Maij 1 7 ______, 2 d d s t . MgrjjLpu ff. fJaufflpff’ hereby submit this as part of the requirements for the dearee of: A\aSAe,r n£ ihe firtS____________ m (V) m rouni c&4i Oto It is entitled -SisVrVicrri 16 V o \y e r £ u 111 O r ~X~rr\yb£&\b\?/<7 Approved by, C 'y/’A'ti^W -' /v-laaua ‘‘ 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SISTERHOOD IS.POWERFUL...OR IMPOSSIBLE? A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF THE ARTS in the Department of Communication of the College of Arts and Sciences 2003 by Mary Lou Renee Naumoff B.A., University of Cincinnati, 2000 Committee Chair: Dr. Stephen Depoe Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP26364 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform EP26364 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT The second wave of feminism is the time period in the United States that occurred from the mid-1960s and spans through the 1980s. This is a relevant time period in women’s history and the development of feminism. The women of this era were successful in changing the political landscape of the United States, changing the culture of the United States, and making a huge impact on feminist theory and practice. Given the importance of this time period and its influence on feminist theory and practice today an understanding of two of the major players of the time period is beneficial to feminist scholars and activists today. An analysis of radical and black feminist discourse using the Kenneth Burke method know as cluster criticism, revealed three key terms that were shared by both groups of women: “oppression,” “feminism,” and “sisterhood.” By unveiling the themes that cluster around these terms an understanding of these two groups of feminists is generated. Issues of racism and identity politics prove to be roadblocks for radical and black feminists to do political work together. Understanding why these issues exist and how they persists today is crucial to developing alternative political strategies that allow for coalition building and the creation of a women’s movement that exists truly forall women. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Stephen Depoe for his immeasurable patience, guidance, and faith in this thesis and me. His roles as mentor, critic, and friend mean more to me than he will ever know. I would also like to thank Dr. Berryman-Fink and Dr. Crocker-Lakness for serving on my thesis committee. Their input and expertise greatly benefited my project and me. I would also like to recognize and thank the center for Women’ s Studies at the University of Cincinnati. Without their graduate certificate program and excellent instructors my project would not have been as well developed from a feminist perspective. I want to thank my parents, E. Denise Naumoff and John H. Byard, for their patience, support, and love. I would not be where I am today if it were not for their guidance, love, and discipline. I want to thank my companion, Kevin J. Burg for his love, support, and endless patience. And finally, I want to thank my maternal grandparents who are no longer with me in a physical sense but always with me in spirit. My Baba, Maria Naumoff and my Dedo, Lambro J. Naumoff have made an impact on my life that has made me who I am today. I thank them for encouraging me to always be myself, to never say I cannot do something, and to dream big. I also want to thank my other family and friends who have stuck with me through the journey of graduate school and the writing of this paper. This paper was no small feat and those of you who helped me through it know who you are. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 ................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 3 ................................................................................................... 47 Chapter 4 ................................................................................................... 99 Bibliography.............................................................................................. 125 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCATION In this thesis I set out to analyze and compare the discourse of radical feminists and black feminists that was produced during the “second wave” of feminism, which began during the 1960’s and stretched through until the end of the 1980’s. By analyzing black and white feminist discourse I believe that issues of exclusion and racism can be challenged, understood, and addressed. The discourse of black and white radical feminists that was published from the mid 1960’s through the 1980’s articulates the stance these two groups of women took on the theme of sisterhood and their respective prescriptions for an effective political agenda for feminist movement. I felt the most effective critical approach to unpack these two groups’ difference through an analysis of their discourse, was to perform a cluster criticism. In Chapter One I will provide my readers with some essential information that is necessary to understand my research and results. First, Twill briefly discuss and illustrate the schism between radical and black feminists. Second, I will discuss my critical approach that enabled me to perform the discourse analysis. And I will conclude with a brief description of the limitations of this project. In Chapter One I introduce my readers to two groups of feminists who did much to shape the American political landscape and influenced the generation of current feminist theory. Let me briefly define radical and black feminism before going any further. Radical feminists viewed all women as being oppressed. International feminist scholar Chila Bulbeck describes radical feminists as believing that, “There is an independent oppression based on sex, and it occurs across time and tides” (1998, p.7). Radical feminists viewed the subordination of women as their central concern. Their 2 ' Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. main political issues were reproductive freedom, women’s autonomy, and representations of women in society. Most radical feminists were white, educated, and middle class. Black feminists are viewed as the response and critique of radical and other white feminists. Black feminists were concerned with more than just issues of sexual oppression. Because black feminists were both black and women, they sought to look at all factors of oppression that could affect women’s lives. Black feminists adopted a confrontational approach as opposed to radical feminists who adopted more of a coactive strategy to liberating women. Rhetorical scholars Stewart, Smith, and Denton define the confrontational strategy as the attempt by a person or group to bring legitimacy to their cause by challenging institutional legitimacy and then encouraging others to transcend the current structure of society (2001). Those who are confrontational usually have a “new” vision for how society should be structured. Stewart, Smith, and Denton (2001) define a coactive strategy as the attempt to still give merit to institutional legitimacy and still view current the structure of society as capable of working well. Coactive strategies require that the protest group be included in society because they deserve the same traditional rights of equality, justice, and dignity. Black feminists sought to tear down the old structure of American society and re-build it, whereas radical feminists merely sought to reform American society by making women and men equal. In analyzing radical and black feminist discourse, I will highlight some of the major issues that have hindered both groups of women from achieving all they could politically while still pointing out both groups’ strengths and invaluable contributions. Understanding black and radical feminists will shed light on where the women’s 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited