2 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY FEMINIST POLITICS 3 men sharing household chores and parenting.They see that these women to follow.Participating in these radical freedom struggles women are usually white and materially privileged.They know from awakened the spirit of rebellion and resistance in progressive fe- mass media that women's liberation focuses on the freedom to have males and led them towards contemporary women's liberation. abortions,to be lesbians,to challenge rape and domestic violence. As contemporary feminism progressed,as women realized that Among these issues,masses of people agree with the idea of gender males were not the only group in our society who supported sexist equity in the workplace-equal pay for equal work. thinking and behavior-that females could be sexist as well- Since our society continues to be primarily a"Christian"cul- anti-male sentiment no longer shaped the movement's conscious- ture,masses of people continue to believe that god has ordained that ness.The focus shifted to an all-out effort to create gender justice. women be subordinate to men in the domestic household.Even But women could not band together to further feminism without though masses of women have entered the workforce,even though confronting our sexist thinking.Sisterhood could not be powerful many families are headed by women who are the sole breadwinners, as long as women were competitively at war with one another.Uto- the vision of domestic life which continues to dominate the nation's pian visions of sisterhood based solely on the awareness of the real- imagination is one in which the logic of male domination is intact, ity that all women were in some way victimized by male domination whether men are present in the home or not.The wrongminded no- were disrupted by discussions of class and race.Discussions of class tion of feminist movement which implied it was anti-male carried differences occurred early on in contemporary feminism,preceding with it the wrongminded assumption that all female space would discussions of race.Diana Press published revolutionary insights necessarily be an environment where patriarchy and sexist thinking about class divisions between women as early as the mid-'70s in their would be absent.Many women,even those involved in feminist pol- collection of essays Class and Feminis.These discussions did not itics,chose to believe this as well. trivialize the feminist insistence that"sisterhood is powerful,"they There was indeed a great deal of anti-male sentiment among simply emphasized that we could only become sisters in struggle by early feminist activists who were responding to male domination confronting the ways women-through sex,class,and race- with anger.It was that anger at injustice that was the impetus for cre- dominated and exploited other women,and created a political plat- ating a women's liberation movement.Early on most feminist activ- form that would address these differences. ists(a majority of whom were white)had their consciousness raised Even though individual black women were active in contempo- about the nature of male domination when they were working in rary feminist movement from its inception,they were not the indi- anti-classist and anti-racist settings with men who were telling the viduals who became the"stars"of the movement,who attracted the world about the importance of freedom while subordinating the attention of mass media.Often individual black women active in women in their ranks.Whether it was white women working on be- feminist movement were revolutionary feminists(like many white half of socialism,black women working on behalf of civil rights and lesbians).They were already at odds with reformist feminists who black liberation,or Native American women working for indige- resolutely wanted to project a vision of the movement as being nous rights,it was clear that men wanted to lead,and they wanted solely about women gaining equality with men in the existing sys-2 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY men sharing household chores and parenting. They see that these women are usually white and materially privileged. They know from mass media that women's liberation focuses on the freedom to have abortions, to be lesbians, to challenge rape and domestic violence. Among these issues, masses of people agree with the idea of gender equity in the workplace - equal pay for equal work. Since our society continues to be primarily a "Christian" cul￾ture, masses of people continue to believe that god has ordained that women be subordinate to men in the domestic household. Even though masses of women have entered the workforce, even though many families are headed by women who are the sole breadwinners, the vision of domestic life which continues to dominate the nation's imagination is one in which the logic of male domination is intact, whether men are present in the home or not. The wrongminded no￾tion of feminist movement which implied it was anti-male carried with it the wrongminded assumption that all female space would necessarily be an environment where patriarchy and sexist thinking would be absent. Many women, even those involved in feminist pol￾itics, chose to believe this as well. There was indeed a great deal of anti-male sentiment among early feminist activists who were responding to male domination with anger. It was that anger at injustice that was the impetus for cre￾ating a women's liberation movement. Early on most feminist activ￾ists (a majority of whom were white) had their consciousness raised about the nature of male domination when they were working in anti-classist and anti-racist settings with men who were telling the world about the importance of freedom while subordinating the women in their ranks. Whether it was white women working on be￾half of socialism, black women working on behalf of civil rights and black liberation, or Native American women working for indige￾nous rights, it was clear that men wanted to lead, and they wanted FEMINIST POLITICS 3 women to follow. Participating in these radical freedom struggles awakened the spirit of rebellion and resistance in progressive fe￾males and led them towards contemporary women's liberation. As contemporary feminism progressed, as women realized that males were not the only group in our society who supported sexist thinking and behavior - that females could be sexist as well - anti-male sentiment no longer shaped the movement's conscious￾ness. The focus shifted to an all-out effort to create gender justice. But women could not band together to further feminism without confronting our sexist thinking. Sisterhood could not be powerful as long as women were competitively at war with one another. Uto￾pian visions of sisterhood based solely on the awareness of the real￾ity that all women were in some way victimized by male domination were disrupted by discussions of class and race. Discussions of class differences occurred early on in contemporary feminism, preceding discussions of race. Diana Press published revolutionary insights about class divisions between women as early as the mid-'70s in their collection of essays Class and Feminism. These discussions did not trivialize the feminist insistence that "sisterhood is powerful," they simply emphasized that we could only become sisters in struggle by confronting the ways women - through sex, class, and race - dominated and exploited other women, and created a political plat￾form that would address these differences. Even though individual black women were active in contempo￾rary feminist movement from its inception, they were not the indi￾viduals who became the "stars" of the movement, who attracted the attention of mass media. Often individual black women active in feminist movement were revolutionary feminists (like many white lesbians). They were already at odds with reformist feminists who resolutely wanted to project a vision of the movement as being solely about women gaining equality with men in the existing sys-