Thesis
“Where women are news”: Dallas and Houston feminists’ periodicals and activism on the E.R.A., abortion, and anti-rape; 1970-1981.
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004981
Abstract
This study focuses on feminists in Dallas and Houston in the 1970s who organized strategically at a grassroots level. These Texas women organized around issues including the Equal Rights Amendment (the ERA), abortion, rape, and violence against women. Texas is a critical site for understanding the political and social organization of women in the 1970s, both at the local level and as part of larger, national efforts. This study draws primarily from feminist newsletters and periodicals from Dallas and Houston including Women for Change, Equal Times, Woman, Broadside and Breakthrough. Further, the study utilizes archival material from the Texas Federation of Business and Professional Women records.This thesis demonstrates the ways that feminists used print at a local level to organize and advocate for issues that were important in their cities, as well as to engage with a larger national feminist network. Further, it engages with the pushback that feminists faced because of their position on these issues. When it came to the ERA, conservative women like the Women Who Want to be Women (WWWW) formed in response and worked to rescind the amendment. They also conflated the passage of the ERA with the legalization of abortion. Feminists in Texas used their periodicals and organizations to formulate how to best protect abortion, and how to deal with anti-ERA and anti-abortion sentiments. Lastly, the Dallas and Texas feminists used their periodicals and organizations to combat rape and violence in their cities. They worked to dispel myths about violence against women as well as to create practical solutions to support women.
This work adds to the broader field of women and gender studies and twentieth-century political movements. It also adds to the literature about feminism in the American South as well as literature about growing religious Right that came to fruition by the 1980s. By concentrating on local organizations and periodicals, this thesis reveals what was important to everyday Texas women and how they used their organizations to be politically active. Further, it demonstrates the efforts of Texas feminists to make their communities, state, and nation a more equitable and safer place.
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Details
- Title
- “Where women are news”
- Creators
- Anne Schobelock
- Contributors
- Jennifer Thigpen (Advisor)Matthew A Sutton (Committee Member)Robert Bauman (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- History, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 145
- Identifiers
- 99901019635801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis