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The Literacy Practices of Feminist Consciousness- Raising: an Argument for Remembering and Recitation

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The Literacy Practices of Feminist Consciousness- Raising: an Argument for Remembering and Recitation LEUSCHEN, KATHLEEN T., Ph.D. The Literacy Practices of Feminist Consciousness- Raising: An Argument for Remembering and Recitation. (2016) Directed by Dr. Nancy Myers. 169 pp. Protesting the 1968 Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, NJ, second-wave feminists targeted racism, militarism, excessive consumerism, and sexism. Yet nearly fifty years after this protest, popular memory recalls these activists as bra-burners— employing a widespread, derogatory image of feminist activists as trivial and laughably misguided. Contemporary academics, too, have critiqued second-wave feminism as a largely white, middle-class, and essentialist movement, dismissing second-wave practices in favor of more recent, more “progressive” waves of feminism. Following recent rhetorical scholarly investigations into public acts of remembering and forgetting, my dissertation project contests the derogatory characterizations of second-wave feminist activism. I use archival research on consciousness-raising groups to challenge the pejorative representations of these activists within academic and popular memory, and ultimately, to critique telic narratives of feminist progress. In my dissertation, I analyze a rich collection of archival documents— promotional materials, consciousness-raising guidelines, photographs, newsletters, and reflective essays—to demonstrate that consciousness-raising groups were collectives of women engaging in literacy practices—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—to make personal and political material and discursive change, between and across differences among women. As I demonstrate, consciousness-raising, the central practice of second-wave feminism across the 1960s and 1970s, developed out of a collective rhetorical theory that not only linked personal identity to political discourses, but also 1 linked the emotional to the rational in the production of knowledge. The grassroots practice of consciousness-raising, designed to be accessible to all women, was taken up by diverse feminist organizations across the nation including the Atlanta Lesbian Feminist Association (ALFA), the National Alliance of Black Feminists (NABF), the National Organization of Women (NOW), and many others. As I trace differences and conflicts among different groups of women across these archival materials, I argue that consciousness-raising was a literacy practice with flexible do-it-yourself guidelines, tailored for each group’s needs and geographic location. As such, I connect consciousness-raising groups to a history and tradition of women’s collective rhetorical practices feminist historiographers have recently established. Like clubwomen of the late 19th and early 20th century, consciousness-raising groups fit a historical pattern of women’s collective literacy practices—practices that are repeatedly erased from historical narratives. Ultimately my project addresses active efforts to forget and misremember second-wave feminism, and I argue that the strategic forgetting of these sites diminishes the political potency these practices might hold for marginalized groups in the present day. 2 THE LITERACY PRACTICES OF FEMINIST CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING: AN ARGUMENT FOR REMEMBERING AND RECITATION by Kathleen T. Leuschen A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Greensboro 2016 Approved by ______________________________ Committee Chair 1 © 2016 Kathleen T. Leuschen 2 APPROVAL PAGE This dissertation written by KATHLEEN T. LEUSCHEN has been approved by the following committee of the Faculty of The Graduate School at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Committee Chair _____________________________________ Committee Members _____________________________________ _____________________________________ ____________________________ Date of Acceptance by Committee __________________________ Date of Final Oral Examination ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project would not have come to fruition without the unwavering support of my mentors, family, and friends. I am indeed grateful for the strategic counsel from and the continuous dialogue with my dissertation committee, a group of women scholars I often refer to as “The Dream Team.” Dr. Nancy Myers, the committee chair, worked diligently with me on this project from its inception commenting on multiple drafts of all dissertation chapters and providing careful guidance up until the very end of this project. Her stalwart commitment to the development of this dissertation and to my growth as a scholar has been my anchor throughout this process. Dr. Hepzibah Roskelly introduced me to the archives and inspired me to find my academic research home there. Our many discussions on literacy, philosophy, and methodology helped me conceive of the central topic of this work and find consciousness-raising in the archives. Dr. Risa Applegarth’s numerous responses to drafts of chapters strengthened my ability to articulate my arguments with precision and organize my work with rhetorical sophistication. Her instruction on writing, time, and organization enhanced the effectiveness of my own writing approach and choices. It is to this group of scholars that I owe the completion and success of this dissertation, and it is in these women I find my inspiration and hope for continued work on this project. My friends and family also played an important role in the composition and completion of this project and this degree. I am forever thankful for their continuous encouragement and enthusiasm. My weekly writing meetings with Liam Liar helped me iii think through and untangle ideas in order to construct my arguments. My friends and graduate student colleagues who have gone before me at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Cheryl Marsh and Lauren Shook, continually offered advice and reassurance on the dissertation process. Finally, I am so thankful for my cheerleaders, Jessica Heinz and Sharon Leuschen, who always had confidence in my abilities and stamina even when I questioned them. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION: READING THE ECHOES OF CONSCIOUSNESS- RAISING: AN ARGUMENT FOR RECITATION ...........................................1 II. THE LITERACY PRACTICES OF CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING GROUPS ...........................................................................................................27 III. SETTING THE STAGE, RHETORICAL REHEARSALS, AND SELF-PERSUASION .......................................................................................53 IV. LITERATE ACTION ............................................................................................83 V. RECITATION AND REMEMBERING CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING GROUPS .........................................................................................................113 VI. CONCLUSION: THE VALUE OF REMEMBERING CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING ......................................................................145 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................151 APPENDIX A. ARCHIVE PERMISSION .....................................................................163 v LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Lacking Sense of Self .........................................................................................75 Figure 2. Self at First Meeting ...........................................................................................76 Figure 3. Strong Sense of Self ...........................................................................................77 Figure 4. Self in Relationships ...........................................................................................79 Figure 5. Freedom Trashcan ............................................................................................127 Figure 6. Public Imagination ............................................................................................129 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: READING THE ECHOES OF CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING: AN ARGUMENT FOR RECITION Feminist recitation thus allows us not only to revalue what haunts the feminist present, but also to rethink how the threads of the past come together. –Clare Hemmings Sitting in a large circle with fellow female English Studies professionals, tenured and untenured, faculty and graduate students, Dr. Elizabeth Chiseri-Strater told a story about her doctoral graduation. After the ceremony, she was driving her family home, and her father said with astonishment, “Look, she can drive!” I need not point out the irony of Chiseri-Strater’s completed degree juxtaposed with her father’s surprise at her ability to operate a motor vehicle. During this meeting, the group discussed the topic of confidence in our professional lives. The selected discussion leaders, an untenured faculty member and a graduate student, began the meeting with a few questions about confidence at work, and the other participating women reflected on these questions and took turns articulating their answers. Group discussion would linger over particular instances of gendered controversies that were representative of the experience of multiple women. Participants analyzed and discussed such instances in order to make sense of them before the discussion moved into other subtopics on confidence and work. This was one of many meetings
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