often only a few

property...…. It is in the name of these principles that I present

issues appeared because of the special difficulties involved (financing,
organization, marketing and distribution, quality).

myself as a candidate for the legislative assembly and request the

. She was editor from 1833 to 1834 in Lyon of the pro-Fourier Conseiller

support of the party...”

des femmes.

As a political candidate she went directly to the voters of the

. Stern, II, p. 161.

Seine district: “A legislative assembly which is made up only of

. Voix des femmes, 3. 2. 1848.

. Edith Thomas, Pauline Roland (Paris, 1956), p. 127.

men is just as incapable of making laws to govern a society of

. Voix des femmes, 4. 20. 1848.

men and women as an assembly of privileged persons would be to

. Thomas, Les femmes en 1848, pp. 71ff.

decide on the interests of the workers, just as an assembly of capi-

. Ibid., p.56.

talists would be incapable of upholding the honor of the father-

. Charivari, 4. 2. 1848.

land.” When the Democrat-Socialists tried to prevent her from

. Thomas, Les femmes en 1848, pp. 59-60.

speaking at a meeting, she took the floor anyway and asked what

. Ibid., pp. S7ff.
. Delteil, no. 1794.

had happened to the principles of those “...who demand the

. Delteil, nos. 1916-1927.

abolition of ‘privilege’ but still try to keep that privilege which

. Thomas, Les femmes en 1848, pp. 63ff. on the candidacy of Deroin.

they hold in common with the privileged, that privilege which is

. Ibid., pp. 68-69.

the source of all privilege and of all social injustice: the domination of man over woman?” Although she was finally suggested as

Cäcilia Rentmeister is an art historian from Berlin. She teaches at the

a candidate for the Democrat-Socialists, Deroin received only a

Hochschule für Bildende Kunst and is completing her doctoral disserta-

few votes.

tion, “Woman as Sphinx,” on nineteenth-century painting.

56

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Twenty-Seven Personal Records

Edited ‫ك‬
Stephane Brody Lederman
Theodora
Amy
Brook Skt,
Snider 6

We feel that the following pages speak for themselves.

Journal entries are included in Section I, drawing and project
ideas in Section II and completed works that contain personal Section 1.
ıpriting in Section III.
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82

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Section 2.

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4 T

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A

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‫ ر‬.

‫م ج کیا م یو جرو‬

O RE

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23

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27 |

1. Kristen Newman lives in Philadelphia. She writes now but plans to
return to a career in science and physics when her children are in school.
2. Joan Snyder is a painter who lives and works in New York and Martins

Creek, Pennsylvania.
3. Robyn Brentano was a member of the Byrd Hoffman Byrds. She is now

14. Ree Morton was a sculptor who worked environmentally, indoors and
outdoors, wrote, drew, lectured, taught at Philadelphia College of Art, had
three children. Her last show is at the Walter Kelley Gallery in Chicago.
15. Nancy Graves is a sculptor, painter and filmmaker.
16. Joanne Akalaites is an actress, director and member of Mabou Mines.

a dancer who makes films about dance.

17. Michelle Amateau is a painter who lives and works in Boulder.
4. Janet Sternburg is a poet who has made a film on Virginia Woolf and is

co-authoring a play about Louise Bogan.
5. Harmony Hammonđd is a lesbian feminist who lives in New York. She

has a six-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Tanya, who also says she’s an
artist. They share a studio.

6. Paula Tavins is an artist living in New York whose works include
painting and small sculptures.
7. Amy Snider is a doctoral candidate in art at New York University.

8. Nancy Azara is a sculptor who makes partially painted, oiled and
. assembled wood carvings.
9. Sarah Draney is an artist who lives and works in New York.

10. Reeva Potoff is a New York artist who is presently showing at Louis
Meisel Gallery and teaching at Bennington College.
11. Ann Wilson was one of the original Coenties Slip group in the 1950s
and is now working in multimedia.

12. Elizabeth Le Compte is a performer, director and member of the

18. Donna Dennis was born in Ohio, lives in New York, and makes painted
wooden constructions which stand on the floor and resemble architecture.

19. Rosemarie Castoro is a painter and sculptor living in New York. She
has received several fellowships, shows and also writes.
20. Susan Stoltz is from Marinette, Wisconsin. She is currently completing
her Masters degree in studio art at New York University.
21. Phoebe Helman is a sculptor who lives and works in New York.
22. Pat Lasch is an artist living in New York whose work is concerned with

family and geneological relationships.
23. Jenny Snider is an artist who lives in New York and works in several

media—painting, film and writing.
24. Mira Shor is a New York painter currently teaching at the Nova Scotia
College of Art and Design. Her paintings are made as a day-by-day record
of her life.

25. Carolee Schneemann, the first painter to choreograph environmental
theater (for the Judson Dance Theater), created Kinetic Theater in 1962.

Performance Group of New York.
26. Theodora Skipitares is a performance artist in New York.

13. Meredith Monk is a performer, dancer and singer. Her company, The
House, works in New York.

27. Stephanie Brody Lederman draws and tells stories on paper.
(photos: eeva-inkeri, 10, 11, 15; Jeff Way, 14, 17, 19.)

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LIZZIE BORDEN
They say that at the point they have reached they must
examine the principle that has guided them. They say it
is not for them to exhaust their strength in symbols. They
say henceforward what they are is not subject to compromise. They say they must now stop exalting the vulva. They say they must break the last bond that binds
Guérillères

together, each contributing what she knew, there was relatively

In the past decade, women have worked together, met

the same level of experience and skill—a necessary or “natural”

together, and talked together in ways that have been considered

equality, which often made democracy intrinsic to organization.

novel, emerging from and at the same time creating a new

Because woman's domain was traditionally more personal,

attitude about group organization which proposes only egalitar-

women’s political activities tended to center around personal

ian, non-hierarchical relationships. The methods used in sup-

questions. (Sheila Rowbotham suggests that this focus is a

port/collaboration (such as consciousness raising) and the kind

necessary precondition for the mobilization of women en

of group created have seemed unique. However, this attitude and

masse.!) But the moral imperative, when elicited as a response to

these methods have been generally restricted to the small group,

oppression, often bogs down in the attempt to reconcile morality

while the dominant form of mass organization among middle-

with revolutionary strategy. The impetus behind a moral position

class women has been conventionally reformist, aimed at chang-

is more often rational than revolutionary; it is a call to reason, to

ing legislation, working for the ERA and so forth. This kind of

the recognition of how things should be and the decision to make

political work relies on organizing methods historically unrelated

them that way. But the idea that change is effected only by reason

to significant social change.

and understanding can be utopian and/or reactionary, since

Many women who were in radical politics in the late 1960s

recognition of class and economic contradictions alone cannot

have fallen back on working methods that can have immediate,

affect the power relationships behind these conflicts. On the other

tangible effect. This is a recurrent problem for the left: should it

hand, the alliance of feminism with political ideologies that stress

work for immediate reforms, setting the stage for greater ones?

revolution, especially marxism-leninism, has often been destruc-

Will reform (or opportunism, according to some) eventually

tive to the radical content of feminism. The real question is, then:

produce a consciousness sufficiently advanced to change the
social structure? The women's suffrage movements in England

how can the content of change be maintained within a confusion
about form? What organizational form will work without sacri-

and America were also divided on this issue. Some saw the vote

ficing feminist content to political ideologies that maintain sexist

as leading to further reforms for women, while others saw it as

social institutions?

leading to socialism. Today, reformist politics tactically involved with a more or less accepted social structure are at odds

“The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!”

with attempts by radical feminists to rethink society and rela-

“Yes, and the strongest, in the existence of any social

tionships within society. In the criticism of power, bureaucracy
and institutional rigidity, in the emphasis on the personal, on the

species, are those who are most social. In human terms,
most ethical . . . There is no strength to be gained from

family (whatever its form), on education, child care and sex

hurting one another. Only weakness.”—Ursula LeGuin,
The Dispossessed

—feminists have proved, consciously or not, to be anarchists.
The anarchist premise of radical feminism is that only

Thus, feminism’s major problem—how to concretize ideas

through collectivity and equality can individuality, autonomy

about personal liberty within a form of organization that is not

and independence be achieved. Individuality, in this sense, means

hierarchical, that does not contradict individual freedom, and

something like “personal and interpersonal realization.” This is

that is not utopian—has been anarchism's traditional dilemma as

“therapeutic” only when the group helps women “survive” within

well. Anarchist and often feminist arguments tend to be predi-

the system, when the group becomes estheticized or escapist and
PPNA N

cated on a moral-philosophical belief in a “natural” social state

class analysis doesn't provide a basis for further organization.

without government or male-created institutions—a condition

Anarchist egalitarianism in women’s groups has been based not

that would be “naturally” reinstated if government or male

only on political, but on ethical or moral grounds which presume

institutions were abolished; that is, Nature herself, or women,

that women should behave in a certain way—openly, honestly,

would produce a better social organism.

with integrity. Women, by requiring this of each other, some-

Some of the most influential anarchists—Godwin, Prou-

times create a feeling of moral superiority over men who, by

dhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, and later, Emma Goldman and

implication, and often in fact, are not honest among themselves,

Federica Montseny—provide the historical precedents for many

or “in touch with their feelings.”

aspects of women’s groups. It must be kept in mind, however,

Historically, ethical and egalitarian relationships among

that anarchists and feminists have often reached the same con-

women did not result only from choice, as was the case with

clusions from different directions, which raises the question of

anarchists, but from material conditions excluding women from

intentionality. For example, William Godwin, husband of Mary

full participation in production and power—and thus from the

Wollstonecraft and father of Mary Shelley, imagined the world

hierarchies of production. Whenever women began to work
71

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structured around discussion groups with a purpose similar to

selves to immediate need, affecting consumption rather than

consciousness raising. His ideal society, as described in Political

production, and they do not in themselves deal with the sources

Justice (1793) was based on “public inspection,” “positive sincer-

of production or help analyze the power of women in the labor

ity,” and “political simplicity” —the foundation for the first two.

force. This kind of cooperative activity is still linked to household

This meant reorganization through federalism, nations broken

activity, which is also about consumption, contrary to what the

down into small autonomous units. Psychological pressure

Wages for Housework women argue.

would replace force, for people would have to be honest and
virtuous in face-to-face confrontations. Small discussion groups

Cooperative organizations are Proudhonian in their hope
that cooperation can extend laterally to change the economic and

would encourage the pursuit of knowledge, extending laterally to

psychological bases of society. If the cooperative form is that of

become a universal movement. Godwin’s speculations, however,

the extended family, if it is apolitical, and isolationist, like most

were based not in practice but in reaction against the retardation

communes, it simply avoids the realities of production. A

of the French Revolution by governmental authority.

commune is similar to a consciousness-raising group, it can

The major impetus of consciousness raising has been

radically change the individuals within it but it is imperialized,

Godwinian, centering around discussion and inquiry with trust,

economically and socially, by external institutions, and can serve

loyalty and honesty as criteria for respect. According to the Red

only as an example rather than as a political force.

Stockings, the purpose of consciousness raising was to “develop

The women say they have learned to rely on their own

female class consciousness through sharing experience and pub-

strength. They say they are aware of the force of their

licly exposing the sexist foundations of all our institutions.”

unity. They say, let those who call for a new language

While the call-to-arms was political, the methods were personal,

first learn violence. They say, let those who want to

based on the idea that the subjective experience of objective

change the world first seize all the rifles. They say that

conditions can lead to objective analysis. “We regard our per-

they are starting from zero. They say that a new world

sonal experience, and our feelings about that experience, as the

is beginning.—Monique Wittig, Les Guérillères

basis for an analysis of our common situation...” The notion

Mikhail Bakunin's influence—on both anarchists and

of equality, as conceived by feminists, has had a double mean-

women—seems to be emotional; his ideas are based in conven-

ing: the struggle to be recognized as equal to men (the oppressors) and the struggle to maintain equality among women (so as

tionally “female” modes: “revolution is instinct rather than

not to oppress each other). “We are committed to achieving

thought, it operates as an instinct, and as an instinct gives first

internal democracy. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure

battle.”^ Unlike Proudhon, he did not think institutions could be

that every woman in our movement has an equal chance to

rebuilt; they were to be demolished in a revolution that would

participate, assume responsibility, and develop her political

culminate in the construction of a world where everyone would

potential.”? Methods like “going around the circle” have been

be free and equal. Bakunin was the only influential anarchist to
make a constant litany of violence, and his statement, “the

used to prevent dominance—and to recognize that personality is
an instrument of domination.

passion for destruction is a creative passion,” became a romantic

However, when consciousness raising fails to distinguish

battle cry.

between sex and class consciousness and does not acknowledge

American middle-class feminist activism has usually not

middle- and working-class contradictions, it falls into liberalism

included physical violence, although from the time of the temper-

—”a moralistically humanitarian and egalitarian philosophy of

ance societies and the suffragettes there have been bloodless
demonstrations and guerrilla actions—women chaining them-

social improvement through the re-education of psychological
attitudes.”? From a marxist point of view, there can be no radical

selves to benches and fences, hunger strikes, bar smashing,

analysis if the critique of society rests upon change within the

window breaking. In England, upper- and middle-class guerrilla

individual (or in self-help and education) rather than relations of

actions were more violent than those of working-class women

production. While small-group interaction can extend laterally to

because poor wage-earners could not risk jail. For middle-class

become a mass movement, consciousness raising includes no

feminists, prison brought class conflict into the public eye;

strategy for mass organization. Consequently, while personal

upper-class women were given privileges, while bourgeois

interaction can be helpful as a beginning—generating support,

women were treated miserably. They often left jail determined to

building up individuals’ confidence—it remains idealistic if every-

work for prison reform.” Contemporary feminists who have
advocated violence and terrorism (such as the Weatherwomen

thing stops there.

and Susan Saxe) often operate in the Bakuninist spirit of acts that
“. . wasn't it Odo who said that where there's property

seem to be political theater rather than effective strategies, even

there's theft?”

though these women are not professed anarchists. Being forced

“[She said] ‘To make a thief, make an owner; to create

underground, however, away from usefulness in organization,

crime, create laws.’ The Social Organism.” —Ursula

has fostered greater impotence. It is ironic that the legal defense

LeGuin, The Dispossessed

of some of these fugitives, once they have been caught, has be-

Another strain of feminism is related to the theories of Pierre

come an organizational focus. Jane Alpert’s surrender was an ex-

Joseph Proudhon, who carried anarchism into more concrete

ception, because it appeared that she collaborated with the gov-

forms of organization. He wanted to rebuild society by creating a

ernment in locating and arresting her friend Pat Swinton. To be

federation of communes and cooperatives based on “Mutual

jailed for being in contempt of grand juries, for refusing to turn

Aid,” through contract and mutual credit, replacing “economic

state's evidence, has at times been seen as a high honor, serving to

powers” with “economic forces.” In his statement, “property is

focus class and sex contradictions better than the original bank

theft,” Proudhon opposed the exploitative accumulation of capi-

robberies or bombings.

tal but not property for use.

Decentralization had been an essential element in Odo’s

Some feminist organizations, such as health centers, credit

plans for the society she did not live to see founded. She

unions and food co-ops, are Proudhonian in their reliance on

had no intention of trying to de-urbanize civilization.

mutual aid, on exchange of skills and services. While such groups

Though she suggested that the natural limit to the size of

can often radicalize a particular community, they restrict them-

a community lay in its dependence on its own immedi-

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Clara Zetkin.

ate region for essential food and power, she intended
that all communities be connected by communication
and transportation networks, so that goods and ideas

Alexandra Kollantai.
the anarcho-communists, who were opposed to large-scale industry, and that of the anarcho-syndicalists, such as Emma
Goldman, who supported trade unionism and thought that

could get where they were wanted, and the administra-

anarchists should use the capitalist system of production progres-

tion of things might work with speed and ease, and no

sively to liberate rather than to alienate people. Both groups

community be cut off from change and interchange.—

agreed in their opposition to the Bolsheviks when they saw that

Ursula LeGuin, The Dispossessed

the “dictatorship of the proletariat” really meant the “dictatorship

Pëtr Kropotkin may have set the most useful anarchist precedent. Many strands of feminism stem from his thought—from
anthropologists and historians attempting to rewrite the history
of women by material analysis of sexism in production in early
societies, to socialists who have practically rejected marxistleninist authoritarianism but still base their economic analyses on
those theories. Both Emma Goldman and Federica Montseny
were strongly influenced by Kropotkin’s ideas, especially by his
attempt to place anarchism on a scientific and evolutionary
rather than moral ground. All three advocated a communism that
went beyond collectives and mutualism, which Kropotkin saw as
reflections of “mitigated individualism.” He argued that communist possession of land and individualist production were too
contradictory to survive, that the wage system should be abolished, that common possession of the means of production
implied equal consumption, that people should be provided for
according to their needs rather than the amount of labor they
performed. Dismissing any technical necessity for large-scale
industrialization, Kropotkin argued that the tendency of industry
was toward decentralization. But small scale was also important
for the same reason it was for Godwin and for today’s feminists
—for its reliance on trust and honesty in making and keeping
agreements. However, Kropotkin's belief that change would
come through evolution, shared by some feminists, is optimistic
but utopian. Past glory is as problematic as future glory, and as
useless to speculate about.
We have nothing but our freedom. We have nothing to
give you but your own freedom. We have no law but
the single principle of mutual aid between individuals.

of the Social Democratic Party.”
Emma Goldman, the most famous female anarchist, was one
of the harshest critics of the Bolshevik government. She came to
America as a young Russian immigrant and was radicalized by
the condition of the working class—long hours in sweatshops,
unsafe conditions, the sexual exploitation of women workers, the
prejudice against Jews. Objecting to communist authoritarianism, she was drawn to anarchism. Goldman was influenced by
Bakunin's passion for revolt—(“As to methods. Anarchism is
not, as some may suppose, a theory of the future to be realized
through divine inspiration. It is a living force in the affairs of our
life, constantly creating new conditions” í)—and by Kropotkin’s
economic analyses of decentralization, his attempt to make
anarchism scientific—(”Just as the animal cells, by mutual cooperation, express their latent powers in formation of the complete organism, so does the individual, by cooperative effort
with other individuals, attain [thè] highest form of development ...”7). Goldman became an anarcho-syndicalist, agitating
for women's rights, birth control, and labor reforms. She was not
primarily a feminist, although feminism was part of her anarchism, and she criticized women who were committed only to
women’s suffrage, asking why they would want the same right to
be oppressed as men. She also lambasted middle-class suffragettes
for failing to understand the problems of working-class women.
When Goldman was deported during the Red Scare after
World War I, she went to Russia, but was bitterly disappointed
by what she saw as the betrayal of the revolution.^ She argued
that the people's passionate yearning for liberty had made the
revolution possible, in spite of industrial backwardness. The
“spirit of mutual purpose” in the labor organizations and co-

We have no government but the single principle of free
association. You cannot buy the Revolution. You can-

operatives emerged in response to the need for them. However,
the Bolsheviks limited the scope of popular power. Seeing that

not make the Revolution. You can only be the Revolu-

the Soviets threatened the supremacy of the state, Lenin put a

tion. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.—Ursula

“new economic policy” into effect, destroying the Soviets, the

LeGuin, The Dispossessed

trade unions and the cooperatives in order to further centralize

During and after the Russian Revolution, anarchists in
Russia and elsewhere, hoping to create a political science by
basing their analyšes more concretely on economics, rejected the
romantic utopianism of their nineteenth-century predecessors.
There were two major lines of social-anarchist thought—that of

the political state. The revolution, though, had been fought with
a different objective—the negation of authority and centralism.
Goldman blamed not only the Bolsheviks, but the “fanatical
governmentalism” of marxism—and felt that only anarchosyndicalism—“the industrial power of the masses expressed

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through their libertarian associations” —could organize economic

public life.” However, Luxemburg objected to Lenin's principles

life. The power of the masses represented revolution to her: “The

of centralism : “1. The blind subordination, in the smallest detail,
of all party organs, to the party which alone thinks, guides, and

inherent tendency of the state is to concentrate, to narrow, and to
monopolize all social activities; the nature of Revolution is, on

decides for all. 2. The rigorous separation of the organized

the contrary, to grow, to broaden, and disseminate itself in even

nucleus from its social-revolutionary surroundings. . ..” The

wider circles. In other words, the State is institutional and static,

German Social Democracy, she insisted, was not joined to the

Revolution is fluent, dynamic.”° Goldman also criticized the Rus-

proletariat, it was the proletariat. The party was synonymous

sian Revolution for propagating anti-humanitarian feelings in its

with the masses; it was to provide the “spirit of movement” to the

criticism of all ethics. The Bolsheviks saw the desire for justice,

masses. Luxemburg objected that the power of the Central

equality, and liberty as sentimental, bourgeois, superstitious and

Committee would be comprehensible only if it took the initiative

counter-revolutionary, this last a criticism especially leveled

of a “vast revolutionary act,” paralleling Goldman's means-ends

against outspoken women. All of history, she wrote, “is continu-

argument.

ous proof of the maxim that to divest one's methods of ethical

Luxemburg saw the development of class consciousness as a

concepts means to sink into the depths of utter demoralization.”!°

product of the frictions between the party and trade union
activity. Lenin, denying this dialectical function, saw trade union

For Goldman, the primary ethical precept was the identity of
means and ends. Like Kropotkin, she found ethics involved more

activity as a mere reflection of bourgeois consciousness in the

than morals. How, in practice, could the dictatorship of the

working class. Through her belief that continued agitation was

intelligentsia transform itself into the dictatorship of the prole-

the only way to prevent the retardation of the struggle, Luxem-

tariat? Wouldn't any class dictatorship be the same as any other?

burg supported the traditionally anarchist idea of the mass strike,

How could a revolution attempting to free the masses do away

“Spontaneity,” as she used the term, meant action as opposed to

with all ethical concepts about why they should be free? This

static or reformist attitudes; it was misinterpreted by the Bolshe-

means-ends contradiction is important for feminists, preventing

viks to mean confusion or to suggest that the party's rational

the advocation of revolutionary action where revolutionary

policies should be determined by the “spontaneous” desires of the

method and end are not compatible.

masses. “But what has been the experience of the Russian socialist
movement up to now? The most important and most fruitful

They say that they foster disorder in all its forms. confu-

changes have not been the inventions of several leaders and even

sion troubles violent debates disarray upsets distur-

less so of any central organizational organs. They have always

bances incoherences irregularities divergences complica-

been the spontaneous product of the movement in ferment.” The

tions disagreements discords clashes polemics discus-

tactical policy of social democracy was not “invented” but was

sions contentions brawls disputes conflicts routs débâ-

the “product of a series of great creative acts.” Luxemburg argued

cles cataclysms disturbances quarrels agitation turbulence conflagrations chaos anarchy—Monique Wittig,
Les Guérillères

that Lenin's was not a “positive and creative spirit,” that he tried

It is interesting to compare Goldman's ideas with those of

living spirit carried into the organization by the membership that

to “narrow the movement rather than to develop it, to bind it
rather than to unify it....For us it is not the letter but the

some of the leading female communists, for many of these

decides the value of this or that organizational form.” It is here

women, no matter how allied their ideas were to an orthodox

that she seems closest to anarchism. She wanted to replace system

marxist line, tended to separate from their male compatriots and

not with another system, but with the opposite — movement and

come closer to anarchism in their opposition to bureaucracy, to

dynamism.

the subversion of revolution by the Bolsheviks, and to the use of

Clara Zetkin, a close friend of Luxemburg, agreed with most

purely efficacious means. Some of them resisted official policy so

of her ideas. However, Zetkin was a feminist, working for wom-

strongly that they were silenced by not receiving appointments,

en's rights, editing a socialist women’s paper, organizing biannual

dismissals from posts or absurd “propaganda” missions to the
hinterlands.

women's conferences in the German Social Democratic Party, the
International Socialist Women’s Conference, and International
Women's Day. She felt that as long as there were sexist attitudes

It has often been pointed out both in criticism and support
that Rosa Luxemburg'’s treatment of the nature of organization,

in the party, there was a need for separate women’s organiza-

her belief in the creative power and spontaneity of mass action

tions, meetings and groups for self-education and political agita-

and her advocation of the mass strike were replete with anarchist

tion. She compared woman's relation to man to that of the work-

assumptions. Though she was, in fact, strongly opposed to

er to the capitalist (a favorite quotation was from Engels: “He is

anarchism in any form, in relation to Lenin's authoritarian

the bourgeois in the family, the woman represents the prole-

political analysis, Luxemburg’s refusal to support any rigid

tariat”), and she believed that economic independence through

relationship of leadership to masses seems more sensitive to the

socially productive labor was the key to women’s freedom.

complexities of struggle. While her goal was the same as Lenin's—

Because of this, she thought at first that the destruction of private

the destruction of capitalism by the working class—she believed

property would free women by transforming the family from an

in creative improvisation of leadership rather than in precisely

entity bound by economic ties to a “moral entity” united by
“love, understanding, and respect.” But like Goldman, Zetkin

planned strategies. She did, of course, believe in leadership, but
considered good organization the product of action rather than

later recognized the difference between the role of women’s rights

its precedent and saw organization as growing out of struggle.

for bourgeois women and for working-class women. Middle-class

While Luxemburg understood the necessity of centralism as a

women could focus on issues of personal liberation and more

reaction against the “autonomy and isolation of the old organi-

individual concerns, while working-class women, exploited as

zational type, against localism and federalism,”'' the task was

women and as workers, did not have that kind of leisure. Because

“to unite all workers and all worker organizations in a single

she believed that biological as well as social factors created

party” despite national and religious differences. In the German

oppression, she concentrated, perhaps too heavily in later life, on

Social Democratic Party, this was predicated upon the “direct,

motherhood as the primary defining characteristic and fulfillment

independent action of the masses,” where the workers would

of women. Because of her feminism, Zetkin was victimized by the

“develop their own political activity through direct influence in

party and excluded from important positions.
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d

Spanish anarchist group. (Alain Klarer.)

Russian Party, the last vestige of trade-union autonomy

Angelica Balabanoff, active primarily in Italy, was like

and workers’ control in industry was swept away to be

Kropotkin a Russian aristocrat who rejected family and background for communism. Compared with Luxemburg and Zetkin,

replaced by the control of the political commissars over
the trade unions and the workers’ soviets. Kollantai had

she seems a bit simplistic, naive about the political machinations

become the leader of the “Workers Opposition,” a pro-

going on around her, but she was broad-minded and loyal to her

test movement against the bureaucratic suffocation of

sense of what was right. She too initially criticized anarchy be-

the labor unions and the democratic rights of the work-

cause it lacked a basis in objective conditions, but she changed

ers. As there was no possibility, even at that time, of

her mind upon meeting Emma Goldman, realizing that she had

publicly criticizing the Central Committee or of placing
an unofficial opinion before the Party rank and file, she

accepted without question the official charges against anarchist

was courageous enough to have a pamphlet secretly

dissenters. Balabanoff’s objections to the Bolsheviks were similar

printed for distribution to the delegates of the Party
Convention...I have never seen Lenin so angry, as

to Goldman's and Luxemburg’s. In her autobiography, My Life as
a Rebel, she wrote: “I have always believed that the emancipa-

when one of these pamphlets was handed to him at the

tion of labor must be achieved primarily by awakening and edu-

Convention. ..Taking the platform, he denounced

cating the masses to a consciousness of their human and social

Kollantai as the Party's worst enemy, a menace to its

rights, whereas the Bolsheviks have maintained that the trans-

unity..

formation of the social system must be accomplished by a relaKollantai was accused of being an anarchist (a “syndicalist”)

tively small minority.” :

because of her criticisms of the party for the absence of worker

Balabanoff not only opposed minority rule, but the cult of

participation, its substitution of “specialists” for the working
masses in decisions, its fear of criticism and freedom of thought.

leadership, convinced that revolutionary work should be anonymous “in order to prevent the development of hero-worship and

The Workers’ Opposition, which demanded real participation of

the undue influence of the individual upon the movement.”

the workers in economic self-administration and the organization

Objecting to the idea of revolution imposed from above, she

of production, was condemned by Lenin as “a petty bourgeois

argued that method must come from the experience of the work-

anarchist element hiding behind the back of the proletariat.”

ers themselves, as an exploited class, if the revolution were to

Kollantai's view of revolution parallels that of Luxemburg and

maintain itself against reaction. She despised the Bolshevik prac-

Goldman in its emphasis on spontaneity and creativity: “We can-

tice of exterminating the opposition —the “path of least resis-

not decree Communism. It can be created only through active

tance,” advocating instead the discussion of conflicting methods

searching, through temporary setbacks but, at all events, through

and the confrontation of honest differences of opinion rather than

the creative force of the working class itself.” 1°

discrediting or buying off opponents. When she made these

Kollantai also extended her criticisms to the absence of

objections, she was accused of being too “soft-hearted” to understand the necessities of the revolution — that is, too female and

equality for women, arguing that the party was not genuinely

sensitive, which amounted to being “counter-revolutionary” and

concerned with women’s liberation in practice. Women “still

“bourgeois.”

lived under‘ the same yoke: without authority in family life,

Balabanoff's autobiography is informative on the subject of

enslaved by a thousand menial household tasks, bearing the

her comrade, Alexandra Kollantai, who led the first organized

whole burden of maternity..….….” When she went to Germany and

opposition to the policies of Lenin and Trotsky.

joined the Social Democratic Party, she was influenced by Zetkin
and took part in the International Conference of Socialist Wom-

Alexandra was not an Old Bolshevik, but she had joined

en. In Russia, as Minister of Social Welfare after the revolution,

the Bolshevik Party even before Trotsky had done so

she was interested in redefining not only political conditions but

and much earlier than I. During these first few years of
the Revolution she was a frequent source of both per-

social and psychological attitudes concerning women; she

sonal and political annoyance to the Party leaders. On
more than one occasion, the Central Committee had

worked for maternity welfare, prenatal care and day nurseries, as

wanted me to substitute for her in the leadership of the

and the structure of the family. Like Goldman, Kollantai dis-

well as birth control, and strove to change ideas about sexuality

women’s movement, thus facilitating the campaign

tinguished the existing bourgeois women's liberation movement

against her and isolating her from the women of the
movement. Fortunately I understood this intrigue and

(which was not primarily concerned with creating a new social
order) from the need for a working-class movement based on the

refused these offers...By the Ninth Congress of the
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recognition of class contradiction. She was “accused” by the

ture Group), also predominantly anarcho-syndicalist workingand middle-class women.® By 1938, Mujeres Libres and its affili-

party of being a “feminist” for putting too much emphasis on
matters concerning women. But even though she believed that

ates had become a mass organization centered around demands

women have special needs arising from their biology (a material-

for freedom from oppression by capitalism and sexism; for devel-

ist argument), she criticized feminism for making only abstract

oping skills for meaningful rather than menial work; for equal

demands for equal rights without any concrete material analysis

wages; for access to social services. Many of these demands — for

of the situation for women at the time. This was her distinction

birth control, abortion, changes in the attitude toward prostitu-

between feminism and socialism, between the bourgeois and the

tion—were influenced by Emma Goldman's essays, which

working-class women's movements, which amounted to a dis-

appeared in Mujeres Libres. The organization developed into

tinction between liberalism and radicalism.

a decentralized federation of local, regional and national commit-

Tension between Kollantai and the party became more and

tees allied with various anarchist groups. While there were also

more severe. “Now began a (dark time) of my life which I cannot

rightist, leftist, and Catholic women’s groups, they mostly con-

treat of here since the events are still too fresh in my mind ...

centrated on wartime services. Mujeres Libres also set up units for

(There were differences of opinion in the Party.) I resigned from

transport, sanitation, manufacturing, public services, communal

my post as People's Commissar (on the ground of total disagree-

kitchens and the organized collection of food, but mainly they

ment with current policy).”' She was sent on a “diplomatic mis-

strove for the feminist-anarchist transformation of economic,

sion” to Oslo as ambassador—supposedly a prestigious assign-

social and personal institutions. They set up day-care centers in

ment but intended to get her out of the way. After years of being

factories and collectives and special technical schools so that new

suppressed, her spirit of resistance was broken and she stopped

skills would give women the power and means for their own
social liberation.

publicly criticizing the party and adopted the official line.

Federica Montseny, under whose influence many of these
With the myth of the State out of the way, the real

aims became legal, was born in 1905 to anarchist parents, the

mutuality and reciprocity of society and individual be-

publishers of the journal La Revista Blanca! While close to the

came clear. Sacrifice might be demanded of the individ-

socialist tradition of Goldman, Kropotkin, Bakunin, and Proud-

ual, but never compromise: for though only the society

hon, she was also influenced by the individualist anarchism of

could give security and stability, only the individual,

Stirner, Neitzsche and Ibsen, which stressed personal autonomy.

the person, had the power of moral choice—the power
of change, the essential function of life.—Ursula LeGuin,

While she approved the “egoism” of this position, Montseny re-

The Dispossessed

jected its often aristocratic tendency, arguing that the dialectical
relationship between individual uniqueness and the anarchists

The most extensive example of anarchism in practice oc-

social commitment and responsibility prevented solipsism. Per-

curred during the Spanish Civil War—a revolution that came

haps for a woman in patriarchal Spain, a more individualistic

closer to creating a stateless society on a large scale than any

stance was necessary. In any case, it was the female anarchists,

other. Aside from being a resistance to the fascist military take-

Montseny and Goldman, who stressed the importance of the indi-

over, it was a social revolution by millions of workers and

vidualization of the masses and saw the prevailing concept of the

peasants trying to rebuild society in a libertarian way through

masses as the annihilation of individuality and originality. Mont-

collectives, self-management and changes in personal and social

seny's idea of revolution was that it had to be social, not political,

relationships, particularly in the status of women.

internalized in each person and transforming all institutions; this

Before the war, in the first years of the Second Republic (a

would not be utopian because people have an unlimited potential

coalition of bourgeois republicans and socialists formed after the

for creating alternative social organizations.

collapse of the monarchy), some legislation had been passed to

During the Second Republic, Montseny wrote essays criticiz-

improve conditions for women: paid maternity leaves, time to

ing the government and propagandizing for anarchism; she

nurse children during the work day, suffrage and the legalization

organized anarchist labor groups and helped Mujeres Libres set

of civil marriage and divorce. Anarchist women, however, did

up day-care centers and technical schools for women. By 1936,

not organize to implement these legal changes or form separate

when the anarchists joined the Popular Front government, she

women's organizations because they, like the men, wanted total

had become a popular leader, as well as the leading anarchist

social revolution rather than reform. Yet even with more liberal

theoretician, and was appointed Minister of Health and Social

attitudes, sexism and patriarchy were not abolished. Women

Services. Although she was criticized for accepting the “reform-

with jobs were still resented and received lower wages. Because a

ist” position, and betraying anarchist principles, her decision was

token number of well-educated women achieved good govern-

affected by her sense of responsibility to society, and especially to

ment positions, middle-class feminism subsided. The greatest

women. While she worked for change in many areas — educa-

militancy was among working-class women, who had the worst,

tion, prison reform, abolishing the death penalty — she was pri-

lowest-paying jobs.!”

marily committed to changing the status of women. Within the

The outbreak of the Civil War in 1936 brought vast changes,

deeply embedded Spanish patriarchal tradition, she realized that

as a wartime economy inevitably does, because with the labor

anarchist revolution alone could help women only economically;

shortage, the need for women in factories and collectives in-

social attitudes would have to change if women were to be secure

creased, and because anarchist men and women agreed to fight

and independent. While in office, she drafted a law legalizing

for total social revolution. Feminism became an active political

abortion and argued for birth control and the legal reform of

issue, and women felt the need to form separate organizations to

prostitution, which she considered a result of rigid sexual rela-

work for their liberation. This was implemented by two major

tions and women's lack of significant work. Yet, like Goldman

factors: formation of the women’s group, Mujeres Libres (Free

and Kollantai, Montseny was not a “feminist,” and criticized the

Women), and the activities of Federica Montseny, the only

aims of feminism as narrow and reformist: “To propagate femi-

woman in Spain to hold a ministerial post.

nism is to foment masculinism; is to create an immoral and

Mujeres Libres, formed in Madrid, published a journal by

absurd struggle between the two sexes which no Natural law

the same name; it consisted primarily of anarchist working- and

would tolerate ... Feminism? Never! Humanism? Always!”

middle-class women, both illiterate and well educated. They were

Because political upheavals forced the anarchists out of govern-

joined by Barcelona's Centro de Cultura Feminina (Feminine Cul-

ment, Montseny held her ministerial post for only a year. After
76

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Anarchism presents an unresolvable contradiction. How can

the Civil War, the strong anti-feminism that emerged in the right-

it be achieved in a world where everything is leading toward

wing government wiped out most of the women’s gains.

greater centralization? As soon as anarchists begin to build pracI think men mostly have to learn to be anarchists.

tical systems, they are forced to approach a more centralized

Women don't have to learn. —Ursula LeGuin, The Dis-

communism through the necessity for concentration of capital.

possessed

But in spite of this contradiction, anarchism is important, par-

Why are women attracted to the most basic anarchist pre-

ticularly to women. Perhaps it can't be put into effect unless allied

mises? Why do women tend to believe that the highest develop-

with another system (socialism, communism); perhaps it has to

ment of the individual, that which leads to the least oppression,

serve as a constant criticism of authoritarianism, bureaucracy,

takes place within collective forms; that change has to come from

paternalism, protesting the erosion or obfuscation of liberty. Its

below; that any “human” society must be based on direct con-

role may be to serve as a moral reminder that social change is,

tact, the destruction of hierarchy and ethical behavior? Women

and always should be, for people.
There is a lesson in all of this: if in the entire history of

have always distrusted leadership and, in fact, there have been no
powerful and charismatic female leaders who influenced anar-

women’s struggles, we have been opposed to authoritarianism

chism or feminism in the way that, say, Marx and Lenin influ-

and hierarchy, it is masochistic and self-destructive to align femi-

enced communism. Anarchist and feminist emphasis is on the

nism with party lines advocating what Goldman called “fanatical

quality of life, on the basic structures of community, family and

governmentalism.” Marxism, for example, can also provide an

education. Many anarchist attitudes are seen as culturally female

economic analysis of the contradictions of capitalism, but there

— the emphasis on intuition, instinct, feeling and spontaneity, the

has to be, in addition, a movement toward direct democracy,

distrust of logic as authoritarian and dominating. While anarch-

self-management and freely associated workers—a feminist-

ism has directed its argument against government, women have

anarchist-socialism?

fought against patriarchy as such, private as well as public. It

Extracts are from: Monique Wittig, Les Guérillères, trans. Peter Owen

may be that this rèbellion against all patriarchal institutions is

(New York: Viking Press, 1971); Ursula LeGuin, The Dispossessed (New

what has led women into anarchist positions. Paralleling a retro-

York: Harper and Row, 1974).

grade anarchism that sees freedom only in liberation from indus-

1. Sheila Rowbotham, Wormen, Resistance and Revolution (New York:

try (non-syndicalist anarchism) is that retrograde feminism that

Vintage Books, 1974), p. 124.

2. All quotations in this paragraph are from the Redstockings Manifesto,

sees freedom only in liberation from men (separatism). As the

July, 1969.

Spanish experience of feminism shows, permanent liberation

3. Charnie Guettel, Marxism & Feminism (Ontario, Canada: Women’s

depends upon a total social structure. Sexism must be fought as

Educational Press, 1974), p. 3.

an integral part of the class contradiction, for it cannot be ex-

4. Mikhail Bakunin, quoted in Eugene Pyziur, The Doctrine of Anarchism of Michael A. Bakunin (Baltimore: Gateway Editions, 1955), p.

plained without it, but it must always be recalled that feminism is

17.

only part of the primary focus on class contradiction. The history
NETUN a

5. Sheila Rowbotham, “The Vote,” Hidden from History (New York:

of the socialist struggle in Russia and China, of feminist

Vintage Books, 1976), pp. 77-89.

anarchism, and even of the Weather Underground, shows how

6. Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (New York: Dover,

easily feminist demands, expectations and rights get lost in or

1969), p. 63.

exaggerated by male habits of dominance.

7. Ibid., p. 36.

8. See “The Revolution Betrayed,” Patterns of Anarchy (Garden City,

Anarchist tendencies in feminism could come from two

N.Y.: Anchor Books, 1966), pp. 98-115.

sources. The first is the concept that women are “naturally” more

9. Ibid., p. 110.

anarchistic because woman's “nature” is closer to the earth, to the

10. Ibid., p. 113.

torical and cultural. Women have been excluded from full par-

11. The quotations in this and the following paragraph are from Rosa
Luxemburg: Selected Political Writings, ed. Robert Looker (New York:

ticipation in government and industry, and have been confined to

12. Peter Nettl, Rosa Luxemburg (New York: Oxford University Press,

anarchist idea of the “natural state.” The second possibility is his-

Grove Press, 1974), pp. 96, 99, 101, 102, 104.

the smaller, more immediate contexts of family and community

1966), p. 415n.

13. There is very little available in English on Zetkin. Thus, a valuable

where harmony and cooperation are desirable and important.

essay is “Clara Zetkin: A Socialist Approach to the Problem of
Women’s Oppression” by Karen Honeycutt, Feminist Studies (Spring-

Because talk, gossip and expressing emotion were for so long the
only expressions permitted women, direct contact in small groups

Summer, 1976), pp. 131-144.

seemed appropriate and necessary for the beginning of social

14. The quotations of Balabanoff are from My Life as a Rebel (Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1973).

transformation. But there have always been at least two women’s

15. The quotations of Kollantai are from Autobiography of a Sexually
Emancipated Communist Woman (New York: Schocken Books, 1971).

movements. The middle-class movement, historically originating
from the free time and the good education that permit women to

16. Ibid., p. 40. Parentheses indicate the passages Kollantai deleted from
the published book, demonstrating her reluctance to reveal the con-

rebel against the emptiness of their leisure and the absurdity of
female roles, has been able to concentrate on issues of personal-

flicts between herself and the Party.

17. Little material on this period is translated into English. An important

ity, personal freedom, structures of language and art, social inter-

article, then, is by Lourdes Beneria: “Women’s Participation in Paid
Production under Capitalism: The Spanish Experience,” Women and

action and individual response to conditions of oppression. More
recently, middle-class women have been able to work in small

the Economy (Spring, 1976), pp. 18-33.

groups in an attempt to build up mutual confidence. The work-

18. An important source on Mujeres Libres is Temma Kaplan, “Spanish
Anarchism and Women’s Liberation,” Journal of Contemporary His-

ing-class women’s movement, on the other hand, has sometimes
been invisible because it has been aligned with socialist struggles

tory (Vol. VI, No. 2, 1971), pp. 100-110.
19. I have drawn a lot from the only source on Montseny I was able to find:

and unionism. For these women, oppressed by class as well as by

an unpublished dissertation by Shirley F. Fredricks, “Social and Political Thought of Federica Montseny, Spanish Anarchist 1923-1937”
(University of New Mexico, March 1972). I am thankful to Lawrence

sexism, feminism is not usually the primary strategy; they seek
more immediate changes, tied to conditions in the working place,
and often ignore their extension in the home. While their de-

Pitkethly for lending me the microfilm.

20. Fredricks, p. 131, from Montseny, “Feminismo y Humaniso,” p. 14.

mands are often feminist —for equal pay, pay during maternity
leave, day-care centers —these are sought within sexually integrated contexts. The task now seems to bring these two feminist

Lizzie Borden, a filmmaker and writer, lives in New York.

movements together.
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SARAH CHARLESWORTH
1.

Compared to the devoted and laborious build-up that

In August 1976, there emerged in Belfast, Northern Ireland,

took place before all the other peace rallies that I have at-

apparently quite “spontaneously,” a movement, which although |

tended in Belfast — the advertising, the canvassing, the care-

it was later to be dubbed “The People for Peace” movement, was |

fully balanced composition of the platform party — here

quite without a doubt a women’s movement, initiated, supported |

there was apparently no planning at all. No platform, no

and sustained primarily by women. From the perspective of clas-

loudspeakers, no stewards, no prepared order of service. Just

sic political forms, it was and is both extremely traditional and

a vast throng of women, gathered at the spot where shortly

profoundly radical, and it is particularly within the context of

before, the war between the terrorists and the army had cost

Irish politics that it becomes so.

the lives of three children....One had a gnawing uneasiness

My initial interest in the peace movement grew out of a feel.

that nothing more was going to happen.

ing of solidarity and empathy with both the frustration and the

What did happen was a sudden burst of derisive yells
and taunts from a band of youths defiantly brandishing the

positive vision these women revealed. As I followed its progress,

tricolour flag from a vantage point on the roof of a nearby

my interest began to turn increasingly to its larger political and

garage. At that moment perhaps nothing could more effec-

social implications, not simply in relation to the situation of

tively have “rallied the rally.” Suddenly it seemed we knew
what we were there to do. From one to another the word

Northern Ireland, but also in regard to basic issues posed by femi- F
nism in relation to traditional patriarchal political analysis and

threaded like quicksilver through the crowds: “We're goin’

practice. What became increasingly apparent as I continued my |

to walk down to the Falls.” And walk we did— pushchairs
and all—along the road that has become so notorious for

research was the fact that the peace movement could not be |

violence and anger. Here and there spectators jeered and

understood and evaluated either on the basis of the primary

flaunted the slogans of hatred, but calmly and steadily the

social-political traditions of Northern Ireland or from the per- |

column of women — in the most casual fashion — walked on.

spective of an abstract marxist or feminist analysis. These models F

As we walked, we talked. “They say,” said the woman

must themselves be continually measured against the social reali- |

ties which they presume to appraise. |

beside me, “that there's Protestants walking with us.” “That's
right,” said I...“I'm one of them.” The response was im-

The peace movement, to the extent to which it can be called |

mediate: hands shot out to grasp mine, heart-warming

a “women’s movement,” is interesting precisely because it is not

ejaculations of welcome fell on my ears. I felt simultaneously

in any sense “sophisticated.” Its values and the forms of its |

the reality of the division and the unity.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland
(AP) -- The Peace Women of this

turbulent British province take

Belfast Saturday, defying

10,000 women and a handful of

spot where the three children

campaign to end seven years of
sectarian bloodshed.

were slain.

Catholic housewife who
launched the burgeoning

movement 10 days ago after
three children were killed by
Irish Republican Army gunmen
fleeing British troops.

Thousands of Catholic and
Protestant women, setting aside
the centuries-old hatreds that

have separated Northern

Ireland’s feuding communities,
were expected to gather for a
rally in Ormeau’ park in
Protestant East Belfast.
The attendance at the rally
will be a crucial test of the

have been killed since the peace
campaign began and dozens
have been wounded by gunfire

men attended a peace rally
organized by Mrs. Williams in
Belfast’s staunchly Catholic
Andersonstown suburb at the

terrorist death threats in their

‘“There’s no way we’re going
to give up now,” declared Mrs.
Betty Williams, the Roman

organization are a direct manifestation of the attitudes of women

and bombings.

Government officials,
community leaders and

experienced observers who have
seen earlier movements fail are

Mrs. Williams, 32, and many
other Catholic women at that

still sceptical that Mrs.

rally were branded ‘touts’ -terrorist parlance for informers
and pro-British collaborators -by the IRA’s ‘Provisional’

Williams campaign will change
anything.

“The sad. truth is,” said
Catholic community leader Tom
Conaty, a onetime adviser to the
British administration in the

wing.

Young IRA supporters last
week tried to burn Mrs.
Williams’ house down. She and
other women received death

province, ‘‘that the IRA and the
Protestant paramilitary groups
do not depend on popular

threats from the mainly
Catholic ‘‘provos’” who are
fighting to end British rule and
Protestant domination in Ulster.

support for their survival.

“They have shown this in the

past and, despite this

courageous display by the
women, I believe they will be

Despite the threats, the peace
movement has spread. Mrs.
Williams said groups in other
parts of the province have
voiced support and local peace
committees have sprung up in
both Catholic and Protestant

around for a long time.”

However, IRA sources said
the guerrillas’ leaders are
taking the emotion-charged

campaign ‘seriously.’ The

strength of the campaign, the
latest in a long string of peace
movements in Ulster. All the

quarters.

earlier campaigns fizzled out.
Last Saturday, more than

provisionals have cracked up
their well-oiled propaganda
machine in a bid to counter the

unabated. At least six persons

movement’s growing support.

The Republican news,
provisionals’ mouthpiece in
Ulster, Friday vowed: ‘the
struggle goes on.” The headline

the

was printed over a big photo of a

hooded IRA gunman
brandishing a U.S. made

armalite automatic rifle.

The Andersonstown news, a
flourishing newssheet that has
supported the provisionals in the
past, stridently attacked the
‘peace-at-any-price brigade.’
Both papers published articles
and letters denouncing the
peace campaign as pro-British.

However, Mrs. Williams

stressed that her movement is
not just opposed to the IRA, but

the Protestant terrorist
organizations as well as Ulster

police officers and British troops
who ‘commit cowardly acts.”
Provisional sympathizers

have organized a

counter-demonstration in south
Armagh, an IRA stronghold, at
the spot where a 12-year-old

Catholic girl was killed,

apparently by army fire, last
Saturday. ?

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Ireland, their overt domination of political and civil institutions,

historically isolated from one another within a social structure

is countered by a Republican commitment to “victory through

over which they exercise minimal control. Within the context of

physical force” —a form of patriotism which finds its most ex-

American feminism, the questions posed by the peace movement

treme manifestation in the IRA tradition of blood sacrifice, in

are relevant to the extent to which they underline and elaborate

which each death only serves further to legitimize the unques-

some of the more complex issues pertaining to the gender bias

tioned heroism and “justice” of the nationalist cause.

inherent in the very “logic” of commonly accepted political

With the outbreak of widespread and violent sectarian riot-

norms. As Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo points out:
Since women must work within a social system that ob-

ing in 1969, the collapse of the repressive Protestant-controlled

scures their goals and interests, they are apt to develop

Stormont Government was achieved only through the further

ways of seeing, feeling, and acting that seem to be “in-

intervention of the British, “justified” at the time by continuing

tuitive” and “unsystematic”—with a sensitivity to other

paramilitary violence and the threat of civil war. This was to

people that permits them to survive. They may, then, be

mark the beginning of a period of intense segregation and eco-

“expressive.” But it is important to realize that cultural

nomic disintegration in Northern Ireland, during which a climate

stereotypes order the observer's own perceptions. It is
because men enter the world of articulated social rela-

of hostility, combined with a complete lack of dialogue and a
military standoff, has made the possibility of further political and

tions that they appear to us as intellectual, rational, or

social development virtually impossible.

instrumental; and the fact that women are excluded

When the IRA split in 1969, the Official IRA (increasingly

from that world makes them seem to think and behave

concerned with developing economic and class consciousness)

in another mode.?

apparently dwindled in effectiveness. The “Provisionals,” on the
Map showing the six-

other hand, with their more traditional focus on militarism and

county state of

nationalism, were able to take advantage of the already tense

Northern Ireland.

political climate, playing into and further aggravating sectarian
hostilities. They became self-appointed “people's protectors,” like
the Protestant paramilitaries in their own districts. The British
policy of internment and torture of IRA militants only served to
further escalate guerrilla activities. The vicious circle was complete.

During the last seven years, continued paramilitary and miliThe Curraghe

tary violence have all but wrecked large sections of both the residential and commercial areas of Belfast, Derry and Armagh.

Limerick

Industry has declined and unemployment is soaring. Meanwhile,
among the general population, apathy, fear, frustration and
poverty have begun to flourish. Amid invariably righteous claims
to the representation of “justice,” hatred and despair have increasingly come to dominate “political” life in the Northern State.
While numerous “brave and valiant” soldiers have lost their lives,
countless ordinary citizens, often women and children, have also
been the victims of this ancient and unending cycle of fear,

2.

The Province of Ulster was born in conflict. The partition of

recrimination and violence. The deaths of the three McGuire chil-

Ireland was a highly artificial solution to an age-old problem. The

dren, killed on August 10 by an IRA getaway car in Belfast's

question of whether the current crisis is a religious war, a class

Andersontown district, were just another “accident.” It was, how-

war, or a war of national liberation is in many ways a false one. It

ever, to have a resounding effect. Betty Williams, an Anderson-

is all of these at once. The peculiar complexity of the situation

town resident who had witnessed the incident, and Mairead

stems from the fact that the political and religious identity of each

Corrigan, the children’s aunt, “had had enough.” Within hours

community is coincident in broad terms, and it is with these poli-

they began organizing their neighbors to protest the senseless

tical and religious groups that individuals have from birth learned

violence of a war which had long since become a way of life.

to define themselves.
The sources of bigotry in Ireland as well as the mechanisms

3.

of its maintenance are ancient. In the Protestant community,

The peace movement was from the start fueled by an emo-

patriotic songs and yearly festivals celebrate the siege of London-

tional commitment which was not without its own particular

derry and the assent of Protestant rule. These are matched in

rationality. To the skeptics who denied the possibility of a peace-

Catholic culture by a heritage which stresses the heroism and

ful resolution to a feud stemming from deeply ingrained attitudes

glory of national revolt as well as an almost mystical alliance

and opposing loyalties, the women replied that three hundred

with the church. According to the Irish Republican tradition to

years of warfare had likewise accomplished nothing, that the

which the modern Provisionals are heir, “Ireland unfree shall

Northern Irish people had been for too long divided against them-

never be at peace.”

selves.

The Catholic population in general has tended traditionally

Thank God I'm still angry enough to do this, because

to identify with a united and independent Ireland and was in fact
instrumental in winning support for the Home Rule Bill by which

I'd march anywhere in Northern Ireland. I don't give
a darn what the fellow’'s beliefs are. Everybody has

the Republic of Ireland was established in 1922. The Protestants,

got a right to believe in exactly what they want to be-

who form a minority within Ireland as a whole, had been success-

lieve in, but there is no one in this whole wide world has

ful in their violent opposition to what they termed “the papist

any right to kill for it. So, when I'd seen the children die

state,” which led to Britain's partition of Ireland in an attempt to

or the awful accident—my daughter also witnessed this
—she has screamed about it since, my five-year-old

pacify loyalist Protestants in the North. The long-term and

daughter who was unfortunately in the car with me at

blatant suprematism of the Protestants concentrated in Northern
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the time—I went home and sat down. Did you ever get

who, in society, acknowledges his brother...the man

sick inside, so sick that you didn't even know what was

next door to be his brother. This is the kind of whole

wrong with you? I couldn't cook a dinner. I couldn't

new society that we want to create in Northern Ireland,

think straight. I couldn't even cry, and as the night went

Indeed, we want to say that we have led the world in

on I got angrier and angrier. And my sister came up.

guerrilla warfare for years; we are going to lead the war

She lives quite close to where I live, and I had a cousin

in peace and we say to the people of the world, “Watch

in the house at the time. And I just said—and I don’t

us.” Because we are going to do it, and not only watch

mean to swear, I'm very sorry—lI said, “Damn it, we

us but imitate us because the whole world is led by vio-

have got to do something.” And my husband was at sea,

lence and it doesn't pay. One thousand six hundred

and ]...took an air-mail writing pad, and I went right

people dead in Northern Ireland.

up into the heart of provisional IRA territory in Ander-

My sister was lying in a hospital after losing three

sontown and I didn't knock at that door very nicely, by

babies, and do you know her major concern? There was

the way, I didn't say, “Excuse me. Would you like to

a bomb the previous week in a bar where a guy had

sign this? We all want peace.” I was spitting angry, and I

gone out to have a drink—and he was lying across the

banged the woman's door and she came. I frightened the

ward from her—one of those open plan wards, and he

life out of her. I really did.

had no legs, seventeen years of age—he had no legs and

When she came out, I said, “Do you want peace?” She
said “Yes!”

he kept squealing all day, “Please take my hands off. My
hands hurt so much.” That is only one awful incident of

“Yes, then sign that.” It sort of started off like that,

what's going on in Northern Ireland with guns coming

and it went on...further down the street, every door

into Northern Ireland. That’s got to stop. That's no an-

you knocked. All the women felt that way. I just lifted

swer, but to the gunman we say, “We acknowledge that

the lid. They all poured out. I mean, I ended up rather

the gunman in Northern Ireland has taken guns perhaps

like the Pied Piper of Hamlin because I had a hundred

because of their political ideals, perhaps because they

women in provie territory collecting signatures for

were never offered a way, but there's a new way. There's
another way,” and we say to them, “Put up your guns,

peace.

We had 3,000 or 6,000 signatures in three hours. We

and if you really care for the people, come into society.

went back to my home. They were in the lounge. They

Let's talk about it.” We're not telling them to “get lost”

were in the living room. They were in the kitchen. They

or go under the carpet because it'll fester in thirty years,

were in the hall. They were lined up the stairs. They

but let's talk about it. Let's hear what you are saying,

but not by the gun. [Mairead Corrigan *]

were in the bathroom, the two bedrooms. There just
wasn't enough room to hold them all, and they were all
just as angry as I was. ..that we had let this go on for so

long. [Betty Williams4]

During the weeks that followed the initial demonstration at
the site of the McGuire children’s death, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan continued to publicize the incident and organize

You see, unfortunately, in a long time in Northern

for an all-out assault on violence. This took the form of massive

Irish society and, indeed, in the world we have glorified

demonstrations for peace. The first demonstration (August 14)

the man with the guns. Do you know we sit in our clubs

drew 10,000 women, both Protestant and Catholic, to the Catho-

and we sing about the brave man who took life? Now,

lic Andersontown district. Provo supporters jeered the rally and

we're going to say in Northern Ireland, we want a com-

denounced Williams as a traitor, but she was not dissuaded and

plete new change of society. The hero in Northern Ireland is going to be the guy who stands up against the

the following week brought 20,000 people together in one of Bel-

man with a gun in his hand and said, “You're not speak-

fast's few remaining “mixed” neighborhoods. The third weekend

ing for me. I haven't got a gun. I'm not prepared to take

the peace movement returned to the hard-core Protestant Shan-

your life, but you're most certainly not speaking for me.”

kill Road area where close to 30,000 demonstrators showed up.

The guy who gets involved with the man next door,

The fourth rally was held in Derry, Ulster’s second largest city,

with the old-age pensioner; the guy who recognizes the
Protestant and the Shankhill to be his brother or the

on Craigavon Bridge, which connects the Protestant and Catholic sections of town. Again approximately 30,000 people turned

black man across the road to be his brother. The man,

i

out. By this time the Provos were saying that they did not oppose
the peace movement, but supported “Peace with justice.” Mean-

Se

while, in Dublin, the capital of the Irish Republic, a march by
20,000 was organized in support and smaller marches were held
in Corm, Galway, Carlon and Castlebar.
The unexpected popularity and energetic style of these initial
marches contributed to their dramatic impact. Both support and
criticism abounded. Within weeks of the first rally, smaller community “peace” groups began to spring up throughout the province, with no apparent orientation other than a commitment to
peace, to furthering dialogue within the community and to constructive non-sectarian local action.
Provisional “support,” however, was to prove short-lived.
The weekly marches were disrupted on October 2 by small IRA
counter-marches in which several of the peace marchers were
assaulted. Death threats against Betty and Mairead were occasionally found scrawled on Belfast walls. The Provos, claiming
that there had been an increase in British army raids, arrests and
harassment, issued a statement warning that if any women from

Betty Williams (left) and Mairead Corrigan at Belfast Peace March, Aug.

the peace movement cooperated with security forces, they would
be treated as informers and shot.

21, 1976. (UPI.)

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From the onset there has been confusion in the press about

Catholic no-go areas in what was known as “Operation Motor-

the attitude of the peace marchers toward the British and the RUC

man.” Once again the Provisionals were vindicated by British

(Royal Ulster Constabulary — the “legitimate” police who have

actions. With the rebirth of the peace forces this year, Margaret

been theoretically neutral but effectively on the side of the Pro-

Doherty, who had been viciously harassed for her peace activities

testants). While the peace leaders have been extremely outspoken

in 1972, again came forward and has participated in the organiza-

in their criticism of the Provisionals and of the UDA and the UVF

tion of the present campaign.

(Ulster Defense Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, the Pro-

Even these recent interventions on the part of women are not

testant paramilitary equivalents of the Provisional IRA), they

unique in Irish history. In 1921, during the struggle for Home

have been less direct in their denunciation of the British and of the

Rule, the British section of the Women’s International League for

“legitimate” Ulster security forces. Though they have consistently

Peace and Freedom, headed by Jane Addams, sent their own

condemned all “men of violence,” their position on “legal” mili-

commission to study Irish self-rule, clearly opposing the interests

tary forces is more ambiguous. While this is a crucial issue and

of their own government. The Irish section of the WILPF, led by

one on which the peace leaders are perhaps most vulnerable to

Louie Bennett, was active in organizing women to employ

criticism, IRA supporters have consistently twisted its signifi-

passive-resistance techniques in a struggle against the British.

cance to imply that they are pro-British — unlikely, as the move-

Their view as women was that human life was precious and that

ment is both Catholic-led and strongly backed by non-violent

war was an outmoded way of dealing with imperialist rivalries.

Catholic Nationalists. There is in fact a simple and rational ex-

While the women supporters of the 1921 struggle were largely

planation for their hedging on the question of British interven-

middle-class suffragettes organized internationally behind a paci-

tion. Since one of the main thrusts of the movement is its anti-

fist ideology, the current peace campaign is indigenous, widely

sectarian character, and since it is the first major popular grass-

supported by both middle- and working-class people, and relatively “unorganized.”

roots movement uniting both Catholics and Protestants, its very
existence is dependent on widespread support from both camps.

The peace movement, as Bernadette Devlin has pointed out,

The vast majority of Protestants (two-thirds of the population in

is not a feminist movement. There is in fact virtually no feminism

Northern Ireland) for the most part do not favor British with-

in Ireland in the sense in which we as Americans understand it.

drawal, and many Catholics, including the Official IRA Sinn

While there have been several notable female political activists in
the Republican movement (Bernadette Devlin, now associated

Fein^ do not advocate an immediate withdrawal, so that any
public position in regard to either imperialism or British “secur-

with the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Marin de Burca, joint

ity” forces is indeed difficult and problematic. Due to this fact, as

general secretary of Sinn Fein, and Maire Drumm, the recently

well as to the general diversity of political sentiment within the

assassinated Provisional IRA spokeswoman), the vast majority of

movement, the leaders have confined themselves to taking gen-

Irish women, oppressed as they are by poverty, war, extremely

eral positions against violence, encouraging local initiative

discriminatory employment and pay practices, and perhaps most

toward peace and speaking in very broad terms about the need

importantly, by a strong religious and patriarchal family structure, have, by and large, remained unorganized as women.

for the “Northern Irish” people to resolve their own differences
“from the bottom up.”

For Catholic women, a very intense religious indoctrination
which places a strict taboo on birth control, abortion and divorce

Although heavy criticism from both the Provisionals and
extremist Protestant groups may have slightly affected the move-

is still a major obstacle. While as citizens of a Commonwealth

ment’s popularity, demonstrations, rallies and meetings through-

nation, Northern Irish women are technically entitled to equal

out the fall of 1976 continued to draw wide support. Several sup-

pay, and according to an anti-discrimination law passed at West-

portive demonstrations were organized by feminist groups in

minster in December 1976, they are protected against job dis-

Germany and the Netherlands; a rally in London on November

crimination, the fact is that women’s employment opportunities

28 drew a crowd of approximately 15,000.

lag far behind not only those of men, but behind those of most
European women as well. While the legal status of Ulster women

The movement now has a magazine (Peace by Peace), a
small office in Belfast, and over 125 local groups “organizing for

is superior to that of women in the Catholic Republic of Ireland

peace” in Northern Ireland. “Support,” however, is not what the

where women still have almost no independent legal rights, a

movement is all about. In terms of opening up effective channels

very strong patriarchal ideology still prevails throughout Ireland,

of discourse and creating a climate in which constructive non-

and Northern Irish women are for the most part still politically

sectarian political development can occur, there is no way at

subservient to their husbands as well as being educationally and

present to estimate its success.

economically disadvantaged. While these conditions can ultimately be traced to the relatively low level of industrial and economic development of Ireland as a whole, and to the powerful
religious infrastructure, they do underline some of the reasons

The current peace movement is not the first of its kind in Ireland. Two others in the recent past have attempted to dispel sec-

why feminism has failed to develop, as well as the crucial impor-

tarian violence by non-violent and non-sectarian means. Both

tance of independent women’s organizations.
How then can we evaluate the effectiveness of the peace

times they were eclipsed by British military escalations which rallied Catholics to the IRA. In 1971, an organization called “Wom-

movement from a feminist perspective? While its prevailing atti-

en Together” gained considerable support, but lost ground when

tudes are traditional, in that they are not activist from a feminist

the British introduced internment. Another movement sprang up

or socialist perspective, the movement does potentially represent

in Derry in 1972. After a British soldier had killed a Catholic

an important step forward in both of these directions. The self-

youth, the IRA “executed” a young man from Derry who had

initiated emergence into the political sphere of a large sector of

joined the British army. That was the last straw for Margaret

the female population which has heretofore remained inactive, or

Doherty, who organized her neighbors to demonstrate their

at best has existed in an exclusively supportive role in relation to
those very male modes of political activity which they are now so

anger. This was effective to the extent that the Official IRA declared a cease-fire which they maintain to this day. The 1972

explicitly criticizing, is not without significance to the develop-

movement collapsed however, when the British invaded the

ment of either.

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to unite Protestants and Catholics. If we have to look

The rallies do help to get rid of a certain amount of

for something that sounds as reactionary as peace, then

fear. You are going to such-and-such a place and at one

we look for it. If people can't see behind the facade to

time you would have been frightened to go there. But at

the reality then it’s their problem. °

the rally you're a bit frightened but you just go on. Each
time you come back from a rally, you have more cour-

When Marin de Burca speaks of working in a political way

age to keep going. It's because you're meeting with

to unite Catholics and Protestants, she is speaking as a marxist

people.
Let's face it, for seven years we went about the city

attempting to organize working people to assume greater econo-

and sat in our homes, all the time wrapped up in our

mic control. While, as a member of the Official IRA, de Burca

own family and our own home and our own constant

definitely supports an anti-imperialist struggle, she feels that in

worry that something would happen to them. You felt it

the long run the sectarian disputes dividing the Catholic and Prot-

was just yourself had all this worry. Going out to the

estant working populations are perhaps an even greater obstacle

rallies is making people realize that other people have
the same fears and the same worries. We are able to talk

to the struggle for self-determination. As the situation exists now,
separate Catholic and Protestant labor unions render the labor

to each other about it. It's bringing a new closeness.

movement as a whole relatively ineffectual, and continued eco-

[June Campion, member of a local peace group in Knok-

nomic disintegration due to sectarian violence has left large sec-

nagoney ’]

tions of the Catholic and Protestant population unemployed.

5.

It is interesting to note the difference between de Burca's

It is also important to remember that the current peace

marxist analysis, which views the entire Irish working class as the

movement is at present not a political organization; it is perhaps

oppressed class and the type of marxist analysis supported by

misleading to consider it as such. While plans for the future in-

other Republicans, which views the Catholic minority in the

clude meetings designed to develop a more explicit form of

North as the oppressed class. The Provisionals, who are not nec-

organization, the movement as yet has no formal structure and

essarily socialists but prefer to think of themselves as consistently

no official platform. It is a phenomenon that can accurately be

on the left, persist in opposing both the British and the Protestant

termed “spontaneous” in that it has not been planned and the

paramilitary and are engaged in a constant struggle for unifica-

form it has taken to date can be regarded primarily as a demon-

tion with the Catholic South. Bernadette Devlin, a socialist and

stration of solidarity around a commitment to peace.

an aggressive Republican, generally supports this form of analysis

The three most visible leaders at present are Betty Williams,

where class—purely in economic terms—is secondary to anti-

Mairead Corrigan and Ciaran McKeown, a journalist who has

imperialism and a class analysis stressing the political and eco-

given up his newspaper position to support the women in their

nomic discrimination that the Catholic population as a whole has

struggle. The organizational network as a whole, however, is

suffered at the hands of a Protestant-controlled government and

neither centralized nor highly controlled by those who are

industry.

apparently most prominent. Indeed, there has been a consistent

The complexity of the situation and the relative inadequacy

effort by all concerned to systematically locate the basis for par-

of this approach is apparent when one considers, even in crude

ticipation and direction within the numerous communities where

terms, the economic composition of the Catholic and Protestant

peace groups have been emerging.
While direct support for the movement is clearly widespread

population. While it is definitely true that the Protestant majori-

(estimates range from 170,000 to 250,000 people in Northern Ire-

ty, as a group, has greater economic control, and that the high-

land alone), it is extremely hard to gauge its size or class composi-

est levels of unemployment in the North are in Catholic districts,

tion on the basis of mass rallies and demonstrations. When I criti-

the large majority of the Protestant population is also working

cized the somewhat naive character of some of the statements by

class. It is, in fact, the youths of these two communities who are

movement leaders, an American woman who had gone to North-

fighting one another, while the small minority of Protestants who
are wealthy maintain an economic advantage and have an inter-

ern Ireland to participate in one of their rallies told me that it was

est in continuing sectarian hostilities for precisely this reason.

precisely this tone that contributed to the movement's popularity
among working-class women. It is certainly true that there has

6.

been a very deliberate attempt by the peace people to avoid direct

It would be a mistake, however, to attempt to evaluate the

affiliation with any specific political groups, and certain of the

significance of the peace movement on the basis of its potential

more politically “sophisticated” women supporters have delib-

effectiveness in furthering the cause of other political movements.

erately remained in the background, not wishing to “take over”

It is perhaps more useful to consider the way in which the peace

or divert the movement from its primary focus, that is, bringing

movement is indicative of an entirely different struggle for self-

an end to violence and encouraging local initiative toward non-

determination, as well as a profoundly different approach to these

sectarian community development.

issues. It is significant that what is being questioned by the peace

Marin de Burca, a socialist and leader of Sinn Fein (Official
IRA) spoke of the peace movement in an interview during a re-

people is not the ends of political struggle so much as the means

cent tour of the U.S.: “We go to the marches as individuals. It

by which ideas, opinions and interests are both culturally rein-

would be the kiss of death if we openly supported them. We have

forced and socially imposed.
The critical issue which is the historical source of internal |

issued statements supporting them, but I don't agree with trying

Irish conflict is that of the relationship between Ireland and the |

to move in and take them over.”®

British Empire. This has not only kept Catholics and Protestants

De Burca believes that if the British withdrew the Provos

feuding for generations, but has also led to innumerable splits

would be politically undermined. She argues that unification of

within both camps. It is paradoxical that within this context

the country is still the solution but that it can be achieved only
through unification of the various factions around initially mod-

has most consistently refused to take a stand. This is not because

est reforms.

individual participants have no opinions on this question, but

The demand for peace is not Marxist, but in the context

rather because the movement locates the “solution” in people, in |

of Northern Ireland it is very revolutionary at the moment.. The reason we're looking for peace is to allow

“positions.”

us to operate openly and intensively in a political way
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cial order, whether through military force or political manipula-

For the peace people, the question of the relative legitimacy
of opposing traditions is momentarily suspended. What is reveal-

tion, by those with power on those without. The very question of

ed instead is the logical perfection of institutionalized conflict.

how Northern Ireland can be governed, says Ciaran McKeown,

Military, political and even religious leaders are themselves to

“is an imperialist question” because it implies the imposition of

blame, claim the peace organizers, not because of this or that

political forms by politicians on people who are for the most part

“position” in relation to government, but because they have kept

excluded from the process of a creative democracy. Thus all ex-

the Irish people divided among themselves. “Rationality” is for

tant political solutions are inevitably violent, whether the vio-

them not merely a question of “right” and “wrong,” but rather

lence is “legal” or “illegal,” because they require military force
to secure them.

begins with the realization of how two non-dialectical visions of
“right” are sustained by a culture which is imperialist and author-

From this perspective, British colonialism, Protestant politi-

itarian in its very mode of thought.

cal suprematism and IRA military violence can be seen as identi-

Problems arise, claim the peace workers, because we have

cal in their implicit attitudes toward the imposition of social or-

"lost sight of a basic respect for the individual.” “Solutions,” they

der. In every case, whether justified or not, “justice” is an exten-

assert, cannot be artificially constructed and then imposed but

sion of self-interest and democracy is a rhetorical, not a methodo-

must arise through a process of creative interaction in which gov-

logical phenomenon. While it would be absurd to consider the

ernment does not exist to control people, to violently suppress

peace movement as a feminist or a socialist movement, it express-

dissent, but rather as an extension of the more or less clearly arti-

es values that are fundamentally in accordance with both socialist

culated needs and desires of all the people.

and feminist thought, in that it addresses the whole issue of power
and questions the way the right of self-determination has been

These concepts, while they may reveal an element of political
naiveté which translates as liberalism, are not rhetorical. The

eclipsed, not only by those in power, but by those who conceive

practical orientation of the movement to date, with its emphasis

of power alone—economic, military or political—as the just determinant of social order.

on open and careful discussion and a decentralized approach to
developing democratic forms, is indicative of this fact.

Perhaps it's been our fault, you see, because we have sat

From this perspective we might examine Bernadette Devlin’s

back—as ordinary people—which is the fault every-

claim that the peace movement is “dangerous” because it “dulls

where—where the ordinary people sat back and let a

consciousness.” “We were stupid,” she claims, “never to have or-

few extremists say, “We are speaking and we are work-

ganized the women.”!° Both the truth and the potential fallacy of

ing for the people.” We should have long ago stood up

this statement are apparent. From the standpoint of almost any

and said, “They're not speaking for us.” I mean, people

traditional political perspective, assertions of the sanctity of life,

have been coming out from Ireland representing the

of respect for the individual and of a genuine “creative form of

people—the ordinary people, perhaps people like our-

democracy” must appear naive without a “program” or a defini-

selves, who never had the nerve. I mean, just to be here

tion of the specific conditions under which such values can be

takes all the courage one has got, you know. [Mairead

realized. The peace people, however, do not qualify these condi-

Corrigan !?]

tions; the values themselves must define the very process of political interaction. If this is the case, how then can we interpret
Bernadette’s regret at not having “organized” the women? Is it
conceivable that the women supporting the peace movement are

1. Margaret McNeil, “They Say That There’s Protestants Walking With
Us,” The Friend (London, Sept. 1976).

not in fact organizing themselves, organizing in such a way as to

2. Daily American (Rome, Aug. 22, 1976).

deny the legitimacy of those very political forms into which

3. Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo, Woman, Culture, and Society, ed.
Michelle Z. Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford

others seek to recruit them?

University Press, 1974).

A supportive statement by the Provisionals, in which the

4. Betty Williams on Woman program, moderator Sandra Elkin (Buffalo:

peace movement is described as a “spontaneous overreaction led

WNED TYV, Oct. 1976).

by the photogenic Mrs. Betty Williams” reveals both the con-

5. Mairead Corrigan on Woman program (Buffalo: WNED TV, Oct.
1976).

descension and lack of reflexivity which typify those attitudes the

6. Sinn Fein (means ‘“we ourselves”), founded in 1916, has functioned

women are most directly challenging.

since the 1930s mainly as the political wing of the IRA. In the 1960s it

We are not necessarily in opposition to the peace people.

swung to the left as did the IRA and became involved in social and eco-

But we want to explain to the people that there cannot

nomic agitation and in 1970 split along the same lines as the IRA into

Sinn Fein, Kevin Street (Provisional) and Sinn Fein, Gardiner Street

be peace without justice. We just want to explain to the

(Official). The names come from the streets in Dublin where they have

people turning out to these marches what the true posi-

their headquarters. Both groups use the name Sinn Fein, however, in

tion is and show them the road to real peace.'!

spite of the fact that their views are widely divergent. The Provisionals

are more militant and nationalist while the Officials are marxist and

This raises the most subtle and yet critical issue of the peace

not militant.

movement's significance. The whole notion of a “true position” is

7. June Campion, quoted in Peace by Peace (Belfast, Oct. 16, 1976).

what the peace movement calls into question—it is not the politi-

8. Marin de Burca, quoted by David Moberg, In These Times (Jan. 1977).
9. Ibid.

cal views of the opposing factions that are being attacked; even

10. Bernadette Devlin, quoted by Lucinda Franks, “We Want Peace, Just
Peace,” New York Times Magazine (Dec. 19, 1975).
11. Irish Republican Information Service (Dublin, Oct. 14, 1976). Italics

the “violence” the movement condemns is but a manifestation of
something far more profoundly significant. The peace people are,
in my opinion, not reacting simply to a specific incident of vio-

the author’s.

12. Ciaran McKeown, “The Price of Peace” (Belfast, 1976).

lence, nor even to violence in the abstract. They are (perhaps

13. Mairead Corrigan on Woman program (Buffalo: WNED TV, Oct.

naively but nevertheless insightfully) challenging a whole tradi-

1976).

tion. What is fundamentally being questioned is the legitimacy of
the imposition of the will of one group upon another. “Justice” is

Sarah Charlesworth is an artist and photographer who lives and works in

not being challenged so much as how justice is socially defined.

New York. Her previously published writings have dealt with art and social

Imperialism, in this context, is not simply a question of national

theory. She was a founding editor of The Fox and is a member of the anti-

or international conquest. Imperialism is the imposition of a so-

catalog collective.

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May Stevens

SITTING STILL

Some people died who never died before she said
They died just now she said reading The Times
Her skin was pink her flesh concealed the bones
inside She pretended she was a chair
hoping death would flash past sat still as a sofa
A dress laid over two shoes neatly placed.

OLD WOMAN BATHING

Loosened strands slip down deep divided back.
Buttocks’ shelf slides to creasing thighs. Knees
keep a partial crouch. Belly slings body center
forward over a hairless pouch. She lifts each breast
soaping the smell of age. She (matter self-propelled,
mushrooms pink and lavender, lustful, greedy, feeding)
steps into air, hands stroking space, trusting someone
is there to towel her dry, pin remnant hair, give back

WOMAN WAITING

her name, her watch, her story. She loves being clean
but who has time to wash her every day? Is she a baby
with a future? She loves hair dressed but fears overhandling may make it thin. Dampish still, flushed,

My mother sits at a window watching the field.
When I come after six months, a year, she waves.

talced, her body blooming, she swings foot, hums
nightgowned beside the bed, waits for milk and pills.

Moving from chair to bed to table she opens the

Glasses folded under pillow, sheet clutched high,

door to the field, waits to receive words of praise

one hand slipped between her thighs, she sleeps a

and affection. The days of no figure crossing the

sleep she will deny, in tongues converses with

field have moved to this moment. We are together.

familiars, unshareable. No she did not speak she lies

We drive off. She has nothing to say. She is humming.

keeping her secret garden, loving the long continuous
dialog, absorbing, obsessing, warm and sweet as excrement newly made, unspeakable, but hers, and real.

ALICE DICK b. NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA 1895

ADDIE, ALICE

As children in Chatham Alice and her sister Mary

Aunt Addie went to the hospital for a three day checkup

went for picnics on a boat down the River Miramichi

came out with a clean bill of health rejoiced at eighty-three

as far as Bay de Vin and Burnt Church where the boat

ay-yah she says Maine voice unaided eyes family proud race proud

turned around. They carried sandwiches and lemon

discipline proud straight square proud spareness dryness proud

meringue pie homemade by Nellie Morn who hooked

awkward proud truthproud. Addie: You startout with nothing

five or six rugs a year, took in laundry, baked

you end up with nothing. My traveling days are over. I

and sold fresh bread in her store, made all the

remember Souza’s band and Burton Holmes’ lectures. In fact I

family’s clothes and delivered milk to her neighbors.

heard Winston Churchill telling his experiences in the Boer War

Three of her four children were girls but they never

the winter of nineteen hundred andone. Making blouses for

learned to do all the things their mother did. She

April pajamas for Ramona distant granddaughters putting up

had no time to teach them.

pears for the winter of nineteen hundred and seventy-two. Aunt
Addie's house is bare of suffering as her face in which suffering

Alice was in the second grade when Nellie Morn threw
a log from the top of the woodpile into Alice's left
eye. Her blue dress turned red.
Alice was twelve when her father died. She went to work
as mother's helper for the Snowballs and the Steeds
who lived in the big house on the hill. They owned the

would be an indulgence eyes no feeling showing asking Maine
voice slightly rasped edges knowing but not dwelling what did
you expect?
In Istanbul a woman of one hundred and one is lifted out of bed
into bed mind clear in a crooked cage telling how the sultan
was deposed and another came in the palace.

pulp mill.

Later she came to Boston, got a job in a Chinese
restaurant where she waited on True N. Stevens halfowner of Stevens and Greene Groceries and his boy Ralph
who flirted with her. Asked what A.D. on the bill stood
for she said after dinner. They got married. She was
twenty-four. I was the first of their two children
the one who lived.
She is nearly eighty now. She has a pink-gummed smile

Mary had a sister Alice pleasingly plump white calves
hairless armpits clear brow still eyes. Alice lost an eye
when wood was thrown from the woodpile. Blood ran down her

dress. Alicelostason flucarriedhim off. Alice lost
a daughter who married a Jewish artist. Alice lost a husband
when she grew fat and mad. Twenty years after one-eyed
burnt-out schizophrenic Alice sees three figures swarm through

glass doors daughter husband her husband? son herson? t `
take her outside. She smiles says wellI declare getsup

incredibly innocent and sweet without the least inflec-

goes to the door where coat hat bag are hanging and turns

tion of twenty years’ confinement in the back wards of

ready.

state mental hospitals. The light in the one eye that
sees has never gone out.

May Stevens is a New York painter.

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(Photo by Jane A.)

Who are the homeless women huddled in the doorways,

When I started reading the New Testament I certainly wasn't

train stations and parks of New York City? Called shopping-bag

seeking God and probably 95 percent of my fellow students

ladies because they carry all their possessions in bags, they roam

weren't either. But I began hearing the words of Jesus and I saw

the streets—alone, isolated and without the basic necessity of

that I was not cleansed in the eyes of the Lord. I started to get

shelter. In a world where myths of marriage and motherhood tell

really upset and I found I couldn't cope. It was at this time that I

us women are protected in the home, these women symbolize our

decided to jump out of the window. This was pretty dumb, but it

worst fears about women who do not, or cannot, fit into a society

was a very definite decision. I had definitely given up on life. I

that values production and work.

thought I was mad. I! ended up staying in the local infirmary for a

The Shelter Care Center for Women is a temporary residence

while and then they put me in a mental hospital for two years.

for homeless women in New York City. It costs the city over $60
a day per woman to keep 47 women at the Shelter. This pays for
_ the rent of the building and for a full-time staff of 50 who provide
` social work and other services.

About five years ago a government policy turned out thou-

In connection with a community arts project sponsored by

sands of people from state mental hospitals in the name of hu-

the Metropolitan Museum, I have been teaching an art class at the

manity and reform. People who had spent years passively being

Shelter. The following excerpts are from taped conversations

cared for in institutions were abruptly left to fend for themselves
on welfare.

with some of the women staying there. The photographs were
taken by the women who participated in my classes.
Adele Raiffen, found sleeping on the subways, was brought
_ to the Shelter by the police. She comes from Boston, where her
father was a lawyer, and unlike many of the Shelter women,

When they let me out I moved into a hotel and lived there for
a number of years. I had a great many emotional problems and a

Adele went to college. She majored in religion and managed her
` lifereasonably well until her last year in school.

chronic drinking problem that had been going on for five years. I

|

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I think I was pretty unhappy at the time. Pretty lost at sea, |
think a lot of people come to New York to be alone with them-

self and the discipline wasn't very great. Most of the people came

selves or something; to cut off ties with people they know. It's

and went out of the local hospital.

kind of a self-destructive thing to do, to come to New York
without any concrete plans and I might have been doing that.
My sister is pretty happily married and sometimes we've
been very close, but I was not finding a way to live with the contentions going on around me. I wasn't able to cope with people

placed in welfare hotels where their checks are lost or stolen or

who had never met Jesus. My sister was one of those people, and

they are unsuccessful in budgeting their money. These city-

it became very hard for me to cope. You see I'm basically a

financed hotels are poorly kept places of despair and misery.

back-sliding Christian. For about a year now I've felt God's kind

Pimps, addicts and junkies hang out in the lobbies and the women

of deserted me, but His word is still pretty faithful, and in my

fear being robbed and assaulted. Worst of all is the loneliness.
There are few programs to reach the many people isolated inside

ran away. I just upped and left one day.

their rooms. Without treatment or any kind of community or
family support, problems of mental illness intensify.

less women wandering around New York City, the Women's

I felt that I had already accepted Jesus as the truth and the

Shelter has only 47 beds. Last year more than 2,000 women were

only salvation, so I was drawn to visit a church fellowship house

turned away. Close to 800 were accepted and stayed anywhere

that was nearby. This was a nationally organized Christian fel-

from one day to several months.

lowship house where people lived together in very tight communal situations where they could receive the word of God.
Pretty soon I decided to move in. It was a good move. They knew
that living together in a tight situation often makes somebody
grow very fast, and I did that for a while. I grew very fast, but
after two weeks I had to go into the hospital again.
When I came out, I decided to go back to this same house
and things went pretty well until two weeks later when I started

tunately or unfortunately I don't drink anymore. It doesn't seem

another drinking binge by drinking all of the vanilla in the house.

to be a problem. There are too many other things to occupy my

When I did that, I ran out and ran down the street and I thought,

mind. Occasionally when I get desperate, I head for a bar or

“Well, I've replaced vanilla bottles on a Sunday morning before.
This is no sweat. This is real easy.” And that was it. I couldn't
stand one more moment of hunting down vanilla bottles. I guess
it was the love I had for other people. So I prayed, “God, I'm too
tired to drink anymore. You just gotta do something about it,”
and I turned around and I ran home and told my pastor about it.
From that day forward I didn't take a drink in that house.
After a while I decided to leave that house because I had
obviously been cured and no longer needed the fellowship of

need at the Shelter or anywhere else.

Christian people. I thought I could do well enough on my own
and I wanted my own life. I came to New York to visit friends
and I stayed with my sister and her family.
Selma Lyons is 46. She has spent most of her life in mental |
institutions or nursing homes.

You see the thing was like my mother. She had a problem
drinking, and she didn't get along with my dad. So when they |
There were nine of us and I was right in the middle. |
My younger brothers and sisters went to the orphan home, |
but I got sent up. You know you're supposed to get a trial of some |
sort before they send you to state hospital, but I didn't get none. i|
never seen the judge. They just decided to send me up. They |
didn't say why. They didn't say much of anything. They just said :
something about going for a long nice ride and enjoying the |
scenery. You know they don't tell you nothing. They took me up |

locked me up. i

there and when we got there they told me where it was after they |
After I got there, the doctors that talked to me got madder |

than hell for them to bring me there because I was only fourtee" |
and the patients that were there were mostly either forty or fifty

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and he said he liked to have the person that sent me there for
one hour and call him dirty names. Most of the patients there
were old people. I was the only young one. That makes a big difference being a young person and then being with so many old
people.

I stayed in the hospital that first time three or four months
until they asked me a lot of questions and they figured I was
okay. Then they sent me back to a nursing home in Quincy. See,
in Illinois when people get out of state hospitals sometimes they
send them to nursing homes with full privileges and all.
But my mother started coming round and asking for my
money and stuff. She told me to come over and see her, so I went
and brought her a sack of groceries. She didn't like me staying at
the home, and I just figured, well, I'll stay at my mother's. So I
stayed at my mother's house and all of a sudden a policeman
came down saying he was going to take me to jail because I was
still a ward of the court, see. And I wasn't supposed to be at my
mother's. Course I didn't know cause the law don't tell kids

(Photo by Madeleine V.)

anything anyway.
So they took me to jail and they had a new judge. Came in.
He said, “You ain't guilty of nothing, there's no charges against
you,” and he said, “I got some real nice people where you can live
with them, real nice, that'll treat you right, treat you decent and
everything.” So he introduced me to the Parsons, see, and the
Parsons decided to get me a job. He was a guy that worked for
the state and he went around helping teenagers get jobs. He just
loved teenagers, working day and night to help them. He got me
ajob at the Pepsi-Cola plant working on an assembly line sorting
bottles. I stayed there about four months and then the boss said I
wasn't able to keep up, you know, work fast enough. So he said
that being he liked me he'd keep me a month longer because he
hated to, you know, see me go.

The only alternative to the streets available for many people

(Photo by Melba R.)

isan institution.
he says, “Anything I can do for ya?" I says, “No, I don't want to
tell you my problems. I don't want to cause you no trouble, but
back home everybody talks about California. How great CaliforLater on when I was older they let me go to St. Louis to live

nia is.” He said, “You'd better believe California's great.” He said,

with my mother in the boarding house she ran. I lived there for a

“We help people, the people help us.” He said, “Now is there

while but my mother had a drinking problem. I couldn't under-

anything I can do for you?" and I told him that I lost my purse

stand her too well. So one night I decided to go to Kansas.

and he said, “Well, I'll just send you over to this Catholic place.

When they picked me up they found out that I once was at the

They'll keep you till your check comes, or else they'll send you to
another place till you can get back on your feet.”

Kansas for three months and then they transferred me back to the

So I went over to the Catholic place and they kept me for a

hospital in Illinois.

while, but then they sent me back to Illinois, to the home.

At the hospital they sent me out to a workshop where I

It's horrible in the home. When they put you in an institution

folded bags and put them in a little packet. I got $18 a month but I

they practically destroy your life completely. When you're young

didn't keep my money. I did good deeds. See, I lived on a ward

and you have to be around people that are old. You figure you

where nobody had soda or cigarettes, nothing. I'd go out and

can be classified, say, with them. It gets to you. Here I am. Ain't
done nothing. Ain't been nowhere. Course I've done a few things,

play cards. I don't like no kind of institution but I figure if I'm

but if I have to spend all my life in institutions, well, I won't be

going to live there I'm going to do good to the patients.

putting nothing into life. I won't be getting nothing out of life.
One of the patients in the home used to talk about San Fran-

One time I decided to go to San Francisco. I cashed in my

cisco, so I'd been to San Francisco, and there was another patient

Social Security check and got a bus. It was a nice trip. I went to

who talked a lot about New York, so I thought, well, I'll go to

«= W N A S

cheese sandwich with several different kinds of cheese and French

New York. I'd always heard about a store called Macy's. I heard

bread. That was real nice, but when I was in the bus station I left

it was a block long and I thought I'd like to see that!
The buses had a $50 special. Usually it costs about $100 to go

> = X

When I came back it was gone, so I didn't have another cent left

to New York, but they had a special where you can go anywhere

to me. After a while a policeman came over to me, real nice, and

for $50 or less. I thought I'm not going to have this bargain
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to live must put her children in placement until she can get on |

probably never again in my life so I might as well take it now. I

welfare or find some means of supporting herself and her children, |

cashed in my SSI check again and came to New York.
I didn't pack much. I just took what I wanted to take and left
everything there. I didn't tell no one, cause every time you'd start

Hanna Schaeffler was born in Brooklyn. She was adopted b

to talk about doing something they'd talk you out of it. So I never
mentioned nothing. Every time anyone gets inspired to do some-

when she was two and knows nothing about her real parents. Her |

thing or be something at the home they'd talk so much that you're

adoptive parents separated when she was five. |

not going to be anything or do anything, and that's why you'd
give up. So I never talked much.
At first I lived with my mother. She was having a great many |
personal problems at that time and couldn't cope with anything,
There are no outreach programs to contact the many homeless women who don't know about the Shelter. When a woman

so when I was in the sixth grade she sent me to Bay Shore to live `

does not qualify or when the Shelter is full, the only alternative

there for two years. I don't really know what my mother's prob- |

for someone without funds or a place to stay is the Emergency

lems were. She couldn't straighten out her life, her bills, her `

with her sister. That was a nice home life for me and I stayed `

boyfriend.

Assistance Unit of the Department of Social Services. There, a

When I came back she had gotten rid of her boyfriend, but

woman can sit on a chair all night.

something had happened to me. I didn't want to go to school because I was getting pimples. I became silent and quiet and
wouldn't take a bath or anything. My mother didn't understand

My money was stolen on the bus I think. See, I forgot to

then. It got to the point where I practically couldn't do anything

close my purse and I left it on the chair next to me, and there was

and my mother didn't make me. When I went to school I kept

a kid right across. Later on, about ten minutes later, I was gonna

dropping .to the bottom. I had no interest. I was a very confused

smoke a cigarette and I looked in my purse and the money was

person.

gone. All I had was a dollar bill.

- My mother later signed me out to go to work. í

When I got to New York I went up to an officer and told him

I lived at the Simmons House for a few years and during that |

my money was stolen, so he referred me to a place where people

time I had several office jobs, but I was never really happy. 1 |

sit all night long. It was a small room with people sleeping on

started becoming depressed and having a lot of problems. It was |

chairs. The next morning they sent me to welfare, but welfare

at that time that I met the man I've been living with for the past `|

refused to help me because I was on SSI. Eventually I found the

three years. He used to hang around the Simmons House looking `

Women's Shelter. I couldn't get in at first, but I did after a few

for girls. When I met him, I had just left my last boyfriend and 1

days.

was very lonely. He insisted I move in with him right away. 1 |
didn't want to but I gave in. I was very weak then. I had no mind
of my own and would allow myself to be led any way without |

really knowing what I wanted.

Homeless men are treated differently. At the Men’s Shelter
they are given chits entitling them to a free meal and a flophouse

Things were okay for a while, but then I got pregnant and |

bed. Although the flophouse hotels may not be as institutionally

that messed everything up. I had to give up my job and I began |

neat and clean as the Women’s Shelter, there is room for thou-

staying home. My boyfriend really wanted to have me like a `

sands of men. They are almost never denied a bed.

maid in the house and to have other women outside. Sometimes |
he would stay away the whole weekend and not say anything `
about where he had been. At night I never knew if he would be |
coming home or not. When I asked him what he did, he said it `|
was none of my business. Getting women seemed to be all he |
thought about. I once heard him telling his friends that his biggest `
dream is to get an answering service and to come home and tum F my
on his answering service and then go out with whoever he wants. |
I felt like I was going crazy because I had no outlet. My only |
girlfriend is in the building, and then I found out that my boy- |
friend was trying to turn everyone against me. He was telling her |
that I never did anything, even the laundry, and that I was lazy |
and good for nothing. When I found that out, I was so hurt about |
the way he spoke about me, about the way he was getting a c0! |

and locking me in that I didn't know what to do. |
Everything got to be too much. That's when I tore up the |
furniture. One morning I took a knife and tore it all to pieces. l
couldn't take it anymore. I tried to get out, but there was "0
choice. I had stood it for as long as I could and then that morning `
I ripped everything to shreds. My mind was very calm. I dont
even remember where my little boy was at that moment. Some
times I wonder what he saw. I know he knew something was WY
because later I saw him looking at the couch, just staring, like he

knew something was wrong. |
The police said I should go see a social worker, but I didnt |

(Photo by Margaret M.)

know where to go. After that my boyfriend was saying he w |
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going to beat me up. I heard about a free community legal service
near where I lived so I went over there. They told me I should go
to family court. It was difficult. I was very mixed up and I didn't
know what to do. I did a lot of things wrong. I took out a
paternity suit and they took away my birth certificates. I was
trying to get myself on welfare at the same time—going from
place to place carrying the children. I couldn't get welfare because
they said I was being supported by my boyfriend and then I didn't
have my birth certificates because they were at the court, and I
was running all over waiting in this place and that one with the
þabies in my arms.

The social worker said I should come to the Women's Shelter
and put the boys in foster care until I got more straightened out,
solthought that would be the best thing to do. It was pretty hard
to give them up. I placed them to get self-sufficient.

The first time I got to visit my boy after he was placed in
foster care was like I was in another world. When I saw him I
suddenly couldn't even hear what the people around me were
saying and I was looking at him. Then I had to go into the bathroom to hide my crying. My oldest boy acted shy at first, like he didn't recognize me,
but then I played with him a little and he was better. They say
that the first few nights he didn't eat or sleep at all. They had a lot

of trouble with him because he was so upset. :
The little baby seemed to be okay. He didn't really recognize
me but sometimes I used to make a funny little noise at him with
my throat, and he always made the noise back. This time when I
made the noise he looked at me and he made it back, so I guess he
did recognize that.

Some women spend lifetimes in a cycle moving from mental

(Photo by Joyce J.)

hospitals to the Women’s Shelter to welfare hotels, to the street

I won't get them back until I have something to stand on—a

and back into a hospital or the Shelter. For other women, there is

job. The children's agency is helping me. Maybe I could get into a

perhaps a small hope that through luck or endurance they will

nurses aid program or something, as long as I don't have to go

eventually carve out a reasonable life for themselves. These are

back to him. I never want to get married or to live with any man

the women who have left within themselves some resources of

again. I don't think men are necessary for me. I just want my

strength and enough will to fight for the scraps of help offered by

children back and to have a home and a dog and to go to church

individuals and social agencies.

on Sunday. The whole bit. I hope I'll get everything straightened

Adele was placed on welfare and expects to go into a welfare

out. I'm tired of suffering and going around in circles.

hotel.

I'm not very happy about going into the hotel, but there
doesn't seem to be anything else I can do. I'll be okay as long as
my drinking problem doesn't come back. I'm waiting for the will
Ofthe Lord.
y

er

Selma would like to get a job, but with little education and

y

ut

10 skills, she has little hope.

ar

IfI can't get an apartment and a part-time job in New York, I
guess l'll have to go back to the home. I don't know if I'll be able
geta job or not. It's like you have to give up or something. Like
there's nothing you can do. It's practically impossible for me to
§tt out of this situation. My only choice is to be in the home with
bunch of mental patients in a workshop, and that's not a real

(Photo by Sheri P.)

job. That's nothing. There ain't really nothing for me, just instituAnn Marie Rousseau is an artist living in New York. She has worked at

tions,

the Woman’s Shelter for several years and is a member of the anti-catalog

committee. The photographs reproduced here will be exhibited with others
by women from the Shelter at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this
Hanna is struggling to establish a home for her children.

summer.

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EVERY DAY |

I called you today, we spoke a long
time, you and I. You were in a good
mood, a mellow one. You'd just seen your
sister, your brother-in-law was having his
eighty-first birthday. Your sister was married to him for 49 years this January. You
asked me how my new house was, how
my job was, did I have enough money.

closet. I would hide there until almost

among them and wait for you to walk out

four o'clock. I would hide in the closet so

the door.

you wouldn't know I wasn't in school.
The closet had a closet inside it —I know
this is very peculiar now, but I didn't

You always thought that dressing up
was very important. I'm sure you believe

know it then. In the front part of the

that clothes make the man—and the

closet were a lot of clothes, and my fath-

woman—but I always felt that shoes

er's graduation picture, his graduation

made the woman. You'd always dress me

Somewhere in the conversation you said,

from law school: St. Lawrence Univer-

up for photos, in costumes that other

“After all, you're standing on your own

sity, Brooklyn Law School, 1932. That

people gave you. I always wore everyone

two feet now....” You said it, you said

meant he went to law school at night. I

else's hand-me-downs, it was such a sensi-

I'm standing on my own two feet.... I

used to look at his picture in the closet —

ble thing to do. You'd dress me up for

remember when I was little, I'd want to

his diploma too — and wonder why it was

photos, I remember. I remember one—I

there. In the front part of the closet with

still have it, or you do —I was wearing a

yeshiva, I hated it for eight years, in the

his picture were a lot of clothes. And in

scotch plaid dress, a little blonde jewish

fourth grade I said, thank you God, thank

the back, past the first clothes rack, was a

girl with a dutch haircut in a scotch plaid

smaller closet, a creep-in closet. And in

dress—you made me hold it out in a

I used to want to stay home but you

between the two, on a kind of sill, were a

semicircle as though I were squaredancing

wouldn't let me. Daddy would let me stay

lot of shoes, old shoes. Your old shoes.

— and on my head was a little scotch cap.

home. .. but he would never want to tell

You used to wear really serviceable,

I was smiling, I had a tooth missing. I was

you. He would tell me, “A lie of omission

cheap shoes when you taught. Every day

wearing plain- brown shoes, laced oxfords.

is not the same as a lie of commission.”

you wore sensible, cheap, serviceable and

You used to come home from teaching

sturdy shoes but in the closet there were

wore for these-photos. You always in-

school at three o'clock in the afternoon,

wonderful shoes—silver dancing shoes

sisted I had to get sensible ones, so my feet

but the yeshiva didn't let out until 4:30.

with high heels and buckles, silver danc-

would grow right, and I always wore

You used to come in and go out again be-

ing shoes from the 1920s or 30s, laced

stay home from school—I hated the

you God, only four more years of this —

cause you were very busy —you were a

with thin silver laces. I used to wonder

very busy woman —you had a lot to do.

what they'd be like on your feet—you

So —Daddy had a very simple solution.

had such sturdy legs, sturdy, serviceable,

At five to three I would hide in the closet

sensible legs... … I'd hide in the closet, and

in my bedroom. He would hide me in the

I'd look at your shoes, and I'd sit down

You were not very interested in the shoes I

Stride Rite shoes. But once you took me,
when I was five or six, to get a pair of

mary-janes that had—a buckle. Two
buckles — that’s it, they had two straps
and two buckles. And the two straps lay
across my feet like two hard fingers grip-

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ping them, in such a way that the bone be-

hands and knees — holding the book, try-

ever, I never spoke to that...friend

tween them was pressed upward. They

ing to get out the door and into the bath-

again.

pressed on this bone in the most peculiar

room, where I would read by the night-

way and I'd say, “mommy, mommy,

light you always left burning. MOST of

mommy — these're, these're pressing on

the time, though, you'd give a start and:

the woman. I would buy a new pair of

my feet, they're pressing on my feet and

“what's that, what's that?” You'd get up,

high-heeled shoes, you know the kind

I used to really believe that shoes made

my feet are getting to be shaped funny.”

see me, grab me, and knock me around.

that people — that women — wore when I

You said, “No, these shoes are good.

You used to threaten to get your shoe, but

was growing up, do you remember those?

They're expensive shoes. These are good

you always made do with your fist, some-

Very high, very high pointy spike heels

shoes. These shoes are good for you.”

times you'd choke me a bit. When I got a
little older I wasn't so interested in read-

with pointy toes? And I'd buy 'em and I'd

And so I have, on each foot, a bone that
protrudes on the top, because of these

ing; I'd set my hair every night with

romance...dance...” and I'd go out.

shoes that pressed my feet into a funny

bobby pins and little rollers, the way my

And they'd be fine. They'd be fine for a

shape.

girlfriend Rosemarie taught me. On warm

while and then I'd realize they were press-

I remember once, the teacher called you

think, “Tonight's the night...a date...

evenings we'd pretend to take a walk

ing on a nerve; they always pressed on a

from school and said, “Her boots don’t

together but really we'd stand by the side

nerve. They were fine in the shoe store,

fit.” And you said, “But they're new

of the road, in the driveway, with our

and I always thought, “These are better,

boots.” But those boots—those boots

chests puffed out and our bellies sucked

these are different, these really feel fine,”

were someone else's boots, they were

in, in short shorts and little clingy jerseys,

and I'd make it about, oh, a quarter of the

hand-me-down boots. I think they were

barefoot or in sandals. We'd strike bath-

way through the evening and I'd have to

hand-me-down boots, or maybe they

ing-beauty poses and stand stock-still,

were new boots. They were size 8. You

waiting for the boys in their low-slung

thing that a woman wasn't supposed to

always bought me things very large, so I

souped-up cars to drive by and whistle

be, it was flat-footed on her own two

would grow into them. Now you want me

and leer and make the sound of kisses.

feet; I mean, flats were for lower-class

take my shoes off. Now, if there's one

girls; nobody wore flats. And nobody

to dress my child in enormous clothing, so

walked around without their shoes, not if

he'll grow into it. These boots were size 8.

you wanted to keep your reputation. So

I wore size 4. “Never mind,” you said,

I remember once seeing your shoe, as it

“you'll grow into them.” I wear size 6

came up to hit me in the ear. I was about

today. But you were sure I'd grow into

17, and I thought you were out of the

dance without my shoes and having to go

those size 8 red rain boots. The teacher

house. I was on the telephone to my girl-

home, through the streets of New York

called to say, “She can't walk in her

friend. She was somebody I liked a lot but

boots, they keep doubling up under her

I was kind of afraid of her because she

and I'd say...”I made that mistake

feet every time she takes a step; maybe

went to the High School of Music and Art

again”

she’s got the wrong boots. You'd better

where I'd wanted to go but you wouldn't

come get her, it’s raining out and she

let me because it was too far away —and

needs her boots.”

you were probably right —it was too far

treated badly. She was given only crusts

away — to travel from Brooklyn almost to

and scraps to eat and old cast-offs to

the Bronx —or so it seemed, that it was

wear. Often she had to go without shoes.

There were times that I recall being at

there I was, spending the evening at a

City, freezing cold in tattered stockings

Cinderella was oppressed; she was

your feet, on my hands and knees. From

too far —anyway, I was on the phone,

She had to perform endless household

the time I was about 10, you and I used to

and I thought you had stepped out, and I

chores. The chill and the lack of food

be alone all week in the country house

was lying on the floor in my room, talk-

made her light-headed. She was very un-

together, in your sister's country house,

ing on my phone. It was my phone be-

happy and could only escape through

while Dad worked in the city. I'd always

cause once my brother called up to speak

daydreams. Nobody thought of training

want to stay up at night and read. I read a

to me and Daddy answered the phone and

her to be a lady.

lot, I loved to read. It was my one chance

he didn't know who it was, and he said,

Her stepsisters were given all the ad-

for privacy. All day I was away, swim-

“Who is this?" and Larry, realizing that he

vantages; their every move was scruti-

ming. I'd swim in the lake from early

didn't know it was his own son, said, “Is

nized and corrected, their diets were

morning till lunch, hop out, climb up the

Martha home?” And Dad said, “WHO IS

watched. They had the fanciest clothes,
the most fashionable little slippers and

crawl. But I'd have to come out at dinner-

THIS?? WHY DO YOU WANT TO
SPEAK TO HER? WHADDOYOU,
WHADDOYOU WANT WITH HER?"

time and endure all through dinner. In the

. . .And so Larry got me a phone; he was

evening I just wanted to read. But you al-

upset by that kind of behavior. He

brought around the mysterious lost slip-

ways wanted to go to bed early. There

thought it was an invasion of privacy. I

per, Cinderella's stepmother made her

were four bedrooms in the house, but you

thought it was normal. Anyway...so

always insisted that we sleep in the same

there I was, on my phone, on my floor,

younger daughter cut off her big toe to try

one, so as not to get the others dirty. You

smoking a cigarette. See, that was the

to fit the test.

always reminded me that it wasn't our

kicker —I was smoking a cigarette. I was

house. So, at about 9:30 or 10 we'd have

forbidden to smoke. I can understand, I'm

bank, eat some lunch, and hop back in.
Creeping, as it were, past you, doing the

to get into bed, you into yours and I into

a mother too, that you were protecting

mine, and turn out the light and go to

my health. Anyway, you came in and you

sleep. But I'd never be tired. So I'd lie

saw me lying on the floor and you kicked

boots. Their mother planned to make
them ladies who would rise above her
own station. When the prince's emissary

older daughter cut off her heel and her

This piece was originally presented as a performance.

Martha Rosler is an artist living in Encinitas,
California, who works with photography, video,

there, and count your breaths: Listen,

me in the head. I'm sure you were aiming

and listen, and listen and... Id sli-i-ide

at the cigarette, but you got me right in

on colonization, is being published by Printed

down the side of my bed, cre-e-ep on my

the ear. Luckily, I wasn't deafened. How-

Matter Inc.

texts and postcards. Her book, Service: A trilogy

91

DIN IIS aL N EN ERS A T

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One day I was allowed to play with Betty, just Betty. Mother

Betty Bonnet was her name. She was the one with all the
hats. One had a grey plume that stuck out the top. Mother said it

went to the heavy chest in the dining room. She took out the box

was ostrich. Betty was only a little girl, maybe twelve or thirteen.

tied with strings. She was a child too. She hid things. She hid

But she had the most beautiful clothes — coats with fur collars,

things from me. She didn't want me to know. Betty was her

brown velvet dresses with white lace around the neck for parties.

favorite, my favorite. She had the best clothes. When I touched

She had such pink cheeks. Her hair fell in long curls from under

her the paper felt like silk. I chose the blue dress with buttons

the hat. I wanted to be her. I wanted to take her out of her com-

down the front and legs attached. Her high shoes matched. She

partment and play with her. Take the dresses and choose for

matched perfectly. I asked Mother if that’s the way she dressed
when she was twelve. Be careful, she said.

myself. Fold the paper tabs over her shoulders. She would go to

She tightens the braid until it hurts. Now look for yourself in

school, she would be the prettiest. She would be me. I would
make her lovely for everyone. Like Mother said I was to be when

the mirror, look. She slips my head between the slit in the hat, she

I had to sit still so she could brush my hair, parting each side for

tells me to smile. In the mirror I am beautiful. In the mirror I am

braids. She pulled tight; pulled and twisted each braid with her

paper; I am flat, flattened. I am to be placed somewhere and she

strong hands.

is cutting.

Mother said no. Not until you are older and know how to
touch them. They are fragile. Paper. Betty was her favorite. All

Cate Abbe won the Academy of American Poets Award at San Francisco

those years living between the yellowing pages of the magazine

State University in 1976. She is completing a masters degree in creative

that smelled like the closet in Grandmother's house. Each doll had

writing there and lives in Palo Alto. Her poetry has been published in
several small west coast magazines. She also plays the guitar and writes

a place, with all her dresses, her hats. One had a fur piece with

music.

just enough space for the head to fit through. It was Betty's older
sister. Mother had a fox stole too. Sometimes she wore it to

Joanne Leonard is a photographer living in Berkeley whose work is beginning to be shown and published broadly.

parties. She is my mother. They are her dolls.
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The context of my writing is the performance situation which

FROM THE

I set up at Artists’ Space, the Leo Castelli Gallery, and the
Whitney Downtown, where a video camera on a tripod behind

PINK AND YELLOW

me instantaneously transmitted the image of the letters, words,
sentences as they were written to a video monitor across the
room. The pink book was written in anticipation of performing,

BOOKS

the yellow book is one-third performance and the blue and subsequent books consist only and totally of material written in
performance.

POPPY JOHNSON

Pink Book
Beginning at the beginning. Which is rock bottom. To be an

I'm wearing only a light short cotton dress and a pair of under-

artist who has not made any art for two years is very depressing.

pants. A pair of underpants is only one thing unlike a pair of

I have been very happy and absorbed. I had two perfect little

mittens. I feel naked and lustful and agitated. I just thought about

bodies come out of my body. My body was huge and soft and

Gertrude Stein and Jill Johnston as heroines, but I didn’t like to

full of milk. I held and nursed and fondled and fed and dressed

think it because it broke my other train of thought. I'd rather

and undressed and talked to and listened to my babies in an

stay physical today. While digging in my purse for cigarettes

unending orgy of interdependence. Since Mira and Bran were

(a man wouldn't have written that) I found a three-inch high

born I have had no time to myself except sleep. But now I have

light gray plastic horse, missing its flowing tail but complete

been hired by Carl Andre to do this job of sitting for three hours

with flowing darker mane and red indented nostrils and lips, that

a day in an old green space with a sign eight feet from my right

belongs to my children. Well, I bought it for them but it’s

eye about possibilities for art production. .….…. So Carl is

questionable if children actually own things at all... Iremember

unwittingly my first patron (this work), my inspiration and

Lambie, a big soft stuffed white lamb I slept with, and later used

my competition. My materials were paper and pen, now I have

to dust with my mother’s perfumed talcum powder to make him

a typewriter here so that what I am doing now is part typing what

white again. Funny that I thought he was male. I wonder when I

I have already written and part writing now and it all has to do

started dividing the world that way and what arbitrary rules did

with the future. My economic resources are not vast, but neither

I make up in unknown gender cases like toy animals and why.

. are my needs. I figure I need $500 a month to support myself and

I did write a list of the first hundred words the babies spoke, but

half of two children which works out to $8.20 an hour if I work

I haven't written them a journal of their daily activities. That’s

three hours a day five days a week which is all I want to spare

their bedtime story every night anyway so I suppose I could tape .

right now from my children. The economic resource I have right

it and save it for them for eternity. “Once upon a time there

now from this job is really time. The rest is all my subjective

was a little boy named Bran and a little girl named Mira and this

characteristics which will be manifest in the work which is to

morning they woke up very early and woke up their mommy and

write whatever I am thinking publicly so that it can be simul-

daddy and had eggs for breakfast and. .….….” Every once in a while

taneously read. I am not being particularly clear, but this is the

I get conscious of switching the order girl/boy, boy/girl, every

boring part where I am trying to elicit interest and support and

alternate night, but often slide back to Bran/Mira several nights

collaboration or patronage or whatever. Already I feel a need to

in a row. I even started telling it “Once upon a time there were

rewrite the beginning. This work is writing about this work.

two children, one named Mira and one named Bran...” so that

Writing about this work is this work. I am keeping my private

there wouldn't even be the boy /girl differentiation at all, but I'm

journal publicly. I am the Delphic oracle. I am studying to be a

afraid that they and I are already conditioned that way. Bran is

shopping-bag lady. I am redefining art. I want to be in a public

masculine and Mira is feminine and they get more and more

room with a typewriter and some machinery, maybe video, that

different every day. I hope that Mira won't hate me when she

could shoot a written page of 81⁄2 by 11” paper and project the

grows up. I hope that all the femininity that I have inevitably

image of it on a wall or screen, but so it is easily legible. The room

inculcated in her will be perceived as positive and valuable

is somewhat dark except for a good light on my typewriter. I am

instead of the degrading powerlessness I have often been made to

writing down whatever I am thinking as fast and completely and

feel. The only way I can attempt to assure that is to make sure

well as I can. People come in and watch and read. There is a

she grows up with good images of female power surrounding

xerox machine somewhere so that xeroxes of pages may be made.

her, starting with my own self. And that means not totally

I want to find out what and how I think. I want the publicness of

answering her current demands of all my time and affection and

it to interact with the process of finding out. I like using machines

attention so that I can go out and get myself powerful and make

although I am not technically proficient and comfortable with

sure that I feel it and feel good about it. Which is difficult to do.

them because they and art are the two metaphors for the mind

Which I'm not pretending to do for her sake, but knowing that it

that I am always bumping up against. .…. It isn’t terror. It isn't

is also for her makes me stronger. It's for Bran too but not as

joy. It's some sort of physical sensation which starts from the

empathetically. For a long time I was taught to see my mother,

very top of my head and ripples down to my buttocks since I'm
sitting. If I were standing it would ripple to my feet and make my

and she was being convinced to see herself, as a mean, castrating,
frigid, evil bitch. I don't blame her for that, but I would blame

insteps tingle. I'm stoned. If I thought it were terror I would be

myself if I let Mira suffer the same thing. She will have to suffer

terrified. If I thought it were joy I might be still and meditative

something else. Some new pattern. In my mother’s family one

and happy, but that is different from this absorbed state of

only talks about the women, at least as far back as the civil war,

working that I am in. This is where there is that possibility of

because they were the interesting ones and/or they lived longer.

inarticulableness, either stoned or orgasming or making or con-

Anyway it is the female line that is traced. I read a diary of my

templating art or mystical experiences. There is the temptation

mother's mother's mother’s mother who was a southern belle

of feigning speechlessness because of fearing the inadequacy of

named Emma Munnerlin, daughter of a rice plantation and slave

words. It can't be the words that are at fault, but my laziness.

owner, who married Charles Stocking, a yankee whose family

Outside there is a New York sirocco blowing hot restless moving

had been long settled in the Connecticut River valley. He made

air all around my legs and hair. It's exciting but disturbing since

a small fortune and then the civil war broke out and His brothers
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understand its relation to meaning. If thoughts are born in words,

and cousins were all fighting for the union. He got wiped out

as words, then the grammar is part of their initial existence. If

financially and went catatonic for a while and then just psychoti-

thoughts are born not words, then the words come next and then

cally morbid and depressed and afunctional. Emma's brothers

the grammar is invented for them that puts them in the best

and father were killed and ruined so she had to move north with

order. My daughter has just invented or discovered a sentence

two infant daughters and a crazy husband and support every-

that she says all the time which is the question “What is the

body by giving french and music lessons to the local yankee

doing?” being any noun she knows, mommy,

daughters. She didn't complain in her diaries and they are not

truck, daddy, brother, cookie, kitty, chair, table, toy, etc. I

too exciting to read unless you already know the story and

answer the question as best I can when it refers to anything

empathize a lot. She had been brought up with a personal slave

capable of action (doing) but I get confused by “what is the cookie

companion, a girl a little older than herself, who brushed her

doing?” Sometimes I just say “it is” or “it is being a cookie” or

long hair for her every morning and every night. They must have

“the cookie is sitting on the chair where Mira left it, waiting for

started out like twins or best friends or lovers and been trained

Mira to hurry up and eat it before Poppy or Bran does” or “I

to accept their difference in status. Her slave would have been

don't know, Mira, what is the cookie doing?” to which she replies

the real child of the black woman who suckled her and the reason

“UH.” She has three answers to the kind of questions that I don't

the woman was still full of milk for the little white baby. It is

know the answers to myself, No, Yes, and uh. It is not grammar,

easier to imagine the rage that the black baby girl woman might

anyway, which is only a structure, but the enormous number

have felt but probably didn't than to understand what subtle

of words and then the mathematical infinity of combining any

unconscious mixtures of interdependence and guilt and affection

two, three, seven, twenty-four, thirty-three of them in one

and tyranny Emma might have felt. Either way there's no record

sentence that staggers the imagination. .….….

of it. Only imaginings based on experience or literature or

I've been thinking about Suzanne Harris’ work Locus Up.

movies. One of my best friends throughout high school was a

It is experientially describable as a saint approaching death. It is

very brilliant, angry, tricky and unfathomable black girl, one of

made of sand and stucco walls. Suzanne looks to me like a

the three or four blacks in the whole hypocritical elitist

combination of Joan of Arc and Saint Sebastian by various

bourgeois school. I am a complex and conscious racist. I wish I

renaissance masters. I think she is very beautiful. That may not

weren't a racist at all, but I am a racist and a sexist and would

be relevant but I wrote it anyway. The saint approaches her

probably be a capitalist imperialist if I had the chance. Fighting

death. She walks slowly in the sandy desert and the horizon

those things personally can either give or take away the strength

melts away as the sand rises symmetrically on either side of her

to fight them on a political level..….….

progress. She won't look back which is the only way to see the

When Eva Hesse died, some friends of mine were moving

world and people and life she is leaving behind. She looks straight

into her place on the Bowery, and they knew how poor I was,

ahead at a narrow dark doorway cut into the mound of sand

and they said I could have any of the materials I could salvage

ahead. Inside is a cool, dark but short passageway that

from the heaps on the floor. I took inks and charcoals and water-

immediately and clearly opens into a bright round limited space.

color sets and oilpaints and cords and tubing and strings and bits

In the center of the bright round space, so huge that it takes up

of rubber and everything. I figured it might be magic and I needed

three-fourths of the space is an implacable white cube. The saint

all the money I was making (working for a real estate agent in

looks up into the blue sky above. She has left everything else

Brooklyn) for food anyway. I can never have too many bottles

behind and entered into her own metaphor for her soul, hermetic

of half-evaporated foul-smelling multicolored Higgins ink and

and infinite. She is not afraid.

little wads of used art gum erasers. I carry it all with me from

I wrote a very long list of all the women who I think are

studio to studio. First to the 5th floor of 323 Greenwich St, then

beautiful that I have been in the same room with. This is all

to Mulberry St, then to the country, then to the 4th floor of

related. I have been trained by art at the service of society to see

323 Greenwich St, then to 319 Greenwich St. It comes in handy.

certain things as beautiful: sunsets, flowers, stars, jewels, fruit,

Except for the horrid little nose masks for working with plastic.

oceans, shells, trees, mountains, circles, colors, sunrises, and

One time I used a whole lot of that material plus other stuff

rocks and mothers with children and gold and sunlight and eyes

to make work in the woods. I was reading a lot about shamanism

and animals and glass and wood and shiny things; calligraphy

at the time and, while thinking, I would spend all day in the

and birds and structure and dragons and hills; stars and moon-

woods, one late summer into fall, making things from painted

light, boats, flags, crucifixions and repetition and liquids, flight

strings and painted wood and the trees that were there and the

and the lives of the saints, altruism and patriotism and irony,

rocks and a brook and rubber slingshots and the works were visi-

rhythm and power and women. This list could be short if it

ble enough to be photographed but invisible enough to be magical

were generalized and long if it were particularized. Very few of

traps. Nobody ever saw them except the man I lived with and

the women on my list are mothers, so why did I want to bea

the man who used to own the woods and still walked his dogs

mother? I thought of two ways to be useful on this earth. One is

there and perhaps an occasional hunter. I always wore red when

to alleviate human suffering which would make one want to be

I worked so I wouldn't be shot at. And big rubber boots so the

a saint a scientist a revolutionary a doctor a politician a nurse

copperheads and rattlesnakes wouldn't bite me. One weekend

a teaćher a social worker a mass murderer a saint a mother an

some people were coming to visit. A critic and a painter. I was

artist an entertainer a whore a mathematician or to add to human

very excited because I wanted them to come see my work. I

joy by being.

worked hard on Friday afternoon in the woods (after cleaning
the house and shopping and making beds etc.). They arrived for

Yellow Book

supper and it was dark. I woke early Saturday morning from

It might be possible to believe that Chang Ching truly tried

excitement and anxiety and went walking to the woods to see

to revolutionize culture or the relationship between people and

everything once more alone before it became public and found

culture and that is why the bureaucrats who seem to be in power

everything I had done wantonly destroyed and stolen and

now are afraid of her. The New York Times says her revolu-

dragged away and gone. This art is writing about this art.

tionary operas were rigidly propagandistic but they see propa-

Writing about this art is this art. I love grammar but I don't

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ganda as a pejorative word and what do they know anyway? It

a truly revolutionary manner. This party has only just now been

interests me that she was an actress and perhaps an adventuress

imagined by me and its inspiration is languishing under house

and I imagine she has been made to suffer because Mao sent his

arrest in Peking on the other side of this funny round world, but
the...

loyal wife of the Long March, who bore him children given to
peasants on the route and then lost, off to Moscow and then

Our loft is very odd now. You walk in and are confronted

divorced her so he could marry young Chang Ching. My son is

with what is either called a what-not or a marbletop, being an

crying in his room. It is ten o'clock at night and he is supposed to

elaborately carved wooden object with a mirror and knobs for

be learning to go to bed without me lying beside him or singing

hanging coats and bags and a marble tabletop for throwing keys

songs or telling stories until he goes to sleep. If I do all or any of

and letters and a drawer for lint brushes and miscellany, very

those things his father gets mad at me. If I don’t he cries and his

victorian and handy. Then you turn right into a wall giving you

father gets mad at him and then at me because it is my fault he

three choices. December 2nd. You see, yesterday was short and

cries and it takes hours before everyone calms down because I get

unsatisfactory. There was a chinese piano tuner and a dinner

mad too. All that writing was interrupted by my going and lying

party, the place I live in was not described, a tiny baby and very

down beside Bran and holding his hand and within five minutes

cold weather. My eyes are heavy-lidded, always have been. I

he fell asleep. The other night both children were in the bathtub

don't look innocent. I have of course been told that my eyes are

and I gave them two roses from the dozens given me at my

beautiful, but they aren't. They are hooded and abandoned and

performance to play with. I dethorned them first. I got in the

of a blue more organic than mineral. They feel tired except when

bathtub with them and they were pulling the petals off the roses

I remember they are round balls mostly inside my head. They

and we all decorated each other with rose petals. But I worry

are not just what they appear. Once I saw a short accompanying

about Chang Ching. What if both she and Mao had been mythol-

a movie which was made for german children to explain the

ogized together, as an inseparable passionate toward each other

physiology and physics of the eye. I especially remember the

and passionate to the revolution pair. He would seem less a

waves of color, the red short and angry jumping and the blue

father if he were also seen as a lover. Wasn't it Justinian and

long and peaceful wavy like the ocean. Then they made gray

Theodora who ran such an ideal government and she had been a

rosebushes turn all red. Would that it were that simple. I hate

dancing girl or something. I know I used to think that all men

mysteries. I would truly like to know everything. I'd like to begin

were republicans and all women democrats. (My daughter

with all the most important things and then all the subsidiary

brown eyes, but now she has a blue-eyed doll with a penis so her

be worrisome instead of just accumulating a lot of small things

faith is a bit shaken.) (She also knows her brown-eyed halfsister

and reasoning out their places to build a structure I cannot

facts would just fall into place in an orderly way and wouldn't

has a cunt which is the word used opposite penis in this house

imagine the shape of until I have finished building. I would like

because vagina is just not one of my favorite words and cunt is

some blinding flashes like Einstein had on the trolley. I would

despite its frequent misuse as an insult.) I was taught that men

like not to have to work so hard and be so heavy-lidded. I would

were republicans because they had to worry about money and

also like not to think that I have to read a lot of books, that there

they didn't like to give it to poor people and that women, because

I might find enough details for my constructions. No, I scream at

they didn't have to work and are naturally extravagant and

myself, that is not where it is found these days, politely hiding on

generous and soft-hearted, are democrats and fuzzy-headed
liberals. Also because women can afford to be idealistic and

a quiet page, you might find it in the bathtub with your body or

hopeful whereas men have to be cynical to survive in the jungle.

manifestation, but, no, never just sitting in a book.

in socratic dialogues with your peer group or even in a cultural

There is probably no demographic truth in that, it was only my
own family. I am registered and almost always vote as a democrat but my real party is the changchingist communist party,

Poppy Johnson is an artist who lives in New York.

which is entirely feminist and attempts to integrate art and life in

Locus
Up

4' w x8’ h.x20'1.; diam.: 21’. New York City.

Suzanne Harris is a sculptor living in New York, working indoors and out,
mostly with space, who is particularly interested in making public art.

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Pat Steir
CONVERSATION 1969

KITCHENS 1970

I mourn mortality

My Aunt Beverly came to visit me

my friend came to visit

I last saw her twenty-two years ago when I was twelve

the evening passed

This time she had freshly dyed and set hair

time wove back and forward again

It was glossy red . short and neatly curled

we spoke about places

A friend was with her her friend's hair was dyed blond

the room seemed to become other rooms

She was tired looking and not as neat as Beverly

i described a room a room i never remember

Aunt Beverly said “this is fran ... do you remember her ?

except when i am in it

she described a room

I know her since before you were born”

a gift for a gift

They were boyish sixty-year-old women

the conversation became a gigantic sculpture

Reminding me of the working women I see
leaving their offices and factories at 5 on winter afternoons

a transcontinental journey on the queen mary

I suppose it is a hard lonely life they have

something rare
we wanted to capture it the event

“I have traveled a lot since len died” she said

in a novel

writing on six pages at once filming it

“I took a cross-country bus trip”

writing poetry of poetry on the walls of it
painting pictures in non-existent colors

when he was alive

the memories and the memories of them
I remember her well from the old days

in the morning she told me of a road sprayed with sunshine

The years when the children were growing up
Her hair was longer then and darker she was thin

i told about a little horse in mexico he lived inside a fence

I remember she thought herself a cross between

8 feet in diameter beneath a banana tree

katharine hepburn and ingrid bergman .

the girls in the house hung their petticoats
on a line that passed above him

We were all poor

all the days i was there i could see him standing

We lived in four-family wooden-frame buildings

inside his fence beside the banana tree

Railroad flats

under the petticoats with a huge erection
cows grazed on water lilies in the pond just beyond him

Her son jeffrey was retarded
Each summer uncle leonard tried to teach jeffrey to count
They spent years in the front bedroom years of summers
Counting and trying

only their heads showed the horse was black
she said write it

then we ate lunch

I feel those summers often

when my friend got ready to leave i followed her

aflavor . ataste a just missed time

through the house

Some days seem pregnant with them

i watched her go down the stairs
It is as though a day from long ago

i ran inside to the window

is about to arrive in the midst of a new summer

i wanted to callto her . but by the time i got the window open .

Once I was sunbathing on a foreign beach

she was already down the street

and the heat — the sun — the loneliness of a distant
then i phoned another friend

voice brought them back to me

and ate half a box of ‘Famous Cookie Assortment” cookies

Aunt Beverly and my mother in the kitchen

in this way i mourned the nature of time all partings

I remember myself a fat child

and the frail thing that each day is

Sitting in the shade — at the side of the house
“The oldest" — “keeping an eye on the smaller children”

I wonder what it will be like when i get home she had said

My mother's and Beverly's voices
coming through the open kitchen window
Their voices became part of the air a hum and a whisper
words barely audible the clink of ice
All summer they drank iced coffee with milk in it
they sat in their flower-print housedresses
at the white enamel kitchen table near the window
sometimes — but rarely laughing
operations

endlessly talking about childhood friends

and abortions . deaths and money
Pat Steir lives in New York and makes art and poetry. She is involved with

while in the hot mud driveway
crawl from shadow to shadow

I watched a red ant
across the Australian Plains

sies Collective. y

two alternative publishing ventures as well as being a member of the Here-

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97

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Roberta Neiman. Spring. 1972. New York City.

AVAT ARNT I

Roberta Neiman. Bloomingdale's. 1971. New York City.

She teaches and has shown at various museums.

Roberta Neiman is a photographer working in New York; before that she was a special-production photographer on film in California.

| 98

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participants’ continuing efforts, turn by

conversation, and under what terms it

movement was “The personal is politi-

turn. They must be begun, developed and

will occur. The tape recorder introduced a

cal.” This was not only a slogan, but a

ended jointly. ' Every remark or turn at

new element into the routine home situa-

directive for analysis that would be a

speaking is an attempt at producing con-

tion. Controlling the tape recorder meant

means for understanding and reinterpret-

versation. The question of whether the

controlling part of the situation in which

ing our private lives. I was a first year

attempt is successful or not depends on

conversation took place.

graduate student in sociology when I join-

the participants’ willingness to do inter-

ed the women’s movement. My specialty,

actional work. When one person makes

private interactions being available to a

ethnomethodology, had already shown

an attempt, the other participant has the

third party, the researcher. In addition to

me the importance of everyday interac-

power to turn it into a conversation or to

the men doing most of the censoring of

tions, that they are not simply a reflection

stop it right there.

the tapes, they made other attempts to

A rallying cry of the early women’s

of reality but the means by which people

How, then, is the work of interaction

Second, there was the issue of normally

control what I heard. For instance, the

construct and maintain their understand-

accomplished in conversations between

clicks that are recorded when the machine

ing of the world and of themselves.

male and female intimates? Who does

is turned off (and my own sense of the

Through interactions, we constantly de-

what kind of work? To find out, I listened

conversations) helped me to separate time

fine reality, as well as the form and sub-

to 52 hours of tape-recorded conversation

segments. One man carefully erased all

stance of our social relationships.

between three couples who had agreed to

clicks on his and his partner's tapes, con-

have a Uher 4000 tape recorder set up in

fusing my attempts to identify different

with power, which, as a feminist, I found

their apartments. The apartments were

time segments.

was a central concern in everyday inter-

small enough for the recorder to pick up

actions. I wanted to know the ways in

all conversation from the kitchen and

the mistake of asking one couple to help

which interactions between men and

living room as well as louder talk from the

me transcribe a particularly difficult tape

women express power relations; I wanted

bedroom and bath. The tape recorder was

of theirs—a conversation about a book

to see exactly how our personal interac-

in place from four to 14 days. The tapes

club selection. In fact, they couldn't hear

tions are political.

could run for four hours without interrup-

themselves any better than I could, and

tion. Though automatic timers could

the man wanted to know why I was

social sources of our oppression than we

switch the tapes on and off, all three

interested in the conversation. He kept

'did a few years ago. The relative positions

couples insisted on doing the switching

guessing what I was looking for, was

of the sexes in the economy have been

manually. Uninterrupted recording varies

annoyed that I wanted a literal transcrip-

well documented. Analysis has shown the

from one to four hours. The talk did not

tion, kept saying that only the gist of the

ways in which women’s unpaid domestic

seem self-conscious because of the record-

conversation (which he could tell me) was

labor contributes to our position of pow-

er's presence and conversations seemed

important, and repeatedly tried to tell me

erlessness. Still, we feel this powerlessness

natural.

the meaning of the conversation, explain-

However, this approach did not deal

We know much more now about the

individually, and it is maintained concretely on an everyday basis.
I began to research the ways in which
the general social organization of male-

The couples had lived together for var-

The second case was worse. I had made

ing his motivations for saying things.

ying amounts of time—from three months

These preliminaries already suggested

to two years. All were white and profes-

that men are more likely than women to

sionally oriented, and all but one woman

control conversation. The men made sure

female hierarchy exists in our daily activi-

(a social worker) were in graduate school.

that they always knew when their interac-

ties. Specifically, I have analyzed male-

They were between the ages of 25 and 35.

tions were available to me by their control

female conversations between intimates in

Two women were declared feminists and

of the recorder, but they were unconcern-

their homes.

all three men as well as the third woman

ed, if not sneaky, about letting the women

described themselves as “sympathetic” to

know this. When they had the chance,

the women’s movement.

they attempted to control my interpreta-

Initially, I hoped to tape record arguments, since these would be conversational. power struggles. But as it turned
out, I didn't get any arguments. Instead, I

tions of the conversations.
The Preliminaries
Conversational Work

discovered that such overt power struggles were not necessary to iluminate

I made some interesting discoveries

women's oppression in everyday conver-

even before I began my analysis, through

sation. Rather, supposedly trivial daily

I listened to all 52 hours of tape and

casual conversations with the people in-

transcribed five hours of it for close anal-

talk reveals a division of labor between

volved in the taping. First, in all three

ysis. Given the small amount of conver-

men and women in conversation which

cases, the men set up the tape recorders

sation analyzed, my findings from the

supports our more general positions of

and nearly always turned them on and

transcripts are provisional. But the impli-

power and powerlessness.

off, sometimes without letting the women

cations from such a small amount of

know. The reverse never occurred. Now,

material suggest this is only the tip of the

produces conversation, but their active

controlling a conversation is more than

iceberg. From listening to all the tapes, it

agreement to mutually cooperate in talk.

controlling the topic; it is controlling the

appeared to me that the men controlled

Interactions are always potentially prob-

situation in general—not only what will

the subject much more than the women

lematic and are sustained only by the

be talked about, but whether there will be

did and that the men were consistently

It is not simply two people talking that

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successful in initiating interactions, while
F: I didn't know that.(=)

the women’s attempts often failed. They

M: Hmm?(=)

did not fail because of anything inherent

In the early

in their talk, but because the men did not
Umhm( (yes))

respond, did not do any interactional
work. The men’s remarks succeeded be-

That's what we needed.(18)

cause of interactional work done by the
women in response to them.
When I analyzed specific transcripts, it
appeared that the men did very little to

: try the Riviera French Dressing?(=)
|=

gain such control, and by doing very
little, they displayed power without spe-

m=

cifically exercising it. A turn-by-turn

: < +ion?(2)
Umhm((no))(=)

analysis revealed the women’s constant

Yeah relatively and the status.(7)

|=

conversational work. They struggled to
get responses to their own remarks or
were busy responding to the men’s re|3

marks. In my analysis, I identified a number of strategies used in conversational

: good. See?(2) See babe?(1)
ul

work. These strategies reveal the differential work men and women do.

|=

Asking Questions
Questions’are a powerful kind of utterance. They are half of a paired relation,

F: same arguments y'know (=)

with answers the second half. That is,

Yeah(=)

Leslie White is probably right.

Q-A is a unit, not two separate things.
Questions demand answers, while statements do not demand other statements. If
no answer is given, its absence is noticeable and can be complained about. A
question in conversation works by beginning a two-part sequence; it ensures an
interaction of at least one utterance by

treated seriously and would generate a

The use of the phrase increased as the

each of two participants.

response. I've identified three types of

men’s responses decreased.

Counting the questions in about seven

attention-getting devices.

` Third, “This is interesting,” or a varia-

hours of tape, I found that the women

The first was originally discussed by

tion, was used throughout the tapes. By

asked two and a half times more questions

Harvey Sacks when he explored children’s

engaging in conversation people indicate

than the men did—150 to 59. At times, it

restricted rights to speak in the presence

that there is a mutual interest in what is

seemed that all the women did was ask

of adults.” Sacks noticed one type of

being said. When one uses “This is inter-

questions. Then I began noticing my own

esting” as an introduction, it signals that

speech and discovered the same pattern. I

conversational opening: ‘“D'ya know

the remark itself may not be seen as

often made questions out of remarks that

what?” This type of question is answered

worthy of attention. The speaker is work-

could have been statements: “Isn't it a

by another question: “What?” The first

ing to establish the interest of the remark.

lovely day?”, “Shouldn't we go grocery

speaker is then in the position of having

In the five hours of transcribed material,

shopping?” I then tried to break myself of

obtained the attention needed to say what

the women used this device ten times, the

the “habit” and found it was difficult.

he or she wanted to say in the first place.

men seven.3 When interest is not in ques-

Many remarks came out as questions be-

This is a Q-Q-A sequence, setting off a

tion, that work is done by both inter-

fore I noticed. When I did succeed in

three-part exchange. Sacks further point-

actants. The first person makes a remark,

making a statement, I usually did not get

ed out that while the use of this device

the second person responds to it, and

a response. It became clear that I wasn't

ensures children’s rights to speak, at the

together they establish its joint interest.

asking so many questions out of habit,

same time it acknowledges their restricted

but because unless I did, my attempts at

rights. These three-part sequences in con-

interaction would fail.

versations tell us about the work of guaranteeing conversation as well as identify-

Minimal Response
A minimal response refers to a speaker

Attention-Getting Devices

ing differential rights of the participants.
In the five hours of my transcripts, the

more. Both men and women used this,

Attention-getting devices are remarks

women used this device twiċe as often as

but often in different ways. The men úsed

that, whether they give information or
not, attempt to get the attention necessary

the men.

saying “yeah,” “umm,” “huh,” and little

the monosyllabic response as one step

Second, there were many instances of

short of not responding at all. For exam-

to begin conversation. Thè women used

“y'know” in the transcripts. This phrase is

ple, the woman made a long remark, and

these devices consistently while the men

an attempt to see if the other person is

the man responded with “yeah,” which

did not, indicating the women’s difficulty

paying attention. It was used 34 times by

neither encouraged her to continue nor

in assuming that what they said would be

the women and three times by the men.

elaborated the topic. Minimal responses

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used in this way display lack of interest

“That’s really interesting.” As M makes

and attempt to discourage further inter-

no attempt to follow up on any of her

called “bitchy,” “domineering,” or “ag-

action.

statements, F continues talking for 30

gressive.” When women attempt even

seconds, using two “y'knows” and a ques-

temporarily to control conversation with
men, it often starts an argument.

The women also used this kind of min-

status as a woman. They are likely to be

imal response at times, but mostly in a

tion intonation. M finally responds with a

way that is best termed “support work.”

“Yeah” after F repeats herself and says

Women who do not behave interac-

While the man talks, the woman skillfully

“y'know” a third time. Though there are

tionally are punished; often it is implied

inserts “mmm,” “yeah,” “oh,” throughout

further attempts made by F later in the

that they are not “real women.” One's

the stream of talk. By doing this, the

interaction, a conversation on this topic

sexual identity is crucial. It is the most

woman signals that she is paying atten-

never develops.

tion to what is being said, that she is fully

“natural” differentiating characteristic

The transcript shows some ways the

there is. But it is not simply our bodies

strategies described earlier are used in

that define gender. We must constantly

interest in both interaction and interact-

actual conversation. It shows the woman

behave as male or female in order for our

ant. This is done with agility during the

working at interaction and the man exer-

gender to be taken for granted in interac-

speaker's pauses, seldom causing even

cising his power by refusing to participate

tion. We must prove our gender con-

slight overlaps. Nothing in either tone or

fully. As the interaction develops and F

tinually.

structure suggests that the woman is try-

becomes more aware of her difficulties, F

ing to take over the talk.

brings more pressure on M by increasing

quires women to be available to do what-

her use of strategies. Even so, she only

ever needs to be done in interactions.

participating, that she has a continuing

Making Statements

The active maintenance of gender re-

ensures immediate, localized responses,

Since interactional work is tied up with

not a full conversational exchange.

female identity, with what a woman ¢is,

Immediately following this transcribed

the fact that it is work is obscured. It is

specific conversational work. Of course,

material, M begins and continues a con-

not seen as something we do, but as part

by its mere existence, a statement pro-

versation about a soft drink and Richard

of what we are, similar to caring for the

vides for a response, and thereby does

Nixon being a former lawyer for Pepsi-

house and children, which have also been

some minimal work. However, it also

Cola. F gives elaborating responses, with

seen as part and parcel of what women

shows the speaker's assumption that any

a series of exchanges between them that

are. In both cases, the value and necessity

'attempt will be successful and interesting,

end when M opts not to continue. This

of the work are hidden behind the screen

that he or she will be responded to. It is as

Pepsi-Cola/Nixon exchange shows that

if the speaker assumes there are no prob-

the man was willing to engage in discus-

Finally, there are statements that do no

lems, that success is naturally his or hers.

sion, but apparently only on his own

In the transcribed material, the men made

terms.

versational analysis done by Sacks, Schegloff, Jefferson and others. See Harvey Sacks,

this kind of statement more than twice as
Conclusions

many times as the women. The substance
of their remarks was not more interesting
than the women’s, but took on that character because they generated interaction.

There is a division of labor in conversa-

An Example

Language (Sept. 1974), pp. 696-735.

tion. Though the women generally do
more work, the men usually control the

One segment of conversation from my

Emmanuel A. Schegloff and Gail Jefferson,
“A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn Taking for Conversation,”

conversations couples have. Since the

‘Stories by Children,” in Directions in Socio-

linguistics: The Ethnography of Communication, ed. John J. Gumperz and Dell Hymes

men’s remarks develop into conversation

(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston,

more often than the women’s, men end up

1972), pp. 325-425.

transcripts is the beginning of an interac-

defining what will be talked about and

tion. The woman is reading a book in her

which aspects of reality are the most

academic specialty and the man is making

important.

a salad. I originally transcribed it for

Women are required to do specific

analysis because conversation seemed dif-

kinds of interactional work in conversa-

ficult for the woman, and she used stra-

tions with men. More than that, we are

ing one lengthyinteraction, while the usages

of other strategies discussed were randömly
scattered throughout the transcripts. This
long conversation was transcribed because it
was one of the few where the man had trou-

ble maintaining the conversation. As it became more difficult for him, he used more

tegies to ensure some response. (I suggest

generally required to be available. The

reading the transcript before continuing

conversational work expected of women

of the female uses were from one transcript,

with the text.)

differs according to the situation; some-

the other six scattered. My impression from

The woman (F) starts off in Set 1 with

times we are supposed to be an audience,

two “d'ya know” question sequences, sig-

“good listeners,” because we are not

naling that she is not sure she can get the

otherwise needed. We may have to fill

man’s (M's) attention. It seems to be the

silences and keep conversations moving.

attention-getting devices. In contrast, four

listening to all 52 hours of the tapes was that
a complete count would show a much larger
proportion of female to male usage than the
ten to seven ratio indicates.

right assumption, since M's response in

Sometimes we are supposed to develop

I am grateful to Harvey Molotch, with whose

Set 3 is minimal and both fall silent. F's

other people's topics and other times to

next attempt, in Sets 5-6, uses more atten-

present and develop topics of our own.

guidance I began this research, and to Myrtha
Chabran, Mark Fishman, Drew Humphries,

tion-getting devices. This time, F prefaces

There are subtle demands on women to

her remarks both with a “That’s very

be available for interaction. If women do

interesting” and “Did you know ...?”

not answer these demands—if we are not

Linda Marks, Morgan Sanders and Susan Wolf
for their help or ideas and criticism on this and
earlier drafts.

The double-barreled attempt is more suc-

“naturally” available, we get in trouble.

cessful and generates two exchanges, Sets

Women who sit silently while a conversa-

7-8. F's success is short-lived, however; M

tion flounders are seen as hostile or inept.

fails to respond to her last contribution

Women who consistently and successfully

and thus ends the exchange.

control interactions are criticized, particu-

often talk about—using their daily experience to

larly by men who question the female's

do feminist social analysis.

F's third attempt begins in Set 10 with

Pam Fishman is 32, grew up in Arizona and
lives in Brooklyn. Her Ph.D. thesis, from the
University of California at Santa Barbara, is on

power in everyday conversation. She and Linda
Marks are writing up what they and their friends

101

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ANININ na S S

ONEEN

INN Y MEESNNNZ
N f NN NN E AN Y a 7
YNN ISSS NN N

WAS N
HISSA
RSS

YA

A

Z

dy

L
A
LA

S27,
£.

Z%

Zj

ELi

EA

Denise Green, Archway. 1976. Pen and ink 4” x 4”. (eeva-inkeri.)

ANI

NA

NN

Denise Green. Needle. 1976. Pen and ink. 4” x 4”. (eeva-inkeri.)

Denise Green is an Australian-born artist showing in New York since 1972. She has taught
most recently at the Art Institute of Chicago.

102

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“Who controls the box office, controls the industry.” — Adolph

ing for her right to be herself, to make her own choices. She

Zukor, President, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation and Para-

embodies some of those qualities that have since come to be seen

mount Pictures, c. 1923

as typically Canadian — a fierce individualism and tenacity without aggression; a tendency to explore undiscovered places, both

HEWING THE WOOD
AND DRAWING THE WATER

physical and metaphysical; a quiet kind of intense spirituality; a
strong identification with animals, especially as victims of man’s
greed and ambition; and a commitment to the land, however
bleak. These are recurring themes in the broken threads of

WOMEN AND FILM IN

Canadian culture, the most timely of which is that of the loner,

COLONIZED CANADA

often a loser, often recently urbanized, in desperate search for his
or her identity. In the culture of the last twenty years, the bearer

ARDELE LISTER

of these qualities has most often been a male who exploits women
in the process of upgrading his own status and self-image. This is

To comprehend fully or to appreciate the fact of women making

a phenomenon common in world history —men who see them-

films in Canada, one must know something of the history of film-

selves without power turn on their women and families in hostil-

making in Canada, because all filmmakers in this country are

ity and frustration, preferring some power, however ugly, to

faced with certain facts:
1. The Canadian film audience pays over 200 million dollars annually to Famous Players and Odeon,
both foreign-owned conglomerates (Famous is 51%
owned by Gulf and Western, which also owns Paramount Pictures; Odeon is now owned by Rank, a British conglomerate concentrating on U.S. film productions. Rank was originally 50% owned by Famous
Players’ Nathanson.) None of this money is taxed to
leave any percentage in Canada to build the Canadian
film industry; and there is no stipulation that requires
Canadian films to be seen in Canadian theatres.
2. Famous Players and Odeon control over 80% of
urban Canadian theatres and openly indulge in practices such as tie-on bookings (made illegal in the U.S. in
1948 under U.S. Antitrust Laws) by which, in order to
exhibit a moneymaking film like Jaws, theatres must
agree to exhibit a string of mediocre American films
pumped out by Hollywood studios. As a result, neither
mediocre Canadian films nor excellent Canadian films
qualify for exhibition.
3. In 1963 Canada was the sixth most important foreign
buyer of American films. By 1975 Canada had the dubi-

TL
TITS

ous distinction of being the biggest buyer of American
films outside the U.S.

$

4. 94% of film rentals in Canada goes to the seven
major U.S. distributors. With as little as a 5% cost-ofdoing-business tax in Canada, 10 million dollars could
be fed yearly into the impoverished local film industry.

AaS a ,

The Canadian government, afraid to be “unfriendly,”
refuses to legislate.

Director Nell Shipman in Back to God's Country. 1919. (Museum of

5. United Nations statistics suggest that an industrial-

Modern Art/Film Stills Archive.)

ized nation should be able to produce a feature film per
million population per year. Canada, with a population

... the English Canadian projects himself through his

of 24 million, produces roughly five features a year.

animal images as a threatened victim confronted by a
superior alien technology against which he feels power-

* * *

less, unable to take any positive defensive action, and

Back to God's Country, directed by and starring Nell Ship-

survive each crisis as he may, ultimately doomed.

man, a Victoria-born woman, was released in 1919. It returned

(Margaret Atwood, Survival)

300% on its investment and was a smashing success. It was the
There have been few Canadian heroines and even fewer film-

first Canadian feature directed by a woman and ranks in the his-

makers as inspiring as Nell Shipman, and so it is that as Canadian

tory of early Canadian filmmaking as one of the finest. In it Nell

women filmmakers we refer again and again to Back to God's

Shipman appeared nude. The scandal that ensued only provoked
her to attach to all publicity for the film the slogan “The Nude is

Country, in search of our own reflection from which to build

Not Rude.” Such were our beginnings.

anew.

Based on the bestselling novel by James Oliver Curwood,

* * *
In 1927, when Canada's feature-film-producing industry was

Back to God's Country follows the adventures of an independent

already on the decline because exhibition and distribution were so

woman living in northern Canada, braving the bitter winters and

tied in to American production that indigenous industry was be-

fighting off would-be suitors and rapists dressed up as Mounties.
Archetypal asthe film's heroine and villains are, it offers a

ing suffocated, Universal studios remade Back to God's Country.

portrait of a woman with a strong sense of self and purpose out-

This version starred a different cast and shifted the story slightly
so that the romantic life rather than the independence of the hero-

side traditional notions of servitude who spends eight reels fight103

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tunities in film, Canadian women were getting fewer—or none. As

ine was emphasized. In 1953 Universal International Technicolor

is the case in all other professions and classes, competition among

made the third version of this classic story, starring Rock Hudson

male filmmakers is such that female inclusion would only make it

and further diminishing the role of the heroine; her nirvana be-

worse, and in every aspect of the industry women have been

came inseparable from Rock Hudson's arms. Each version of this

deterred from participation. Second, in keeping with the general

film accurately reflects its time and place; by 1953 women

back-to-the-kitchen backlash after World War II, not only were

weren't allowed to be heroines without being submissive to men.

women omitted from key roles in making films, but the images of

The cultural focus had shifted back to the kitchen and away from

women in the films made by men regressed, became more hollow

other life styles.

and one-dimensional, reinforcing the cultural stereotype. All of
Every colonized people —in other words every people
in whose soul an inferiority complex has been created
by the death and burial of its local cultural originality —
finds itself face to face with the language of the civilizing
nation; that is with the culture of the mother country.
The colonized is elevated .….…. in proportion to his adoption of the mother country’s cultural standards..….….the
goal of his behaviour will be the Other .….… for the Other
alone can give him his worth. (Franz Fanon, Black
Skins, White Masks)
The division of sexes is a biological fact, not an event in
human history . . . Here is to be found the basic trait of
woman: she is the Other in a totality of which the two
components are necessary to one another..….To decline
to be the Other, to refuse to be a party to the deal — this
would be for women to renounce all the advantages
conferred upon them by their alliance with the superior

Director Nell Shipman in Back to God's Country. 1919. (Museum of
Modern Art/Film Stills Archive.)

caste. Man-the-sovereign will provide woman-the-liege
with material protection and will undertake the moral

this compounded the problem of Canada’s aborted film industry,

justification of her existence; thus she can evade at once

sanctioned by the Canadian Cooperation Project and Canada's

both economic risk and the metaphysical risk of a liber-

previous refusals to hinder the American takeover of exhibition

ty in which ends and aims must be contrived without

and distribution.

assistance. (Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex)

* * *

* * *

During the 1920s two factions in the American film industry

Although the proportion of female to male directors in early

battled over methods of expansion. The struggle was between the

Canadian filmmaking was small, there was at least room for

independents (producers and exhibitors) and the monopolists,

women's participation in key roles. As in most professions at the

who favored “vertical integration” —bringing all aspects of film-

earliest stages, there was no rigid role tradition to prevent women

making, distribution and exhibition under the control of the big

definitively from any or all interests or occupations. Most of the
women active in early Canadian filmmaking did, however, work

production studios. Under the guidance of Adolph Zukor, the

in husband-and-wife production teams. They shared the work —

monopolists won, and independent filmmaking in both Canada
and the United States was wiped out. In 1948 the U.S. legislated

rarely the credit. Only recently was Nell Shipman correctly credited with directing Back to God's Country, previously attributed

against this kind of control, and distribution and exhibition were

to her producer-husband, Ernest Shipman.

separated from production, allowing the resurrection of an independent film-producing and exhibiting community. In Canada,

In addition to the women working in independent filmmak-

no such legislation has been passed; foreign companies are

ing, there have been women working at the National Film Board

allowed privileges they do not even have in their own countries,

since its inception in 1941. John Grierson, founder and director of

and the existence of a commercial Canadian film industry is effec-

the NFB, believed that the organizational skills and talents of

tively killed. All Canadian filmmakers are, then, by definition,

librarians were ideal credentials for beginning filmmakers. Much

“independent,” and yet there is no parallel “independent” system

to the surprise of the women librarians he hired, not to mention

for distribution and exhibition.

that of the establisħed filmmakers, the ensuing films did in fact

In 1931 Famous Players was taken to court under the Cana-

prove the skill of these women. So it was that in the 1940s

dian Combines Act which forbids foreign companies from con-

Gudrun Parker and Evelyn Cherry, to name just two, began their
careers in filmmaking, careers that continue to this day, each

trolling the Canadian market in such a way as to put Canadian

woman still successfully producing and directing commercial

companies at a disadvantage. But after various tactical pressures
and maneuvers, Famous Players was allowed to continue its ex-

short films, each with her own prairie-based production com-

pansion. In 1948, when the Canadian film-producing community

pany.

was ready to build a permanent feature industry, the American

From the earliest days of Canadian filmmaking through the

government was threatened with the loss of millions of profit dol-

1940s, women played key roles. For the next twenty-five years

lars from Canada. It quickly proposed the Canadian Cooperation

they did not, and only in 1969, with Sylvia Spring's first feature

Project, by which Canada would promise not to make any fea-

film — Madeleine Is. ..—was a woman again visible in a direc-

ture films. The U.S. Motion Picture Export Association promised

torial role. What accounts for the quarter-century gap? First, as

the Canadian government that the Cooperation Project would

the NFEB’s production of short films and documentaries increased,

make at least $20 million a year for Canada in tourist trade

the production of feature films radically decreased, often to the

sparked by Hollywood films mentioning Canada. In addition,

point of non-existence. If Canadian men were getting few oppor104

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Q: In Studio D's literature, it says that the Film Board
makes more films with fish in them than with wom-

Canada was to get a film on her trade dollar problem, more complete news coverage, a short film on Canada made in Hollywood,
release of NFB films in the U.S., Canadian “sequences” in Holly-

en. Do you have any comment on that?
A: Well, there are more fish than women.

wood features, radio recordings extolling Canada and a more

Q: But are they more important?

careful selection of films sent to Canada. In its infinite naiveté,

A: Idon'tknow...

the Canadian government agreed.
If you watch American films from that time (1948-58) you

In 1975 (International Women’s Year) “Studio D” was set up

will catch occasional references such as: “Well, they're sort of a

by the NFB to focus on women as filmmakers and as audience.

special kind. They live in the hills there ... red-winged orioles

Conveniently rendered impotent by having substantially less staff

. .. from Canada...” (from Bend in the River with Jimmy Stew-

and a lower budget than other NFB studios, it has been able to

art). No such bird exists. And if it did, it is highly unlikely that

make few films. Those that have been made are so heavily

such a reference would increase tourism to Canada. The other

booked it is often difficult to obtain them. Films About Women

most common reference was to villains escaping over the border.

and Work, a series of eleven shorts, is booked up six to eight

Aside from these totally meaningless mentions, the image of

months in advance of screenings. (Most NFB films are available

Canada was that of a bleak and harsh landscape unsuitable for

within a week or two.)
Despite obstacles that have at times seemed insurmountable,

human life, with mounties and sex-crazed coureurs-du-bois (trap-

Canadian women have made a considerable number of films over

pers) running after helpless females. Needless to say, tourism not

the last ten years. There have been three features made for com-

only failed to rise, it took a turn for the worse. In retrospect, the

mercial release, and several feature-length, non-commercial

only thing that the Project did publicize was how easily, and how

films. Sylvia Spring's Madeleine Is...was released in 1969,

cheaply, the Canadian authorities could be persuaded to sell out

Mireille Dansereau's La Vie Rêvée in 1972 and Joyce Wielands

Canada's chances for her own film industry.
In the last twenty-five years, Hollywood's business in

The Far Shore in 1976. Each of these films presents us with a

Canada has continued to boom uninhibited. Canada remains the

woman as central character, in different stages of social and poli-

only film-producing country in the world with no quota for

tical development. Madeleine has not yet clearly defined her position in the world but she is aware of and struggling with the

nationally made films in national theatres, no levy restrictions on
money being made by foreign companies in Canada. The films

forces that exploit her. In La Vie Rêvée the two female leads are

that do manage to get made in Canada are “foreign” in their own

friends (a rare relationship for women in film) who work for a

country. In addition, Canadian films that have received awards

film company and on the weekends, live out their fantasies, most
of which concern men. Nevertheless, they are not in competition

in Cannes, in New York or in Edinburgh, such as La Vie Rêvée

with each other, nor are they victimized by their fantasies. The

(Dream Life) (1972) directed by Mireille Dansereau, have yet to

Far Shore goes back to 1919 (the period in which Back to God's

receive commercial Canadian distribution. Sometimes five or six

Country was made) and to a story of love, the isolation of artists,

years lapse between the completion of a film and its distribution

the conflict between the French and the English, and Canadian

—-if it is distributed.

history.

Several films have resulted from the universal feminist pre-

Not making films you should be making is awful, but

occupation with digging up one's roots, personally and collec-

making them and then not having them shown is worse.

tively. Great Grand Mother (NFB, 1976, 30 min., color) is a film

(Claude Jutra, French-Canadian director)

by Lorna Rasmussen and Anne Wheeler made in Edmonton
about the lives of pioneer women who were instrumental in

To dispel the popular notion that Canada is a lucrative para-

settling the prairies. Bonnie Kreps’ After the Vote (CFDC, 1969,

dise for filmmakers, who are fully funded by a national system of

22 min., black and white) is a feminist documentary covering the

art patronage — here are some other facts. In Canada there is vir-

history of women’s rights in Canada; it is factual and informa-

tually no private or corporate funding for films. Until last year

tive with a sense of humor. Kathleen Shannon's Goldwood (NFB,

there were no tax incentives to encourage investment. There are

1975, 22 min., color) is one woman's memories of childhood in

two government-sponsored funding sources for film: the Canad-

the wilderness of northern Ontario, first recalled in paintings,

ian Film Development Corporation (CFDC) and the Canada

then revisited in the reality of thirty years later. Shannon is cur-

Council. The CFDC, in nine years, has invested $25 million in
“Canadian” films, many of which were American coproductions

rently producing a documentary film about the women filmmak-

in which Canadian filmmakers were doing no more than “hewing

ers who began making films at the NFB in the 1940s. Buenos Dias

the wood and drawing the water.” This kind of generosity has,

Compañeros: Women of Cuba (Phoenix, 1975, 58 min., color),
directed by Aviva Slesin, examines the lives of four very different

for the most part, ceased. To give an idea of amounts of actual

Cuban women.

financial support: Joyce Wielands feature, The Far Shore, was

Over the last few years some people have concluded that the

the most expensive film funded by the CFDC to date; their share

future of Canadian filmmaking rests in the hands of women.

was $210,000, half of the film's total production costs. In the

Though it reeks of reverse sexism, this opinion gains credibility

CFDC's history, only two films have been made by women. (The

with the emergence of more women’s films. Women making films

other one was La Vie Rêvée.) The film section of the Canada

in Canada have had nothing to lose and everything to gain. They

Council funds an average of ten to fifteen short films a year,

continue, encouraged by the words of one of Canada’s most out-

usually between $5,000 and $10,000. Their budget is diminished

rageous foremothers, Nellie McClung, who said in 1873: “Never

year by year by government cutbacks.

retract, never explain, never apologize —get the thing done and

The National Film Board does not fund independent films or

let them howl.”

filmmakers. It is an institution, producing institutional shorts and
documentaries. In the early days of the NFB, women enjoyed a
certain amount of equality; recent surveys indicate otherwise.

Ardele Lister is a Canadian feminist/artist/filmmaker/critic and the editor

The following is from a 1975 interview with Peter Jones, then

of Criteria, published in Vancouver. Last year she co-scripted and directed
So Where's My Prince Already? —a tragicomedy about love and marriage.

Regional Director of the NFB in Vancouver:
105

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social meaning.

Body and Architecture

The Public/Private Dialectic

ground
floor
ferent
modes
of Musical
transition
—organized
building
staircase,
that
has
own
outside
house,
life.space,
aspace.
private
oflocated
seclusion,
used as a metaphor
for
as
theof
centure.“man
The in
body
part
has
the
usually
Myexperience
design
been incorporates
neof space and
the culbody house
as
becomes
a stage,
glassblock
acquiring
staircase,
a various
which
and
terraces
can as
bridges,
be well
events
as
doors,
along
canpassageway.
be
the
created
ments
of
on
gardens,
The whole
house isalong
anot
sequence
difjust its
a becomes
of
private
fragainterior
public
overlooking
but
The domain
ahouse
cian,
the
is
Mediterranean,
In on
thea design
hillside
the ofin this
Spain
house for
a musigated or repressed
architecture
or
illuminated
inside
at the
night.
Thus
the theatrical

DIANA AGREST : LES ÉCHELLES 1975

Readings

architecture.
transitions...

through space.

practices in New York.

the Alhambra. ..grid...arch grid...

ter” body
or asbecomes
a technocratic
graphic standfrom object
ard.
in Here
the excitement
the
of
moving
inseparable
mise
en
TheThe
reading
house
allows
not afor multiple
readlinear
discourse,
butsequence.
ings.
an infinite,
Fragments
spatiallink isassociatively
in a
structing a whole...articulation...
porates the dimension
bined andorganized
of
articulated.
pleasure
along
izedThis
into
text
various
work
in
codes
which
incorare
levels
comof
reading
Diana Agrest, an architect from Argentina,
sand—water..
Versailles
— labyrinth.
.
Gardens:
history
—nature—. culture...
ments of gardens...fragments
History: cultural fragments...fragrecon-

106

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SUSANA TORRE

Since Mahony was not a feminist and did not de-

ment,
inalso
that
building
not
meant
as
monument
to
a the
man
tion
but
as
on
the
means
idea
toof focus
the
the
ascurator
aArgentine
monument
attenof culture.
The
memorial
can
be
conceived
as aisan
anti-monuSusana
Torre
Sheacity
was
is observer's
an
toric
and
and
Contemporary
editor
architect
of practicing
Women
Perspective,
in inArchitecture:
New York. A Hisposition,
marble
doorway
and
interior
“room.”
—a
metaphor
fortalent
woman's
elements
physical,
are
sanctuary),
water,
nurearth
door/passage,
(aspink
primal
“window,”
shelter
and
circular
last
comthe
stairs,
which
are
aligned
with
social
its
being)
diagonal
and
ax¢s.
themand
“cave”
below
(woman's
body).
receptacle
sel—most
andaccurately
asasthis
aa spiritual
represents
and
intellectual
her
role.
Its
vessymbolic
this
vantage
point,
city
is city
within
again
viewed,
two
enclosures:
framed
by
the action)
“house”
(woman
asturant
rounds
the
observation
platform
Thus
one
the
level
below.
(the
From
public
realm
of
is above
seen
recognition
from
for
her
and body
work,
building
the level
marble
upper-level
room
fountain
the
cascades
half-circle
around
fountain
the the
that
surentrance isfrom
on the
above,
is into
Griffin's
effigy.
Water

The monument here is based on a series of spatial The visitor is led through a passage aligned with

pink
marble
“room”
dug
into
the mountain,
the
city
below
from
lower
the
conceptual
level
ofthe
the
perspective
observatory.
comThere,
enclosed
by a whose
posed
the
windows,
visitor
descends
to
the
tially
contained
entered
within
through
one-half
apassage
pink
of marble
aisby
circular
doorway.
pool
and
After
seeing
main
axesobservatory’s
and civic
monuments.
The
parthebecity's
sional
land by
axis
facade,
where
the
three
windows
tridimenopen
on
the
city's
organizers
the
competition.
ture,
in honor
of the
presence
and
influence
of
Marion
Mahony,
who
was not
chosen
to
honored
theinto
considered
archetypally
female
inof
our
culthe
Women’s
dom.
International
for
Peace
U.S.
and
designed
pacifist,
two
major
feminist
community
and co-founder
planning
withLeague
Jane
Addams
ofand Freeprojects
commissioned
by
Lola Lloyd,
ametaphors
over
erased
Griffin's
area.)
projects
mained
She writing
collaborated
when
in the
his her
they
shadow.
on
married
a After
number
in(unexecuted),
his
1911,
of
death
but
she
rereturned
to
drawings of
thistheperiod,
sometimes
own

This project was submitted in 1975 to an interna-

Mahony graduated in architecture from MIT in

memoir,
Mahony
obliterated
vonunpublished
Holst's name from
to
Herman
von
Holst.
(In her
designer
recognition.
Wright's
office,
Many
of
but
her
received
designs
no
were
public
subsequently
nary
renderings
established
inand
the
Bauhaus
Wright's
famous
international
Wasmuth
De
Stijlin
Portfolio
designs.
fame and
Inattributed
1909
influenced
she
became
chief
designing
ornamental
work
details.
Her
extraordiOak
Park
studio,
earning
aentered
meager
$10
per
week and
ings
him
and
watercolor
the
prize.1878
on her
satin
architecture
reputedly
in woman
Illinois.
In 1895
she
Wright's
rated
with
himinin
inphotodyes
the
Canberra
competition;
and drawwas
the first
licensed
to
practice
of
Marion
Mahony
(1871-1961),
who
collaboafter
winning
Canberra
commission.
He won
was
the
(1876-1937)
worked
in
Chicago,
Lloyd
but
settled
Wright
inand
Australia
1914,
tralia's
capital
city,
Itpracticed
was
to with
be
built
thethe
tional competition
a American
memorial
summit
to
Walter
ofCanberra.
the
Burley
highest
mountain
inFrank
theonhusband
area.
Griffin
Griffin, for
the
architect
who
designed
Aus-

107

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First Fantasy: “Manifest Destiny”
The earliest tall structures in the United States, monumental
military obelisks and columns like the Bunker Hill Battle Monu-

SKYSCRAPER SEDUCTION
SKYSCRAPER RAPE

ment (completed in 1843), provided symbolic as well as technological precedents for skyscraper construction. These monuments
usually included observatories which became popular spots for
surveying the surrounding urban and rural landscape. Such grand

Dolores Hayden

vistas were associated with the cry for westward expansion or
“manifest destiny” accepted by many patriotic Americans as a
political goal during the mid-nineteenth century. John Zukowsky
has described the experience of the ascending observers, “. . .af-

Once you learn to look upon architecture not merely as

forded seemingly endless panoramic views, and visual participa-

an art, more or less well, more or less badly, done, but

tion in those expansionist concepts without facing the dangers,

as a social manifestation, the critical eye becomes clair-

hardships, and expense of physical relocation west.” He adds that

voyant, and obscure and unnoted phenomena become

“the military connotations inherent in those monuments remind-

illuminated.—Louis Sullivan, Kindergarten Chats, 1901

ed all that this westward expansion would be protected, and
policies of Manifest Destiny upheld through force if necessary.”
The symbolic imagery of military monuments was first

The skyline of Manhattan tells the dynamic story of the

transformed into a vision of the American city by Erastus Salis-

growth of American capitalism in the past century; we see a few

bury Field, an itinerant painter from western Massachusetts. His

lively Gothic and Art Deco towers marked with the names of in-

Historical Monument of the American Republic combined in one

dividual tycoons, then many bland International-style office

large canvas ten columns which implied “visual participation in

towers built by industrial corporations, real estate developers,

expansionist concepts,” as well as militarism appropriate to the

and the government; and finally, a limited number of super-

1876 centennial celebration of American independence. He com-

towers, remote and anonymous, like the multi-national corpora-

posed these columns, usually seen as isolated monuments, into a

tions or multi-jurisdictional bureaucracies which inhabit them. A

spectacular urban design with an elevated railway linking the

complex national symbol, the American skyscraper has. been

observatories at their tops. During the following decade, the

associated with military force and corporate expansion during

American city began to evolve dramatically in the direction Field

various phases of American economic and urban growth. In

had whimsically imagined.
In the 1850s, 1860s and early 1870s, the elevator and the cast

popular culture, skyscrapers have also symbolized personal
social mobility and personal sexuality for those who commission,

iron frame boosted the size of commercial buildings, which still

design, or use these buildings. In the -history of world architecture,

tried to conceal their height under gawky mansard roof lines; in

the skyscraper ranks as America's most distinctive technical in-

the 1880s and 1890s, such traditional roof lines were abandoned

novation; in the history of human settlements, the skyscraper-

in favor of competition for height, and steel-framed towers began

dominated city is America’s legacy to the world. For a century

to fill the business districts of New York and Chicago. Some of

most American architectural historians have busily rationalized

these tall buildings included observatories similar to those atop the

the aesthetic, functional, and social distress the skyscraper creates,

traditional monuments, so visitors to skyscrapers could also have

nurturing the prevalent belief that the skyscraper is a glorious

panoramic views. Private offices, conference rooms, and clubs

triumph of engineering, a natural part of urban life, and an

were also located at the tops of the towers, from which executives

inevitable result of urban concentration!

could overlook the cities their enterprises dominated. Just as the
centennial obelisks and columns had been decorated with statues

While the skyscraper is a cultural artifact reflecting the eco-

of heroes, so the new skyscrapers often bore the names of tycoons,

nomic developments of the past century, it is also a building type
designed to affect both economic activity and social relations. As

and, sometimes, their statues looming against the sky, proclaiming

a result, a fuller history of the skyscraper reveals a century of

not the patriotic warriors’ slogan, “manifest destiny,” but the

struggles and protests against the tendency to build ever higher.

corporate imperative, “survival of the fittest.”

The builders’ fantasies alternate with grim reality. Each new
argument in favor of the skyscraper may incorporate some response to previous urban protests against it. Yet there is no
escape from the contradictions of the capitalist city; as an instrument for enhancing land values and corporate eminence, the skyscraper consumes human lives, lays waste to human settlements,
and ultimately overpowers the urban economic activities which
provided its original justification.
Perhaps the metaphor of rape suggested by the strongly
phallic form of the skyscraper can illuminate the process by
which American urban residents and workers have, at times, resigned themselves to this oppressive architectural form. In our
literature, as in our judicial system, rape has often been presented
as seduction. The aggressor “couldn't help himself,” we are told, or
the victim “really wanted it.” The skyscraper is justified by builders with the same rhetoric: developers “can't help themselves,” or
the city “really wants it,” despite the economic and social anguish
it brings. A brief review of skyscraper history illuminates a painful dialectical process with alternating themes of reality and fantasy, rape and seduction.

“Sky-boys” top out Empire State Building, 1930. (Lewis W. Hine.)
108

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e A

SNAS EA

F EEA MLL CENTENNIL TD

_HBTORICAL MONUMENT OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC.

Bunker Hill Monument. Leslie's Historical
Register. June 26, 1875.

Reality : Workers’ Funerals

those years, claiming that foremen could insist on work in haz-

The-social Darwinist motto, “survival of the fittest,” was an

ardous wet weather, or cut off a man’s pay at the moment of an

accurate description of the skyscraper construction process. At

accident. He states that during the Depression “gangs of out-of-

the turn of the century, competition for height and eagerness to

work ironworkers hung about on the streets around job sites, so

and engineers to strain the limits of existing technology with each

place.”* In the 1930s, the best workers in each building trade,

that when a man fell, they would be instantly available to take his
new tower. “Survival of the fittest” in the builders’ world of

alive and walking at the end of a skyscraper job, were awarded

financial speculation thus became the excuse for casual attitudes

“Certificates of Superior Craftsmanship” and gold buttons for

toward safety conditions for construction workers. One British

their skill by a building contractors’ association, but both union

reporter lugubriously observed public reactions to the deaths of

andinsurance company safety campaigns got nowhere because of

workers on the Woolworth Building, constructed between 1911

the developers’ pressure to build quickly?

and 1913: “Anybody in America will tell you without tremor

Today, construction workers’ unions are stronger. No one

(but with pride) that each story of a skyscraper means a life sacri-

has to work in the rain, and a fallen worker (or his widow) at

ficed. Twenty stories—twenty men snuffed out; thirty stories—

least gets paid for a full day's work. Still the grim process of

thirty men. A building of some sixty stories is now going up—

building a skyscraper continues to take its toll of lives, as Cherry

sixty corpses, sixty funerals, sixty domestic hearths to be slowly

described a death on a New York job in 1972: “Somehow, Timmy,

rearranged.”* By 1930, Fortune magazine claimed that this esti-

in hurrying from one side of the bay to the other, managed to put

mate was no longer correct, commenting, “In general, deaths run

his inside foot down an inch to the right of where he should have,

from three to eight on sizable buildings,” but conceded that “a

and the plank, which had a slight warp in it, rocked. . He fell in

bloodless building is still a marvel.” í

silence, and no sound from the impact of his body on the concrete

Ironworkers (who erect structural steel) endure the greatest

plaza reached up to us.” Some of the highly skilled, agile iron-

risks. Often builders and journalists use the language of militaris-

workers willing to endure the risks of this trade are American
Indians, and in their employment the symbolism of manifest
destiny turns in an ironic circle. Descendants of the native Ameri-

“daredevil” ironworker'’s Job, and the Stars and Stripes is always
unfurled whenever a building is topped out suggesting a patriotic

cans who survived the white man’s self-righteous westward ex-

conquest. Yet ironworkers themselves may feel fearful, since

pansion in the nineteenth century, they build the secular monu-

Mike Cherry reports in his autobiography, On High Steel, that

ments of a redefined, corporate, manifest destiny.

one out of fifteen dies within ten years of entering this risky
trade.” Cherry recounts his gut reaction to a look at the New
Second Fantasy : “Procreant Power”

York skyline: “the anxiety that I'd thought I’d conquered came
running back at me all over again...The city had never struck

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth. centuries, while

me as so fall before...I drove past several buildings that were

tycoons battled for top positions on the skyline, and “sky-boys”

nearing completion, twice pulling over to the curb to stare at

fell to their deaths, skyscraper architects began to use the imagery

them, developing a slight case of the shakes.” %

of male sexuality to describe these buildings. The earlier monuments had celebrated military conquests, and now towers did the

Theodore James, author of a reçent history of the: Empire
State Building, constructed between 1929 and 1931, recalls the

same for economic conquests. Just as American authors like

days when ironworkers were called by the condescending, ro-

Theodore Dreiser and Henry James used the imagery of male

mantic nickname, “sky-boys,” (perhaps relating them to military

potency to enhance the moneymaking activities of fictional entre-

air heroes called fly-boys), yet he passes lightly over the fourteen

preneurs like Frank Cowperwood or Caspar Goodwood, so many

fatalities and numerous injuries -that occurred during the building

American architects began to express the economic power of their

process. Cherry has a grimmer view of the trade in New York in

corporate clients through metaphors of sexual power. Thus the
109

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imagery of war and patriotic death was overlaid with an imagery

historian Vincent Scully carried this celebration of skyscrapers,

of fecundity and generative power. However, as skyscraper ar-

money and sex into the 1960s when he praised Rockefeller Center

chitects added the office tower to the procession of phallic monu-

as “...one of the few surviving public spaces in America that

ments in history —including poles, obelisks, spires, columns, and

look as if they were designed and used by people who knew what

watchtowers—very few designers asked what the effects would

stable wealth was and were not ashamed to enjoy it. Flags snap,

be of insisting that ordinary people regularly inhabit such extra-

high heels tap: a little sex and aggression, the city’s delights.” 1

ordinary, tall, erect structures.

The erotic charge of the skyscraper was more explicitly

In 1901 Louis Sullivan praised the design of a commercial
building (which was not a skyscraper) by H. H. Richardson:
.here is a man for you to look at... .a real man, a manly man;

related to phallic erection and penetration in formal discussions
of towers as including base, shaft, and tip, and in graphic visions
of the skyscraper. A rendering of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar

a virile force...an entire male...a monument to trade, to the

Adler's Fraternity Temple scheme of 1891 shows a phallic tower on

organized commercial spirit, to the power and progress of the

a broad base with a pointed tip piercing the sky. Many archi-

age...a male...it sings the song of procreant power...” As

tectural renderers of the 1920s, such as Hugh Ferriss, often utilized

Sullivan himself and other architects built commercial skyscrap-

perspective to convey a sense of upward thrust, enhanced by

ers, this language of male identification was extended. One de-

strong lighting from below. Lighting could suggest ejaculation as

signer saw skyscrapers as “symbols of the American spirit—that

well as erection, as in a view of the Chrysler Building ejaculating

ruthless, tireless, energeticism delightedly proclaiming ‘What a

light into the night. (Its articulated tip anticipates today’s sky-

great boy am I!” ° In 1936 Le Corbusier identified himself with

scrapers with brightly lit revolving restaurants, where diners can

America's vital economic forces, using phrases which recalled

rotate tirelessly in the night skies above American cities.)

Sullivan's “song of procreant power.” He observed “an erect

Architects’ words and graphics encouraged their clients to

Manhattan, the drives of Chicago, and so many clear signs of

phallic, urban displays, but occasionally architects might do

youthful power.” Viewing the skyline of New York, he wrote,

more. A 1931 photograph shows seven men positioned in an ir-

“Feeling comes into play; the action of the heart is released;

regular line, wearing cloth costumes banded with vertical or

crescendo, allegro, fortissimo. We are charged with feeling, we

horizontal stripes. Tall cones or ziggurats cover their heads. Six

are intoxicated, legs strengthened, chest expanded, eager for ac-

levels of sharp-edged points culminate in an eighteen-inch rod

tion, we are filled with a great confidence.” The architectural

atop the leader's mask, making his total stature nine feet. Are

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these tribesmen about to execute some primitive ritual celebrating
male fertility? Below the photograph the caption reads: “Famous

the economically and technologically “optimal” level of specula-

architects forming a miniature skyline of New York as they don

higher, and urban officials have accepted this. The builders have

tion on a given parcel of urban land, have chosen to build ever

their Beaux Arts costumes.” The symbolic predilections of sky-

sacrificed high economic returns in order to enter a citywide,

scraper architects have rarely been shown so clearly: urban pro-

nationwide, or worldwide competition for height and prestige.!”

fessional men require a social occasion to turn themselves into a

In terms of monopoly capitalism, although the tallest building in

Dionysian landscape, a miniature version of the revenue-generating skyline they promote in their daily work.

town may not be quantitatively efficient as office space or housing it is qualitatively efficient in promoting dominance over an
urban region: towers are landmarks which can be seen from

Reality : Urban Bankruptcy

many distant viewpoints. They become symbols of corporate

Whatever the myths about their phallic power, towers have

dominance over the city as well as the city’s dominance over the

proved economically powerful, but in a negative as well as a

region.

positive way. The glorification of the “procreant power” of the

The goal in building these extremely tall skyscrapers is psy-

skyscraper serves to obscure the drain on municipal finances

chological “procreant power” or awe. Awareness of the power

which towers create. Many urban historians have described the

this kind of architecture offers is reflected by the skyline of

American urban downtown as a three-dimensional graph of land

Washington, D.C., where skyscrapers over 90 feet tall are for-

speculation, and locating clusters of towers is a quick way to

bidden by law, so that the Capitol reigns as the highest structure.

guess at land values. Yet although tall buildings reflect the desire

For many years, beginning in 1931, the Empire State Building was

for maximizing private investment in a city based upon private

the tallest in the world; its pretentious name and an overbearing

land ownership, skyscrapers are not always profitable for their

lobby mural showing the building dominating a map of New

developers. For whom is skyscraper revenue generated? And how
is it calculated?

York, “the Empire State,” enhanced its awesomeness. The World
Trade Center rose higher in 1969. Its even more imperial name

A need for immediate usable space is never enough reason

reflected an obvious attempt to supercede the Empire State Build-

for building a skyscraper. The construction cost of several low-

ing. Yet in both cases symbolic posturing concealed unrented

rise buildings is almost always less than the cost of equivalent

space, as these hulking developments were planned to exceed all

space in a skyscraper since expensive foundations and unusable

calculations of needed office space in the city. Knowing that the

space for elevators and mechanical equipment increase as the

World Trade Center was not fully rented, the owners of the Em-

tower goes higher. Land cost, rather than building cost, is the

pire State threatened to build just enough extra structure to over-

justification: a very expensive piece of downtown land may be

top them in the 1970s, and triumph again. They didn’t pursue this

said to “require” a skyscraper to explain its price.!® But the height

competition however, and as a result the 1976 version of the film

of such a skyscraper will not be calculated on the city’s needs, nor

King Kong transferred the symbolic confrontation of the “na-

even on the current value of the land and the existing density of

tural” ape and the “civilized” capitalists from the Empire State,

the area. Rather, a developer calculates the rising land values cre-

where it was set in 1933, to the World Trade Center, now the
tallest structure in New York.

ated by present and future skyscrapers, and makes a guess about
how much more land speculation the neighborhood will bear.
Developers who try to profit from the inflation of urban land

Third Fantasy: “I'm Taking the Town!”

values in this way almost always leverage their capital with large

While municipal governments struggle with the high costs of

bank loans. Banks of course receive large amounts of interest.

the skyscraper, and builders seek both financial and psychological

Developers therefore attempt to minimize their indebtedness by

“procreant power,” popular novels and films employ skyscraper

hastening the construction process (with the hazardous conse-

imagery to create fantasies about sexual power and upward mo-

quences for workers previously described) and by taking advan-

bility for “ordinary” people in capitalist society. In the 1970s,

tage of the federal tax structure and selling tax “shelters” (derived

women may be cast as executives or stockbrokers in these fables

from real estate tax loopholes) to profit-making industrial cor-

of success. A fashion advertisement compresses many strains of

porations.
lity. Two models wearing suits with military tailoring pose hold-

While banks and large tax-sheltered, industrial corporations
can always profit from the “procreant power” of the skyscraper,

ing statuettes of the Empire State Building. “Thinking positive...

real estate developers hope for rising land values to justify their

The way to make things happen in the city where everything's

investments. Meanwhile, taxpayers bear the huge public costs of

possible,” reads the copy. “In soft, smokey officer's pink, I'm in

infrastructure and services for skyscraper developments. As Ste-

my element, making strides and taking them. .…..My head's in the

phen Zoll argues in “Superville,” “an increasing CBD (central

clouds and the view’s terrific. Officer's pink in sleek new shapes,

business district) bulk becomes, itself, the principal sink in the

that are budding with potential. I'm perfectly suited to the pace of

municipal treasury.”! His persuasive historical analysis of high-

The City...” The dialogue concludes, “I'm taking the town...”
In the movies of the 1920s and 1930s, it was more common

rise economics in New York explains why skyscraper construction
is disastrous for the city’s budget: municipal tax revenues never

to see women encountering skyscrapers as stage-struck young

catch up with the spiraling costs of infrastructure which the city

things coming to the big city to seek stardom. Sustaining indi-

must provide. Attempts to control urban density through zoning

vidual competitiveness in times of collective difficulty, the most

or to raise taxes are usually met with corporate threats to leave

successful films of the Depression years, as Martin Pawley has

the city altogether, which would cause unemployment. Caught

observed, “dealt with the random access to power and influence

between financial drain and the skyscraper and the threat of un-

in high society of ‘ordinary’ people.” !s Often such hopeful movie

employment, the city loses either way.

romances occurred in skyscraper offices, skyscraper penthouses,
and skyscraper night clubs.

The tactics of land speculation and of transferring infra-

In a production number from the 1933 film musical 42nd

structure costs to the city budget explain some of the reasoning
behind the craze for skyscraper height, but there is still more to

Street, miniature skyscraper tips, glowing with colored lights,

explore. Since the turn of the century many developers, aware of

saluted Ruby Keeler as a sweet kid who managed to become a

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star, and the manipulation of skyscraper scale made her seem

Ever more gigantic skyscrapers, when placed in urban plazas,

larger than life. A film critic recently commented on the effects of

could create dangerous wind forces (up to 175 m.p.h.) that hurled

this process: “”..….lifein New York is made more than bearable by

pedestrians off their feet. The towers themselves had to be de-

the fine romance this city has always had with the movies. We

signed to resist wind forces, but unforeseen difficulties could

have been exalted by a Hollywood version of ourselves that is

occur, as in the John Hancock Tower in Boston, where winds

often no closer to reality than this scene. This is Big Flick City—

wrenched gigantic sections of mirror glass from the curtain wall,

and welcome to it.” Another Ruby Keeler film, Go Into Your

hurling them to the sidewalks below, terrorizing citizens with re-

Dance (1936), elaborates the cinematic process by which New

sounding smashes. Amazingly, there were no pedestrian fatalities.

York's hostile environment is “made more than bearable” by the

Urban residents also complained of enormous skyscraper

association of the skyscraper with themes of personal success

shadows darkening whole neighborhoods and changing the eco-

and imperialist corporate expansion. In a night club at the top of

logy of local parks. Motorists and pedestrians found shadows

a New York tower, Al Jolson in blackface sings, “She's a Latin
from Manhattan,” about the fantasy of one “ordinary” person
making it in the big city. Then Ruby Keeler and other performers
in evening dress engage in a dance routine of world domination,
climbing up and down a globe, tap dancing on various countries
of the Northern Hemisphere to the tune of the title song with its
catchy Depression lyrics, “When you feel sad and blue now, go
into your dance!”
While these examples show women succeeding, most American skyscraper fantasies have dealt with male success and mobility, suggesting that an industrious young fellow may develop a
personal empire of banks, shipping lines and factories, and build
a skyscraper from which to look down on them. Architect Howard
Roark, hero of Ayn Rand's novel, The Fountainhead, and of the
1949 film based on it, endows this plot with an artistic rather than
an entrepreneurial tone. Roark, played by Gary Cooper, stands
for the “survival of the fittest.” A poor boy who made good, he
fights the “creeping socialism” of his time by designing buildings
for tycoons so he can develop his creative genius. At the film’s end,
“Famous architects forming a miniature skyline of New York as they don
their Beaux Arts costumes.” 1931. From Architecture Plus (Sept.-Oct.,

Roark stands, remote and supreme, atop a new skyscraper he designed. He is joined there by Dominique Francon, an architectural

1974), p. 120.

critic who has been moved to ecstasy by an elevator ride up the
side of this building. Roark “takes” both the town and the world
of cultured society Francon represents; in fact, early in the story,

were only half the problem with mirror glass buildings which, on

he rapes her and she is rapturous.

their sunny sides, reflected blinding flashes of light into cars and

Skyscraper restaurants and hotels trade on the renewal of

homes. Community groups in San Francisco documented such
difficulties when they fought construction of the Transamerica

this sort of cinematic fantasy. For the price of a drink or a meal,
you can share the reflected power of a skyscraper location. One

Building and other high-rises.” In Boston, community groups

nationwide chain of penthouse restaurants advertises, “Make a

have slowed but not halted construction of the Park Plaza pro-

top decision,” implying executive success for those who dine at

ject, whose shadows will darken the Public Garden.

at the top of a tower. Woody Guthrie made fun of such aspira-

Workers inside the towers have added their complaints to

tions when he sang about the Rockefeller Center bar and grill,

those articulated by urban residents. Endlessly repeated sky-

“This Rainbow Room is up so high/ That John D.'s spirit comes

scraper floor plans reflect hierarchical design which allots interior
fluorescent-lit spaces to predominantly female clerical workers,

a-driftin’ by...” but this did nothing to affect its popularity.
Although the tip of a skyscraper is an especially charged location,

and exterior offices with natural light and views to predominantly

the rest of the skyscraper also has powerful symbolic associations:

male executives. New trends in “office landscaping” using low

one foreign resort hotel advertises its advantages to New Yorkers

partitions and plants may mute the most obvious effects of such

with a photograph of a phallic building superimposed on the

plans, but light and space are always assigned according to status.

bikini-bared torsos of three models.” Whether they want to be

In the John Hancock Tower, formal rules allow a senior vice

chief executives or simply sophisticated playboys, clients of sky-

president 406 square feet of space compared to a clerical worker's

scraper restaurants or hotels are encouraged in their fantasies of

55. If clerical workers constitute the majority of the towers’

power and control.

populations during the day, cleaners work predominantly at
night—squads of men and women, poor white, black and foreignborn workers. The best paid have extremely perilous daytime

Reality : Urban Oppression

jobs washing windows or polishing facades, hanging on scaffolds

In the romantic world of popular films and advertisements,

as high above the streets as the ironworkers. The night shift

life in the skyscrapers is a whirl of money, power and sex. But as

works for lower wages, and the thrill of seeing the city lit up at

more and more people of all economic classes live and work in

night is, after all, the frisson of watching thousands of these
cleaners at work.

skyscrapers, the oppressiveness of these environments cannot be
denied. In the 1960s and 1970s, community groups and workers’

One of the most serious hazards to all workers in high-rise

organizations began to detail the social and physical problems of

buildings, by day or by night, is fire. The skyscraper is constructed

skyscraper life. Injuries to workers building skyscrapers continued,

to resist fire, but if faulty wiring or a smoldering cigarette causes

accompanied by the problems created by the completed skyscrapers themselves.

a blaze, then escape from a burning tower can be extremely difficult. Stairwells may fill with smoke, elevator shafts can act like
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chimneys, and traditional firefighting ladders cannot reach the

ers. As a result, they multiplied the economic problems of the

upper floors. The Towering Inferno, a film about skyscraper

metropolis and the social problems of skyscraper workers and

conflagration, was playing in New York on the evening of Val-

urban residents, but the next generation of fantasizers never let

entine's Day, 1975, when a moderately serious fire broke out

up. Although the city was being turned into a field of towers, the

in one of the two World Trade Center buildings there. Because

supertower could still stand above it. Frank Lloyd Wright pro-

the fire took place at night, most of the thirty injured were fire

duced a plan for a mile-high skyscraper in 1956. Urban mega-

fighters and cleaners. Building officials managed to calm the

structures proliferated on drafting boards in the 1960s, and in the

thousands of daytime workers, who were unnerved to learn that

1970s, Paolo Soleri continues to lead the utopian skyscraper ar-

New York fire codes had not been followed in the construction of

chitects with endless plans for “Arcologies” with towers hung

the complex. But as skyscraper fires occur every few months

upon towers. (He uses the Empire State Building as a scale symbol

around the country, one expects protests to increase.

to dramatize the size of structures many times its height.) The

Since the skyscraper has been established in popular culture

World Trade Center in New York, the Transamerica Building in

as a place for “taking the town,” personnel in skyscraper offices

San Francisco, and the Sears Tower in Chicago have all set new

are exposed increasingly to scenes of conflict at skyscraper tips,

records for skyscraper height in these cities, but the quest for

which are harrowing to the police, firemen, or passing workers

architectural dominance does not rest with the supertower which

who are involved. Bomb threats are not infrequent in corporate

is the tallest building in town.

towers, and sometimes there are explosions and kidnappings as

The 1970s have brought a new kind of skyscraper which

well. A Los Angeles Times story for December 7, 1976, headlined

simply swallows up the city. Instead of a tower being presented as

“Gunman Holds Hostage Atop Skyscraper: Youth Gives Up

the typical building in the center city, it becomes a substitute for

After Antismoking Message Is Read On Radio,” tells the sad

the city. More and more resources and activities are concentrated

story of a youth trying to attract attention in his crusade against

inside, while problems—wind, shadows, glare, utilities, trans-

lung cancer by “taking the town” with a weapon and a hostage.

portation—are left outside for the municipality to deal with as
best it can. In New York, Rockefeller Center anticipated this
trend with offices, shops, restaurants, pedestrian spaces, and a

Fourth Fantasy : “Within the City, Without the City’s Problems”

skating rink. The World Trade Center is a city of 50,000 within a

In the movies the skyscraper was first presented as a place

city of 8,000,000. With its own police force, newspaper, and

for dramatic encounters, celebrations, and awe, but as it became

restaurants, the complex is in many ways a private urban realm

the standard building in the center city, the alienation of workers

of government agencies and corporations set down in the public

and residents increased. Pre-war fantasies of beautiful, shining

city of New York. This is a workaday complex, even more

tower cities—such as Hugh Ferriss’ romantic renderings and Le

deserted at night than Rockefeller Center. Chicago's John Han-

Corbusier's plans for a Radiant City—led to extensive urban

cock tower, in contrast, functions as a 24-hour skyscraper city,

renewal programs in the 1950s and 1960s, when office towers and

providing housing as well as stores, restaurants and offices. Some
residents may rarely emerge; others call the doorman to check
the weather (which they live above) before they venture down
from the clouds into the real Chicago below.
The ultimate skyscraper development goes even further than

d

these giant towers, incorporating urban landscape as well as residential, commercial, and recreational facilities into its interior

©

design. John Portman’s hotels in Atlanta, Cambridge, and San
Francisco are hollow towers or pyramids advertised as being as
exciting as (and implicitly safer than) the city outside. Interior
courtyards and glass elevators allow for the'traditional skyscraper
observation to`ʻoccur within rather than outside of the tower. The
visitor experiences the thrill of riding to the top of the tower, but
the views are carefully controlled vistas of the circumscribed,
artificial, urban life within the hotel. Going them one better, two
new Atlañta complexes include a lake and an ice skating rink as
private skyscraper landscapes on their ground floors. Other buildings reveal the same privatization of landscape. The Ford Foundation Building in New York. surrounds an interior garden. The
penthouse farm of Stewart Mott, with its “natural” earth loaded

“I’m taking the town,” advertisement by Saks Fifth Avenue, New York

onto a New York tower, shows that “nature” can be put on top of

Times (Feb. 8, 1976), p. 29.

a skyscraper rather than left in a public place.
upper-class housing were joined by the grim, stripped-down tower

As the American city is economically drained and environ-

in a field of asphalt as the preferred solution for public housing, a

mentally destroyed by the skyscraper, developers of tower apart-

vertical filing cabinet for the urban poor. While such programs

ments, hotels, and: office blocks sell back a limited, guarded

added towers to the already densely built-up cities of New York

version of urban life to those who can afford it. (This is, after all,

and Chicago, other American cities like Boston and San Francisco

what Disney and the'developers of “adventure parks” have done,

were “Manhattanized,” developing predominantly skyscraper

selling synthetic American'rural and small town landscapes.) The

skylines for the first time. During these years the expanded acti-

new, private tower cities exclude the poor, minorities, the aged,

vities of many American corporations and American architects

and the unemployed. Fortified by private police forces and by the

abroad led to the exportation of the skyscraper, promoting cor-

best technology industrial security firms'can supply, these private

porate visibility and land speculation from Paris to Nairobi.

towers recall the militarism associated with the centennial obe-

The builders of this era succeeded in realizing the goal of an

lisks and military watchtowers. They pose an extreme answer to

earlier generation of architects—a city composed largely of tow-

urban oppression, selling the urban experience without an urban
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reality. They want customers to “take the town,” and since the

his expensive high-rise apartment block as being “within the city

real town is too far gone, they offer a substitute.

but without the city’s problems.” Skidmore Owings and Mer-

While urban escapism flourishes and builders construct sky-

rill offers the perfect architectural expression of this slogan in two

scrapers of the present decade, satirists and science fiction writers

of their newest commercial blocks on 57th and 42nd Streets in

have provided strong critical images of a world of urban towers

Manhattan. On each building, a concave facade covered in mir-

being erected amid urban rubble. “Superstudio,” a collective of

ror glass manipulates the view so it appears from below that all

Italian architects, mocks the trend in their “Twelve Cautionary

the rest of the city is toppling, giving a doomsday twist to the

Tales,” with a design for a skyscraper factory stretching around

perennial competition for skyscraper size as well as reinforcing

the earth, churning out new towers as fast as the old ones crum-

the idea that the only city worth experiencing is inside, not outside, the skyscraper.

ble. On the same theme, J.G. Ballards story, “Build-Up,”
describes a world where high-rises cover the earth, except for
blacked-out spaces where they have collapsed, and subways and
high-speed trains are replaced by vertical and horizontal ele-

Making Changes—Fantasy and Reality

vators.2” For every such satirist, there are many more individu-

Criticizing the design of skyscrapers will not make them dis-

als planning new supertowers, perhaps justifying their projects

appear, whether the criticism comes from a revisionist historian,

with the rhetoric of a New York housing developer who advertises

an outraged citizen, or a pragmatic urban budget analyst. Pat-

N

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terns of corporate growth and patriarchy have determined the

Eiffel Tower, a tall and complex engineering project, was built in Paris
in 1889 without a single fatality; the effort and resources expended on

history of the skyscraper. The economics of urban land develop-

safety equipment matched the desire for spectacular height.

ment today make it impossible to effect major changes in present

8. Cherry, pp. 26-27.

building trends without a political revolution to socialize all

9. Fortune, p.29.

urban land. In the meantime, at least some attempts in changing

10. Cherry, p. 232.

11. Louis Sullivan, Kindergarden Chats, pp. 29-30. He refers to the Marshall Field Wholesale Warehouse, Chicago.

consciousness can begin. To understand the skyscraper and its
place in the American city, we need the perceptions of all sky-

Claude Bragdon, ‘“Skyscrapers,” in The Architecture Lectures,

12.

scraper workers and urban residents, women and men, as well as

(Chicago: Creative Age Press, 1942), p. 103.

the specialized insights of architects, artists, and social critics.

Le Corbusier, “I Am an American,” in When All the Cathedrals Were

13.

White (1936) (New York: McGraw Hill, 1964), pp. 90, 149.

As a nation, we have exported the skyscraper around the

Vincent Scully, American Architecture and Urbanism (New York:

14.

world. Like pre-Copernicans who dismissed anyone who disputed

Praeger, 1969), p. 154.

the place of the earth as center of the solar system, today’s

One example of the older literature describing economic “rationality”

15.

American design professionals often exclude from serious archi-

is William C. Clark and J. L. Kingston, The Skyscraper, A Study in the

Economic Height of Modern Office Buildings (New York: American
Institute of Steel Construction, 1930). Clark and Kingston rationalize a

tectural and urban discourse anyone who refuses to accept the
importance of the skyscraper to “rational” urban design. Roman-

profitable 75 stories. During this period 75 stories was often exceeded
and the Empire State Building was under construction including

tic notions of military preparedness and “manifest destiny,”
dreams of economic conquest and “survival of the fittest,” fan-

102 stories.

tasies of social mobility and sexual power, all have been mar-

Stephen Zoll, “Superville: New York, Aspects of Very High Bulk,”
Massachusetts Review (Summer 1973), p. 538. Zoll provides an elo-

16.

shaled in support of the skyscraper during the past century. All

quent discussion of political and economic factors in skyscraper construction with an extended bibliography. A former New York City

still flourish as skyscraper fantasies today. Designed first as urban monuments, then as typical urban buildings, then as syn-

employee, he sees the need for cities to reform their accounting systems

thetic cities, American skyscrapers attest to the power of fantasy

and show the social costs of CBD density.

to confuse our perceptions of urban reality. If we look up, we can

Many cities are engaged in such symbolic battles. Perhaps the most
extreme ironies are the deliberately misleading understatements issued

17.

read in the skyscrapers’ looming shapes a reminder that our cul-

by builders during construction, in order to fool competitors into think-

ture depends on false hopes of economic mobility as well as on

ing that the new structure is less tall than it really will be. Suzanne
Zwarun, in “The Calgary Tower,” Interlude (Oct.-Nov. 1976), p. 9,

rigid hierarchy, and that it thrives on social seduction as well as
on architectural rape.

writes about Calgary’s Husky Tower. The developers lied, she explains,
boasting of 613 feet when all the time the structure was 626 feet. “The
developers kept thirteen extra feet in reserve to protect the image of the

Canadian west...…..They knew some dirty rat would toss a few more
feet on a project somewhere, just so it would out-tower the Husky
Tower..….Take that, San Antonio.”

1. For an aesthetic justification, see Louis Sullivan, “The Tall Office
Building Artistically Considered,” in Kindergarden Chats and Other
Writings (New York: Wittenborn, 1947). For an aesthetic analysis

Martin Pawley, The Private Future (London: Pan Books, 1974), p. 30.
“New York’s Love Affair with the Movies,” New York (Dec. 29, 1975),

18.

19.

focusing on analogies with classical columns, see Winston Weisman,
“A New View of Skyscraper History,” in Edgar Kauffman, ed., The

p. 33.

“Make a Top Decision,” Stouffer advertisement, Mainliner (United

20.

Airlines’ Magazine, Nov. 1976), p. 100.

Rise of an American Architecture (New York: Praeger, 1970). Diana
Agrest, in “Le Ciel est la limite,” adds to this with a discussion about

Woody Guthrie, Bound for Glory (New York: New American Library,

21.

towers reaching into outer space, L'Architecture d'aujourd'hui (sky-

1970), p. 292.

scraper issue) (March-April 1975), pp. 55-64. Cass Gilbert, in his introduction to Skyscrapers of New York by Vernon Howe Bailey (New

“Smack-Dab in the Middle,” advertisement for Rio Orthon Palace,

22.

New York (Dec. 13, 1976), p. 139.

York: Rudge, 1928), goes on about “Mt. Woolworth” and the “Singer-

23.

horn,” viewing skyscrapers as mountains and cliffs created in the city.

Many other architects take up this last image, Hugh Ferriss and Raymond Hood being notable examples. Manfredo Tafuri has criticized it
in the L Architecture d'aujourd'hui issue.

24.

A brief article which provides welcome relief from the usual

25.

romanticization is by Elizabeth Lindquist Cock and Estelle Jussim,
“Machismo in American Architecture,” Feminist Art Journal (Spring

Greggar Sletteland and Bruce Brugmann, eds., The Ultimate Highrise: San Francisco's Rush toward the Sky (San Francisco: San Francisco Bay Guardian, 1971).
Susan Quinn, “My Desk Is Bigger Than Your Desk: Playing the New
Office Status Game,” Boston (March 1977), p. 78.
“Trade Center Fire Stirs Row,” New York Daily News (February 15,
1975),p. 1.

26.

1974), pp. 8-10, but the authors conclude, “...at what cost these ex-

Superstudio, “Twelve Cautionary Tales for Christmas: Premonitions
of the Mystical Rebirth of Urbanism,” Architectural Design (Dec. 1971),

pressions of machistic corporate power?... Perhaps it is time to in-

pp. 737-742.

sist that women be given the chance to design our buildings.” This sug-

27.

gestion bypasses the economic demand for skyscrapers rather naively,
assuming that female architects employed by large corporations would

J. G. Ballard, “Build-up,” in Cronopolis (New York: 1971), pp.
218-240.

28.

actually be in a position to create real alternatives. Gertrude Kerbis,

The Century, “Look Up, New York!” advertisement, New York (Nov.
22, 1976), p. 45.

Chicago architect, makes a more realistic assessment of the small
changes possible when she states that men have designed high-rises as

I presented a preliminary version of this paper at the Woman’s Building

sexual symbols and that if she got a chance to design a skyscraper, it

in Los Angeles in March 1974 at a conference on Women and Design. I
would like to thank Whitney Chadwick, Robert Manoff, David Hodgdon,
Peter Marris, Jean Strouse and Susana Torre, who made extensive com-

would have some air spaces for wind to pass through. On Kerbis, see
Donna Joy Newman, “High-rise-ing Women, Making a Mark on the
Skyline,” Chicago Tribune (August 8, 1976), Sec. 5, p. 7.

ments on early drafts, as well as Sheila de Bretteville, David Gordon,

2. John Zukowsky, “Monumental American Obelisks— Centennial

Rosaria Hodgdon, Jane McGroarty, and Gwen Wright, all of whom sup-

Vistas,” unpublished paper (1975).
3. Arnold Bennett, ‘Your United States,” quoted in Harlan Paul Doug-

plied encouragement, material or important perspectives. Klaus Roesch
did expert photographic research; Ets Otomo and Thea Muscat typed with

las, The Suburban Trend (New York: Century Co., 1925), p. 305.
4. “Skyscrapers: Builders and Their Tools,” in The Skyscraper, reprinted

precision and speed; members of the Heresies staff helped enormously with

from Fortune magazine (New York: American Institute of Steel Con-

the final version. Copyright 1977. Please do not quote without written permission of the author.

struction, 1930), p. 29.

5. Mike Cherry, On High Steel: The Education of an Ironworker (New
York: Ballantine Books, 1975), p. 27.

Dolores Hayden is a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute and assistant professor

of architecture and history at MIT in Cambridge. This essay is part of a

Ibid., p. 169.
N9

Theodore James, Jr., The Empire State Building (New York: Harper

book in progress that deals with contemporary American cityscapes,

and Row, 1975), p. 68. In contrast to many American projects, the

entitled The Dream at the End of the Linè.

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NOEL PHYLLIS BIRKBY
This project is about the process of women giving birth to a new
architecture. It emerged in 1973 as part of my search for a feminist consciousness and process of woman-identification. I had
come to realize my own male-identification and conditioning —

LESLIE KANES WEISMAN
In 1968 I began teaching architecture, including design “methodology,” the process by which subjective experience and intuition
are systematically objectified and rationalized. I was unaware of
how one-dimensional this approach is and how it isolates mind

especially as an architect (registered, licensed, numbered, legiti-

from body, feeling from action, and divides people into male/

matized by the patriarchy). What would a truly supportive

female, white/non-white, rich/ poor, old/ young. While objective

environment be if women had their way? Would women design

description is important, it is incomplete. As I became involved in

the world differently than men? I purposely began workshops
with women not professionally involved with architecture to
avoid the machismo conditioning the professional is subjected to.
To some extent all women are conditioned by the dominant culture, but they usually do not see themselves as creators of the
built environment. However, all women experience it, react to it,
live and work in it, and are affected by it, consciously or not. I

the women's movement, I recognized the importance of listening
to myself, of trusting my own experience. By 1974 I had taught
was still the only woman faculty member in the University of
Detroit School of Architecture. Despite my strong connection to
other feminists, I felt painfully fragmented and isolated. I urgently needed to explore many conflicts between my woman-identity,

wanted to help lay a foundation for a new architecture based on

my teaching and the man-made environment, to discover and

the experience, consciousness and creative imagination of women
in the process of self-definition. — NPB

embrace the environmental sensibilities of other women. — LKW

and education.

experiences and common aspirations.

relaxing, dancing, working, screaming, lovemaking, eating.

scales of experience and relations.

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QCHARLEENS PLACE

tgh

emerqency kath

N

ENVIRONM

=y

WR Aor rm

A SOFT O

F

Satun Tal

AC OINERSING Ok
tev

gym E
(S=

` PROTOTIPE WOB ROM(asS

C Benti

DISTING. FROH B y woRY®

The physical world constitutes a necessary component in this pro-

Architecture is rarely created in isolation. It must be evaluated

gram for change as women continue to sort out what they want

and criticized within the semiological framework of history and

and need for a new society. We know that through our condition-

culture. A closer look at the man-made environment from a femi-

ing we can adapt to all kinds of spaces, but we also know that

nist perspective reveals the iconography of the patriarchal cul-

space can dominate, inhibit, reinforce role patterns. It can remind

ture in spatial metaphors. One of the most obvious is the ex-

us we are small or large, with or without will. Space itself can be

treme bifurcation between public and domestic environments.

receptive and intrusive, expansive and restrictive. In short, it can

The public world of events, “man’s world,” is associated with

be a form of either social control or support. A supportive

objectivity, individuality and rational functionalism. The pri-

environment may be many things to different people. Its physical

vate domain, the single-family detached house, “women’s world,”

element is but one aspect of what women conceive of as a context

is associated with subjectivity, cooperation and nurturance.

in which self-actualization can be achieved. A truly supportive

One of the most important responsibilities of architectural fem-

environment would consist of cooperative, non-competitive,

inism is to heal this artificial spatial schism. We need to find a

dynamic, in/out interactions with each other, a lack of power

new morphology, a new architectural language in which the

over relationships and an economic system and atmosphere that

words, grammar and syntax synthesize work and play, intellect

encourage the development of feminist institutions housed in

and feeling, action and compassion. This is not a particularly new

appropriate forms and spaces of our own making. Since this

insight, but I reiterate it here because so many women expressed

project began, there has been increasingly visible evidence of a

the same vision in their environmental fantasy drawings. A femi-

new women’s culture. We are reclaiming language, poetry,

nist architecture will emerge only from a social and ecological

music, art, ritual, religion. Architecture, curiously referred to by

evolution embodying feminist sensibilities and ideology. Archi-

our culture as the “mother of the arts,” can be reclaimed too. We

tectural form making is a political act. We will not create a new

can learn much from our past, but there is an urgent need to listen

and integrated environment until our society values those aspects

to our own experience as women if we are to create the morphology of the future. — NPB

of human experience that have been devalued through the
oppression of women. And no one will ever convince me that we
have a “revolution” until I see feminism institutionalized in the
nature and quality of the environments we build. — LKW

Noel Phyllis Birkby is a registered architect in New York and teaches archi-

the Women’s School of Planning and Architecture. They have written for
many feminist and professional journals and hope to share their collection

tectural design at Pratt Institute. Leslie Kanes Weisman is a professor of
Architecture and Environmental Design at New Jersey Institute of Tech-

of drawings in book form.

nology. Both are long-time feminist activists and among the co-founders of

117

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THE That thing he wrote, the time the sparrow died—
(Oh, most unpleasant—gloomy, tedious words!)

“6 ‘I AM HE ATHCLIFFF, I called it sweet, and made
believe
cried;
The stupid
fool! I've
always hated birds.

SAYS CATHERIN F’ lie en Lesbia)

SYNDROME I had intended to bring together material here from the past
and present and systematically summarize and explain the concepts and theories that characterize women’s humor. Presumably
this would be be fairly simple; a good deal of data and some
relatively predictable themes would emerge, with which one

IDA APPLEB ROOG could then wrestle. Yet although the past few years have witness-

ed a resurgence of interest in humor, I found material on women’s
humor sparse—to say the least. There was one article in Ms.
Magazine in 1973! and, more recently, one unmentionable publication of sophomoric inanity; in over 5,000 entries in the New
York Public Library's card catalogue under the heading “Wit and
Humor,” only four deal with women.? An annotated biblio-

7 Aft F
Go into the kitchen b

O “ with defiant joyful anger... N

s“ Put on your apron and... N
You are in this kitchen N v

because you do not have a penis. ty

Keep
this the
in garlic
mindO1 7: e j * SUPPRESSIVE ENVIRONMEN
as
you crush
with the heel of your shoe.... ~ á a sa

The Best Woman In The World. : SEE

AMERICAN g BE idi

39

You will be 0%. A J i) 1 69 1”

! AS APPLE PIE. JUST LIKE MUM'S.

IIe

Remember: The oven is your womb!

0 Let's do it right!

— _. EA

s SZ. ae
Y, SA
N
EEH

i TNR
Pa VRS ON.
Eel |39
ERA SUE t a i b i

22 ” FACADES ' VENEER

Carolee Schneemann. Excerpts from performance Americana I Ching Apple

EFFORTS 89

Pie. 1972.

SKILLFULLY

MANEUVER

59:

M sirius)
DIRECTING

A LSLS

y t
FEARS.

MOTIVATED 1%
VEXATIONS 1

i w 89 ` IMPROVEMENTS 76°
L YoUTH ENCOURAGE 89° DISCRIMINATING 1 THOUGHT 99°

COULDN'T A U si S

INFLUENCE

É CIVILIZATION

st:
j

LUDICROUSLY

A

DULLING 79
DAZZLING 99
POETRY.

RS a u

A.B 2C 3D 4E s. F eG 7 H a1 9 J oK nl. 12. M aN 34.0 18.P 1e. Q 17.R 188 1 T 20.U 21V 22 W23.X 24 Y 25.7 26

Carol Conde. 1977. Pen and ink. 3⁄2” x 51⁄2”, Karen Shaw. Additional Meanings: Forgiveness = 139. 1975. 11” x 734”.
118

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graphy of “all published papers on humor available in the English

scapegoat itself is vital. Generally, as O. E. Klapp points out, the

language in the research literature” (1900-1971)° contains approx-

scapegoat has a specific socially defined role and position. To the

imately 400 items, of which not one relates to women’s humor.

dominant group, “the fool represents values which are rejected by

Humor itself is difficult to define. In this article, I will con-

the group, causes that are lost, incompetence, failure, and fi-

sider it generically as any form of communication which is per-

asco.”^ The fool's position is degraded, but simultaneously val-

ceived as humorous by any of the interacting parties. “Women’s

ued—s/he serves as the scapegoat, the butt of humor, the cathar-

humor” is used to connote humor created by women and dealing

tic symbol of aggression. But even beyond that, Klapp suggests

in some way with woman's role in the human condition. Of the

that there is an underlying, continuous, collective process that

various theories, the psycho-sociological approach, stressing the

ascribes this fool's role to a group of people as a means of

notion of humor as social interchange, may be most fruitful for

enforcing conformity, maintaining the status quo, pressuring for

our purposes. Humor is potentially part of every social structure

status adjustments, or simply eliminating an undesired form of

and affects all social systems. When the subject is relationships

deviance. In fact, this has been one of the components of every

between women and men, men are traditionally permitted to

form of racism. Blacks, Chicanos, Jews, or any other minority

tease or make fun of women, who in turn are required to take no

group as the butt of humor is too well known to require descrip-

offense; in fact, we are frequently expected to join in the “fun,”

tion here.

even though it is at our own expense. This context is similar to

What is the usual reaction of the scapegoat group? How does

that of racist humor—gratifying one group at the expense of the

it use humor—as a defense, or even as a weapon in its struggle to

underdog; its purpose is to throw blame on some group and to

survive? Historian Joseph Boskin, writing about the social func-

reinforce its inferior position. In this process the role of the

tions of black humor (black ethnic humor, not “gallows humor”),

p p
Eve Sonneman. Opening Night. Houston. 1972.

119

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suggests that there are two varieties.” External humor is present-

ioral patterns? And where are the “in-jokes,” where we poke a

ed to the dominant culture as an accommodation to white soci-

bit of good-natured fun at ourselves, and which simultaneously

ety, a means of survival. Totally different, however, is internal

serve to solidify the group—the type of humor with which Dick

humor, which reinforces the ingroup’s behaviors or values, and

Gregory, for example, helped to create a new image for blacks, a

in which one of its members usually triumphs over representa-

consciousness of their past and their identity? Most important,

tives of the dominant group. Some jokes may also poke fun at the

where is the humor directed at the common oppressor? Where are

ingroup itself, but that’s all right; it’s ’within the family.” This

the anecdotes in which we come out ahead; the jokes in which the

same analysis holds in regard to any other ingroup/outgroup or

men fall on their asses while we stand there and laugh? The

dominant/scapegoat relationship—except in the case of women.

answer is that for the most part, there weren't any. Yes, there

A fascinating phenomenon takes place in women’s humor,

were stories told by Dorothy Parker, Ruth Draper, and maybe

different from what is found in black, Jewish, or any other

one or two others, but generally there has been no women’s

scapegoat humor; namely, the absence of internal humor. Obvi-

ingroup humor until very recently.

ously, much humor has been directed at women by men, but I

Why not? Women have been identifiable as a group in every

have no intention of going into those jokes. There has also been a

culture since time began. Yet the jokes or stories that women tell

good deal of women’s external humor—the face we have present-

each other when they are together are the same jokes that men

ed to the male-dominated society as a means of survival: yes, we

tell, sometimes slightly cleaned up. In other words, for the most

are silly, mindless playthings; aren't we fun(ny)? But where is our

part we have accepted the outgroup’s humor. We have even

internal humor? Where are the jokes, the anecdotes, the cartoons

emulated it and its values, making the same kind of disparaging

that would positively reinforce our existing or changing behav-

remarks about ourselves that men do.

a

POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS (A DIALOGUE)
“Ever since I saw photographs of those poor women in
sweat shops, I refuse to buy anything readymade.”

“What a wonderful thing to do. It’s like a one-woman
boycott—like the grape boycott. You know, I still can't
bear to eat grapes?”
“There was one on lettuce, too.”
“I didn't hear about that one. And I just ordered salad! I
feel so badly.”

“It’s all right, dear. It's over now and the workers are
happy again. Yours was endive, anyway.”
“But I do think you're right about mass-produced clothing.
If women didn't buy those cheap copies of designer dresses,
it would protect the designers’ incomes, too.”

Eleanor Antin, Recollections of My Life
with Diaghilev. 1973. Red ink on paper. 9”
x 12”. “In London during that season I met

Nancy Kitchel. 1976.

again the beloved teacher of my early days.”

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This has been the pattern for a long time. In the eighteenth

woman, and he's right!” Yes, folks, those were the jokes. That

century, one of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s bon mots was, “It

was women's humor. And things haven't changed too much. As

goes far towards reconciling me to being a woman, when I reflect

recently as March 11, 1977, in reviewing an all-female amateur

that I am thus in no danger of marrying one.” Hannah Cowley

comedy revue at Once Upon a Stove, Anna Quindlan noted:

extended this further when she said, “What is a woman? Only
one of nature's agreeable blunders.” But even in more recent

Certainly making jokes about the female condition is a

years, we find Lady Astor stating, “My vigour, vitality and cheek

comic tradition—male comics have been doing it for

repel me; I am the kind of woman I would run away from.”

years. But why no turnabout? Why are mothers still the

Women are inherently inferior and therefore, according to Mar-

butt of jokes? Why does Farah Fawcett Majors get

got Naylor, have great difficulties achieving success: “If every

savaged for her looks three times in one evening? Why

successful man needs a woman behind him, every successful

doesn't one voice cry out in the wilderness: “Take my

woman needs at least three men.” But who really wants to be a

husband—please”?%

success anyway, when Elizabeth Marbury assures us that, “A
caress is better than a career”? Ilka Chase agreed; she knew how

Why not, indeed?

to invest her money: “America’s best buy for a nickel is a tele-

When we encounter such a bizarre situation, we have to try

phone call to the right man.” What we really ought to do is follow

to explain it. The psychoanalytic concept of “identification with

the advice of Anita Loos: “A girl with brains ought to do some-

the aggressor” may be the “defense mechanism” which explains

thing else with them besides think,” because, as Sophie Tucker

this particular “feminine dilemma.” Anna Freud mentions the

so aptly concluded, “No man ever put up with a successful

case of a little girl who was afraid to cross the hall in the dark be-

“Negating the Negative”
anti-pure, anti-purist, anti-puritanical, antiminimalist, anti-post minimalist, anti-reductivist, anti-formalist, anti-pristine, anti-austere,
anti-bare, anti-blank, anti-bland, anti-boring,
. . .anti-universal, anti-internationalist, antiimperialist, anti-bauhausist, anti-dominant,
anti-authoritarian, anti-mandarinist, antimainstreamist, . . .anti-black, anti-white, antigray, anti-grid, anti-god,..….anti-logic, anticonceptual, anti-male-dominated, anti-virile,
anti-tough, anti-cool, anti-cruel,..….anti-controlled, anti-controlling, anti-arrogant, antisublime, anti-grandiose, anti-pedantic, antipatriarchal, anti-heroic, anti-genius,

anti-

master.

“On Affirmation”
fussy, funny, funky, perverse, mannerist,
tribal, rococco, tactile, self-referring, sumptuous, sensuous, salacious, eclectic, exotic,
messy, monstrous, complex, ornamented...
Eleanor Antin. Recollections of My Life with Diaghilev. 1973. Red

Excerpt from Joyce Kozloff. Negating the Negative

ink on paper. 9” x 12”. “Patrick was inexperienced but very athletic.”

(an answer to Ad Reinhardt’s “On Negation”). 1976.
121

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cause she dreaded ghosts. Finally, she hit upon the device of

costs, are simply projections of the male value

making all kinds of peculiar gestures and noises as she crossed the

structure.?

hall, because “There's no need to be afraid in the hall; you just
have to pretend that you're the ghost who might meet you.”
Anna Freud goes on to point out that this is a normal defense

It is my contention, then, that as a partial consequence of

mechanism of the ego when confronted by authority and/or when

women's identification with the aggressor, we have until recently

dealing with anxiety. She also states that such identification may

accepted the aggressor’s humor, in which we are the scapegoat.

at times represent an intermediate stage in the development of

This same identification has also prevented the development of

paranoia.. (We had better watch out for that one!)

any humor directed against the oppressor. Even in love, it has

There is little doubt in my mind that in order to survive, we

been expected that the woman identify totally with the man.
Simone de Beauvoir states :

have for thousands of years identified with the aggressor. Judy
Chicago has said about women’s art:

. it is not enough to serve him. The woman in love
If you are invested in the structure and values that male

tries to see with his eyes... she adopts his friendships,

dominance has provided ..….or if you want validation

his enmities, his opinions... She uses his words, mimics

from those institutions that have grown out of that

his gestures, acquires his eccentricities and his tics. “I am

structure, then you don't want to recognize that women

Heathcliffe,” says Catherine in Wuthering Heights; that

exist separately from men.... what subject matter and

is the cry of every woman in love; she is another incar-

what forms are important, and what the nature of art is

nation of her loved one, his reflection, his double: she is

and who defines it and who makes it, and how much it

he.10

fa

€, S

1. Annette Messager. Trickster. 1974-75. Ink on flesh.

122

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If love is “every girl's dream,” and if one-sided over-identification is part of love, then it is not surprising to find that it has

some artists parody this male viewpoint, others, like Annette
Messager, Ulrike Rosenbach, and Eleanor Antin, pleasurably

been an integral element of all of woman's history. When you're

explore their own anatomy to produce comic illusions in which

identified with the aggressor, clearly you don’t make fun of him,

sexual exploitation is not paramount. At other times, women’s

and you don't make fun of yourself for being identified with him.

humor in art is primarily concerned with the general human

Today, however, we are in the midst of an evolutionary

condition. In the introduction to Louise Bourgeois’ book of en-

process which is beginning to have some impact on women’s

gravings, He Disappeared into Complete Silence (1947), Marius

humor. For many of us, our previous conventional roles are no

Bewley wrote:

longer tenable ways to deal with the world and with ourselves.
We are reevaluating our sexual identities, and we are beginning to

They are tiny tragedies of human frustration... The

create the missing link in women’s humor, as illustrated by the

protagonists are miserable because they can neither es-

works following this article.

cape the isolation which has become a condition of their

These works were produced by a particular group of women
—artists whose frame of reference is essentially the “art world.”
Nevertheless, they provide some insight into an emerging ingroup

own identities, nor yet accept it as wholly natural. Their
attempts to free themselves, or accept their situation
invariably end in disaster.

humor. Some of these works represent a satirical view of previously accepted male stereotypes and values; others are con-

In a lighter vein, Laurie Anderson writes, “On Church Street, I

cerned with our new identities, as illustrated by some pieces that
deal with our own anatomies. Women’s bodies always have been
sensuously exploited as outrageous cheesecake images, While

FROM PHOTOGRAPHY AND OTHER SOOD DESIGNS

DARUNG, ! STAYED AT YOUR PLACE WHEN YOU WENT TO CALIFORYIA
ANO 1 SAW Au THOSE PHOTDERAPHS OF HER SMILING FACE
THERE'S A BIG ONE IN HE KIRHEN, SHES SMILING ON THE BEACH
THERES A SMALL ONE 1N THE BATHROOM, SHES LOOKING OUT ANO SMILING.

WELL 1 THOUGHT YoU WERE JUST FRIENDS TIL 1 FOUNO A LETTER
IT SAID, “DARLING, 1 LOVE YOU, BUT Yoy LOVE ME BETTER."
IT READ, “DARLING, 1 REAUY LOVE Yi BUT YOV LovE ME BETER!
WEL 1 MAY HAVE BEEN BUND, BUT NOW / CAN SEE
DARUNG, M'I DARLIAG, YOU WERE TWO -TIMING ME,
/ LOOKED AT THOSE PHOTOGRAPHS, DAY AND NIGHT
HER EYES WERE A DAZZLIAG BLUE, EVEN sN BLAOS AND WIRE
1 TRIED TO PICTURE THE WAY SHE TALKED, HOW SHE MWWED
WHAT SHE THOUGHT ACOUT DRIVING ON THE ROAD ALNE
BER R W SHE WAS SO STRANGE AND BEAUN FUL, SO COOC, SA WARMI.
ANO SHE DID SMILE A LOT.
AFR A WHILE, | KNEW 1 WAS 1N LOVE WITH HER.
1 COAON'T HELP FALING (N LOVE WTH HER .

1 HAO A DREAM THAT SHE AND 1 WERE LOVERS,
WE MANE WVE Ace nAYy UNDERNEAT YOV COVERS.

WE USED ALL YOR TOOLS 7a PRILL HOLES U VUR STPI
THEN WE LAY 0N THEM ALL BAYSHE WwAS A GREAT COO TOO ~ COLO CUT-

/ LOVED HER SO MUCH, AND 1WL NEVER FORGET HER
THE DAY mE SMILED AT mE AND SAID, “ORRLIWG 7 LOVE WU,
BUI YOU LOVE mE BETTER.”
THE DAY SHS WHISPERET) “DARLING, / REALY LOVE YOU,
BUT YOU LOVE ME BEMER. "
1577
LAURIE ANOERON

Louise Bourgeois. From He Disappeared
into Complete Silence. 1946. Engraving.
S”x7.

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In my own work, as part of a series of “puppet plays,” I use

Laurie Anderson, born in Chicago and living in New York, is a performance artist working with sound, film, and spoken words.

humor to communicate what would otherwise be difficult to say,
to make constantly problematical human contacts less threaten-

Eleanor Antin is a ‘“‘post-conceptual’” and performance artist living in Del
Mar, California. Her work absorbs her other identities—the King, the

ing. Carol Conde, entering the traditional male arena of politics,

Ballerina, the Black Movie Star and the Nurse.

presents women wondering whether to join the class struggle, or

Louise Bourgeois is a sculptor, a symbolist and intimist, who describes the

to submit to the seductions of the capitalist.

piece reproduced here as “an attempt at the sublimation of pain.”

All of these types of humor are still comparatively rare. It is

Carol Conde, a Canadian artist living and working in New York, is an
editor of Red-Herring and a member of Artists Meeting for Cultural

probably too early in our identification process to expect them to
appear frequently. And we are still at a stage where some of us

Change.

see anything that isn't female-self-congratulatory as “anti-

Nancy Kitchel is a New York artist whose work deals with identity,
exorcism and political awareness.

feminist.” It takes time, and it’s difficult. One of the signs of real
social change will be when we can invent jokes about ourselves,

Joyce Kozloff is a painter who lives in New York, teaches and has been

as well as about “them,” and laugh freely.

active in the women’s movement on both coasts.

“Freedom produces jokes and jokes produce freedom’

Sandra Matthews is a photographer who was born in Chicago and attended

,

Radcliffe and the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she lives.

—Jean Paul (Richter), 1804.

Annette Messager has two identities—the “collector” and the “artist.”
Both live in Paris and both make “art” primarily from found materials
obsessively reassembled.

1. Naomi Weisstein, “Why We Aren’t Laughing ... Any More,” Ms.
Magazine (Nov. 1973), p. 49ff.

Ulrike Rosenbach is a feminist performance and video artist living in

2. Kate Sanborn, The Wit of Women (New York: Funk and Wagnalls,
1886); Martha Bensley Bruere, Laughing Their Way: Women’s Humor
in America (New York: Macmillan, 1934); Bernard Hollowood, ed.,

Cologne. Her work is primarily concerned with ritual, magic, eroticism and
the female image.

Carolee Schneemann, the first painter to choreograph environmental thea-

The Women of Punch (London: Barker, 1961); Lore and Maurice
Cowan, The Wit of Women (London: Leslie Freewin, 1969).

ter (for the Judson Dance Theater), created Kinetic Theater in 1962.

3. Jeffrey H. Goldstein and Paul E. McGhee, “An Annotated Bibliography of Published Papers on Humor in the Research Literature and an

Karen Shaw is an artist dealing with language and has been published
occasionally. She is the mother of two boys.

Analysis of Trends: 1900-1971,” in The Psychology of Humor, ed.
Jeffrey H. Goldstein and Paul E. McGhee (New York: Academic Press,

Eve Sonneman, born in Chicago and living in New York, works with photography and teaches at Cooper Union and the School of Visual Arts.

1972), pp. 263-283.

4. O.E. Klapp, Heroes, Villains and Fools: The Changing American
Character (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1962).

Mierle Laderman Ukeles conceived Maintenance Art Works in 1969. She
has been maintaining it ever since and vice versa.

S. Goldstein and McGhee, “Annotated Bibliography,” p. 112ff.
6. Anna Quindlan, “Women Comics Get the Last Laugh,” The New York
Times (March 11, 1977).

7. Anna Freud, The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (New York:
International Universities Press, 1961), p. 118f.
8. Ibid., p. 129.

9. Lucy R. Lippard, From the Center (New York: Dutton, 1976), p. 228.
. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (New York: Knopf, 1953),
p. 613f.

. Louise Bourgeois, He Disappeared into Complete Silence (New York:

Ida Applebroog is making art and living in New York. Before that she was

Gemor Press, 1947).

making art, teaching, and living in San Diego.

HOMAGE TO MU CH'I

(7th-century Southern
Sung Zen painter, espe„ cially painting: ‘“Persimmons”; Mu Ch'i was an
early “forerunner” of abstract expressionism)

124

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FROM THE READERS:

weren’t recognized (especially the ‘‘marking”
idea).
When you state that abstract art is used “by
men as a defense mechanism against the aliena-

. . . There’s so much I could write or respond to

tion of their own capitalist system,” this is true

in your first issue; but I want to say above all

for me, too, but the concluding part of the sen-

that it is important and valuable that HERESIES exists, that there is yet more new space for
the testing and challenging of new thought and
art by women.

Two apparently minor, but perhaps signifi-

tence, that it furthers the “myth of the artist as
alienated,” is not true in my case. I’m not trying

to further a myth—just survive! It still seems
necessary for many of us to defend ourselves.

What I’m producing is art by a person who is

cant items: I mentioned to you that I found the

trying hard not to be a victim but who still is a

advertisement for SEVEN DAYS gratuitously

victim. (Very little has changed for the better in

offensive in its reference to “the latest rage in

ing-a-living has become much more difficult
than it was in the 1960s.) You say it has been

the Left? The sentence betrays yet again the

suggested by some that the ‘“content of one’s

misogyny of male Leftism, the attempt to trivial-

work can be separated from one’s political beliefs.” I believe I would say that the content of

fused to run it. I also found questionable the ad

one’s work cannot be separated from the cir-

for HERESIES itself, which implies that femi-

cumstances of one’s life ..….

nism and politics are two different things. It
seems clear that the HERESIES collective be-

raising groups. Instead of watered-down group
therapy terms, you're handing out watereddown leftist jargon which is ultimately rhetorical

and glosses over the fact that you have no
stance; that you are not coming to grips with the

organizational tasks embedded in class struggle. Do you believe that anybody is right? How

many more pleas for “socialist-feminism’” can
you make? How many more pictures of vaginal
imagery can you pat on the back?
Who is your audience?

most women’s lives; in fact, the world of mak-

the women’s movement.” How about the latest
rage in the Black movement? the latest rage on

ize feminist politics; I wish HERESIES had re-

suffering is common. HERESIES is a pseudosophisticated development of consciousness-

Are you trying to cross class lines?
(Can any art journal cross class lines?)
Are you trying to popularize feminism while
advertising women’s art?

Does uniting art and politics politicize your
art by creating a politicized context?

What is the class of your “politicized” community?

What is there in some radical feminists with

Are you proselytizing a “catch all” feminism

their belief in totally overhauling society that

because you're unable to define and support a

lieves that feminism is more than “life style”; if

makes them produce abstract art? Is there some

unified stance?

it is not political, if we are not concerned with

connection between the drive to make revolu-

fundamental societal change and with the struc-

tion and the drive to produce abstract art, some

tures and abuses of power in existing society,
what are we about?...Adrienne Rich, N.Y.,

Or is HERESIES just about the discovery and
application of a female mode of communication

visionary quality? If we could discuss questions
like this we might understand ourselves better

designed for the women who feel oppressed
rather than against the social relations that

and be better understood by others, including

determine the oppression?

N.Y.

other feminist artists, not dismissed as counter-

Lucy Lippard’s article has given me more hope
about people, the art world, and my art work
than anything I have read yet. I speak to you as
an artist and the youngest child of second generation American parents whose oldest child became a doctor and now buys art from Marlborough. I have lived with all the contradictory feelings that you describe, yet, I think through my
good instincts, I have not gone off the deep end

—i.e., dressing downward, maintaining an intellectual elitist attitude.
I have, however, felt at a dead end, and this is
why I think your article is so important. It provides another option for women artists. To look

to other women artists for understanding and
criticism; to form a network; to hopefully and
eventually break through the patriarchal economic monolith that dominates the art world —

that is what we reed to do....Leslie Sills,
Brookline, Mass.

sonal is political”? (Isn’t it a truism to say that

gle. Feminist abstract artists struggle to make

the personal is political? Isn’t the personal also
social. . .collective..….?)

art, to survive and to change this sexist society.

make “political” art or not. What one believes

years....I am still a feminist and a woman
struggling to produce my (abstract) art. Neither
then nor now have my militant feminist friends
been particularly interested in abstract art, nor

are most of my other, non-political friends. I
think most people prefer some sort of represen-

tation in art. They feel art should serve some
end..….I don’t believe that there is a “universal
art,” an art that contains something for almost

You say: “In a reactionary escape from for-

any real understanding of the creative process
. ..” I think the first part of the sentence is an
excellent criticism. So is the part about the lack

of understanding of the creative process, but
this is true of most art writing ... Movement
writers are no mote guilty here than all the other
writers on art. There seems to be a sort of em-

barrassment about the creative process. Everybody seems to be very busy demystifying art and

artists, but the creative process is something

DO YOU SEE FEMINISM CORRECTING
THE ERRORS OF SOCIALISM?
If more pulp inside red covers continues to
bleed into the magazine stands of elegant bookshops, the dollar signs on cash registers will be

heralded and no more. What do you think another “feminist publication on art and polithe point? Take note: “Politics cannot be
equated with art, nor can a general world outlook be equated with a method of artistic crea-

tion and criticism.” ‘“Idealists stress motive
and ignore effect...” (Mao Tse Tung). The
the ability to set correct analysis in motion.
but does not attack. You end up only caressing

(in life, too). I believe abstract art, of all the pos-

yearnings to be effective. Criticism is the begin-

Within your motives is a sincerity that guards

ning of political definition. Criticism of Capital-

the spiritual. Your article was not just a defense

ist Society cannot exclude the liberals who

of the practice of abstract art by feminist artists,

grease the chains!

breathed a lot of new life into abstract art by

We refuse to meet you on the grounds of
“group” individualism. What changes can you
effect by inflating the market with another com-

modity: an object of contemplation destined to
parallel your art, a static, palatable item for easy

consumption? Would potentially offending your
audience be too great a risk? How can the wed-

ding of “feminist” art and “feminist” politics
(the enculturated version of “Women’s Lib”) be
anything but liberal? (Enculturated politics =
fashionable doubt = liberal conscience). You
are legitimizing your position by imperializing a
wider cultural context. Why do you choose to be

reactionary? Proselytizing a privitized politic, a
personal politic, a politic rooted in guilt is
powerless as well as idealistic. Iconoclastic behavior cannot be equated with revolutionary
strategy. If you think HERESIES is only about
female method, look again! (Is the parallel of
paternalism, ‘“maternalism’”?) IMPERIALISM
HAS NO SEX.—Movement Women’s Caucus,
N.Y., N.Y.

Errata: First issue of HERESIES.
There was a misprint in Adrienne Rich’s “Notes

on Lying.” On page 25, paragraph five should
read:

dialectic of social transformation is embodied in

There’s a lack of interest in the spiritual
dimensions of art, the non-material dimensions
sible kinds of art, is the most closely linked to

Does HERESIES use politics opportunistically?

tics” is going to do? Wage war? If not, what’s

politics, even mass feminist politics. We may
have to accept what we have—a mass of splin-

it strengthens the case of abstract art itself. You

Is this the basis upon which you identify with

malist criticism, most movement writing on

everybody. (I’m not sure I even believe in “mass”

ters—and work with it). .….

ing to set up a politicized context?

each other?

artist.

feminist art deals with political issues, but lacks

Harmony Hammond’s defense of feminists
practicing abstract art was wonderful and very

Is HERESIES a product of personal pain try-

Every part of our lives is political, whether we

(and is) is expressed in totality, not by separating the life of the artist from the work of the

else, isn’t it? —Joan Mathews, N.Y., N.Y.

intelligent. I was an active feminist for several

Is this not based on the notion that “the per-

revolutionary or irrelevant to the women’s strug-

HERESIES allows women to remain within a
state of oppression by offering console to com-

Does a life “in the closet” —lying, perhaps

of necessity, about ourselves to bosses,
landlords, clients, colleagues, family, because the law and public opinion are
founded on a lie—does this, can it, spread
into private life...

HERESIES mistakenly substituted “public” for
“private.” And there was a reversal of paragraphs at the end of Carol Muske’s “The Art of

defining elements it contains that either weren’t

fort instead of challenge to correct: by offering

Not Bowing”; the top paragraph on page 34

there before women artists began using them or

women the feeling that they are not alone, the

should in fact have been the last.

125

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Have you read

WOMEN &

The new magazine of women’s culture

womarart

U

LITERATURE
a scholarly journal of women

the new fine arts

writers and the literary
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to art by women

(brys A

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Each issue provides 150 pages of

Bronte and Mary Leadbeater.

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In the Spring/Summer issue:

investigative reporting

e articles on the literary treatment of women
in works such as Christabel and Paradise

reviews

° Michelle Stuart:

criticism

Lost.

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e book reviews and notes of work in progress.

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e annual bibliography of women and English
and American literature

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° Women in American Architecture

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representing the broadest spectrum

° Floral paintings of

of feminist thought
Janet M. Todd, Editor.

Georgia O’Keeffe

plus

access to practical resources following
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° Women’s Caucus for Art:

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Report from the President

The New Woman's Survival Catalog
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The New Woman's Survival Sourcebook

Mail with check of $7 to: The Editor, Women &

plus more articles, reviews, reports

Subscribe now — $10

Literature, Department of English, Douglass
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HARVEST QUARTERLY Nos. #3-#4

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70 Barrow Street ’

Mao: Unpublished Essay on Dialectical Materialism
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FALL ‘76: Making a Backpack © Mouth Care e Photos by
Alice Austen e Name Change © Coming Out On Celluloid
eGiving Up Kidz e Plus: analysis, letters, reviews, humor.
WINTER 76-77: Beautiful 4 color poster and
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Subscription Rates $3 per year or $1 per issue
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IN RECENT ISSUES:
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ANALYSIS INTERVIEWS
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Dennis Ashbaugh
Pauline Barber

L. Brandt Corrtius

Gail Bernstein

Sally Elliott

Beverly Buchanan

Egle Gatins
Moira Geoffrion

Susan Chapin
Chateau Productions
Michelle Cone

Lisa Dodds

Robert Hughes
T. K. Kitao

Jeanette Wong Ming
Thalia Peterson

Joseph Kosuth
Estelle Leontief

Carolee Schneemann

Emily Watts
Joan Woodson Watts

Joan Semmel

Virginia Lee Webb
Paula Webster

M. L. D'Arc Gallery

Joan Simon

Mimi Wheeler

Ilise Greenstein

Sylvia Mangold

Harry Torczyner

Hannah Wilke

Jean Heilbrunn

Mary Metzler

Debbie Treadway

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(Libby Turnoch.)

$5.00 each Name

Please send me________ HERESIES poster(s)

——
$10.00 for individuals : $16.00 for institutions City State Zip

Please enter my subscription for one year (four issues) Street

outside U.S. please add $2.00 to cover postage I am also enclosing a contribution of $

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WE ARE SOLICITING MATERIAL
FOR THE NEXT THREE
ISSUES OF HERESIES.
Lesbian Art and Artists: an exploration of the political
implications of lesbian art forms; the image of lesbians
in art; collectivity; the relationship between eroticism
and the intellect; the lesbian as monster; androgyny;
passionate friendships; research, documentation and
analysis of past lesbian artists and their work; dialogue
between contemporary lesbian visual and literary
artists; class analysis of lesbian models; lesbian art,
form and content; photography; creative writing. .….
Deadline: June.

Women’s Traditional Arts and Artmaking: decoration,
pattern, ritual, repetition, opulence, self-ornamentation; arts of non-Western women; breaking down barriers between the fine and the decorative arts; the effect
of industrialization on women’s work and work processes; the exclusion of women’s traditional arts from the
mainstream of art history...
Deadline: mid-September.
The Great Goddess/ Women’s Spirituality: common
bondings in the new mythology; ritual and the collective woman; avoiding limitations in our self-defining
process; recipes and wisdom from country “spirit women”; the Goddess vs. the patriarchy; the Goddess
movement abroad; hostility against and fear of the
Goddess; original researches: locating the Goddesstemples, museums, digs, bibliographies, maps; the
new/old holydays; healing; reports on the feminist
spirituality movement; political implications of the
Goddess; psychological impact on women of femalecentered spirituality; Goddess images and symbols...
Deadline: mid-February, 1978.

Guidelines for Prospective Contributors: Manuscripts (any
length) should be typewritten, double-spaced on 81⁄2” x 11”
paper and submitted in duplicate with footnotes and illustrative
material, if any, fully captioned. We welcome for consideration
either outlines or descriptions of proposed articles. Writers
should feel free to inquire about the possibilities of an article. If

you are submitting visual material, please send a photograph,
xerox or description—not the original. All manuscripts and
visual material must be accompanied by a stamped, selfaddressed envelope. HERESIES will pay a fee between $5 and
$50, as our budget allows, for published material, and we hope
to offer higher fees in the future. There will be no commissioned

articles and we cannot guarantee acceptance of submitted
material. We will not include reviews or monographs on contemporary women.

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R

9

Workspaces / 1

In Her Image : 2

"Deena" Metzger |”

Women and Anarchy
Lizzie Botden !

T

Ways of Change Reconsidered:

Inside/Out: A Return to My Body 12

Sue Heinemann

Feminists and Non-Feminists in 16
Psychotherapy

78

An Outline and Commentary on Women _
and Peace in Northern Ireland
V

Sarah Charlesworth

i

Prosepoems for Old Women
May Stevens

Teresa Bernardez-Bonesatti

_ Connections 18

Homeless Women

85

Ann Marie Rousseau
W

Miriam Schapiro

Body, Space and Personal Ritual 19
Sherry Markovitz

Three Short Fictions 22

Lucy R. Lippard

Letter
Utterings
Yvonne
Rainer25

Mea Culpa 26

Spaces 30

Su Friedrich

Women’s Traditional Architecture 35

Elizabeth Weatherford ,

a s E

Howardena Pindell r

A Black American’s African Diary Í- 40

Magic Songs 42

Collected by Anne Twitty | ^

Correspondence 1973-1974 = 43

Jacki Apple and Martha Wilson ,

` She Sees in Herself a New Woman

X

Photograph

92”

Joanne Leonard

a

Compartments.
Cate Abbe

Space Work

3 A.

Pat Steir

Two from Short Stories and Love Songs

L9.

Roberta Neiman

9

Interactional Shitwork
` Pamela M. Fishman

102 D

Lament -on the Eve of Her Dugh s MA7
Birthday

103

Estelle Leontief

September Solitaire 47

B

Contract 2075 s 48

Drawing 49

Katherine Bateman 3 E
Julie Gross n

Patterns of Healing and Rebirth 50
Claudia Orenstein and Anais Nin
Postscript by Gloria Orenstein

93A

From the Pik and Ye//ow Books,

si Poppy Johnson a SES

Two Drawings

Ann Lauterbach

90

Every Day

Women and Film in Colonized Canada

Ardele Lister |

Les Échelles 1975

Diana Agrest

É

io
AR

07
Susana Torre

Dolores Hayden
` Women’s Fantasy Environments

The Raised Voices of Women in 52

Noel Phyllis Birkby and

Mid-Nineteenth Century Frañce
Cäcilia Rentmeister

Leslie Kanes Weisman
The “I Am Heathcliffe,’ Shis

Twenty-Seven Personal Records 57 z
Editors

_ Catherine” Syndrome

From the Readers-

Ke tÅ z

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