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Ain't I A Woman? newspapers, June 1970-July 1971

1970-09-25 "Ain't I a Woman?" Page 8

Insane, in grain, in vain,, in pain 
Innate qualities we have in common are surfacing in the process of our movement's growth. Growth sometimes has turmoil, disruption and diffusion,...
Insane, in grain, in vain, in pain, repair, unfair, despair 
After my journey west, i'm happy to be living in Iowa City, Iowa and not San Francisco or Omaha or Berkeley because I'd be frustrated working there in our movement after all we're doing in I.C., and i wouldn't be nearly as far ideologically if i had never lived in Iowa City.
I'm supposed to write something about my impressions of our movement in SF and Berkeley and Omaha after spending several weeks with sisters there. And you'd think I could. And I'd think i could, too, because i got a lot of impression and have reached several conclusions about the movement there: as compared to the midwest and Iowa City, just the movement there, sisterhood, politics. But I'm finding it extremely difficult. with
Since I'm going to be writing this for our midwest readers, I guess a comparison might be all right, though sisters on the coast won't believe or give credit to my impression because of regional elitism exists- and as strongly as ever. 
To meet the need of women must remain a primary task in our movement. I don't want to see any women ignored and neglected. Something that made me very uncomfortable on my trip (and i saw when i returned to I.C) is how some of us are getting so involved with the movement in our area. I mean the menial, necessary task of providing a center for exchange of information and communicating. Some groups have actually found it necessary to acquire an office worker, like one person to do shit work regularly. I've gotten the impressions sometimes that we're having fun playing, in-the-name-of-the-revolution; that we cant stop ourselves from ignoring ne faces around our centers because we're so busy with the phone and paper work. 
Whose needs are being considered by publishing a movement paper? I guess I'm in a mood of the audacity we have to be so flagrantly privileged. besides beating myself over the head for the privilege of putting out a paper, our audiences also bothers me. have we, and other papers, become inner movement, full of heavy analysis and international news relevant to our beliefs but that no "new" person can read? Or chicago women or black women or poor white women? Who will understand what I'm writing now? who reads this paper. and we competing with rat and the bate and the other movement produced papers and magazines? are they competing with us and each other? Why ? Why ? 
Those of us that are old people in this movement sometimes get off at new people's meetings on the good this that are said. New people don't know it usually. but they're describing and recognizing dimensions of sisterhood: an elusive term supposedly describing our relationship to each other. I think the needs of long term movement people, are, can, and will only be met through sisterhood. no competition. no administrariveness. not regional elitism that makes me us not sister but competitors-- and not even that in your eyes. good feelings are coming out between us we're disrupting social norms.Let it happen. sisterhood is spreading! And I love it.
But I can't help thinking that many women, who do or don't read ain't i a women? wouldn't be very interested in what i feel about sisterhood, or care, for that matter, that it exists, when they have no tangible proof of it in their lives. and these same woman also probably aren't interested in an analysis with all sorts of political points and heavy ideology that sounds preachy or do this do that, which i don't feel has a place in a leaderless, collective movement anyway although it happens. so how are their old crutches being removed. whats taking the place of old feelings? 
Should the women's liberation movement to meet the needs of all women in it? Those of us who devote all our time and energy to it do need to be considered, i think. yet i feel guilty because I get wrapped in our office work, in putting out the paper, in going to meetings, that i don't and wouldn't and haven't had time to rap with a woman who must have mad the effort to find out office or our collective in order to talk with someone. We have a lot of things to talk about and try and work out, dont we? 
Sometimes I feel like we've fought to get where we are in our movement to do something fulfilling--without men. Then i see that I'm also doing things that men do in their world-- like not really communicating personally to other women or taking the time to try when there is an opportunity to== and ego trip in the guise of a newspaper being put out at the disregard of that harder task. 
Doesn't anyone else ever feel that way? Like We've set up our own culture, but that we're running it a little like the other? I feel it very strongly in thing like competition and elitism, coming down on married sisters, lesbians, hypocrisy in life style and ideology, feeling satisfied and actually doing our thing to bring on the revolution. Maybe i don't belong in the women's liberation movement anymore. 

Self-Criticism
   To make known the issues of women’s liberation to the new students, Iowa City women’s liberation front held two days of workshops entitled “Why Women’s Liberation”. The morning sessions were with everyone. We broke at noon and ate lunch together and split up into smaller discussion groups in the afternoon on topics like: marriage, women’s attitudes toward women, men’s attitudes toward women, women’s liberation as a revolutionary movement, lesbian consciousness, and sisterhood. The first saturday’s morning session was a beautiful success with both new and old people getting high from the experience. The second saturday’s morning session was deeply depressing to me and unsuccessful in general.
   The difference was the structure. In the morning session of the first saturday the theme was to be why women’s liberation and we began by going around the room—everyone telling what they expected and wanted from women’s liberation. The topic for the morning session of the second saturday was the issues that have been important in women’s liberation. We began by having everyone tell their name and how long they’ve been in women’s liberation. Both the topic and the way in which the workshop began set the stage for an elitist discussion in which no new people could take part. The manner in which we began clearly pointed out who was new and who had been in women’s liberation for a while with the implication that we therefore knew everything and so the new people started asking questions of us instead of talking themselves. The topic lent itself to old people talking too because what in hell do new people know about what we’ve been into when this is their first meeting.
   In an internal workshop the next day we agreed that our structure had been poor. We decided from past experiences that the best way to begin a discussion meeting is to go around the room with everyone giving an answer to a question. The best kind of question is not one that points out the differences between people as the question we used to begin the second day of workshops did, but one that involves people in the discussion because they are giving their personal feelings about a subject. We’ve had good things happen with this. Like at one of our loving women internal workshops when we began by everyone telling what they love in women and then recently with the question’ what do you expect or want from women’s liberation’. The unique thing about the last question was that people who had been involved in women’s liberation for  awhile got excited by it just as much is new people.
   The most successful tactic for workshops still remains our circle discussions. Most newcomers have said they immediately feel part of the group and experience an atmosphere of friendly exchange of ideas; whereas the outer political groups they’ve belonged to are competitive and hostile during discussions. Despite other possible failures of our workshops and discussions, we do make use of a positive encounter situation conducive to everyone talking and with emphasis on equal value of each woman’s ideas.

[hand drawn face]
WORKSHOPS for WOMEN [female sign] WESLEY HOUSE [female sign] SAT. SEPT.19 10 AM
WOMENS LIBERATION
[female sign] day care provided

eight   volume 1; number 6
Ain't I













vy

Saving...

Insane, in grain, in vain,, in pain Innate qualities we have in common are surfacing in the process of our movement's growth. Growth sometimes has turmoil, disruption and diffusion,... Insane, in grain, in vain, in pain, repair, unfair, despair After my journey west, i'm happy to be living in Iowa City, Iowa and not San Francisco or Omaha or Berkeley because I'd be frustrated working there in our movement after all we're doing in I.C., and i wouldn't be nearly as far ideologically if i had never lived in Iowa City. I'm supposed to write something about my impressions of our movement in SF and Berkeley and Omaha after spending several weeks with sisters there. And you'd think I could. And I'd think i could, too, because i got a lot of impression and have reached several conclusions about the movement there: as compared to the midwest and Iowa City, just the movement there, sisterhood, politics. But I'm finding it extremely difficult. with Since I'm going to be writing this for our midwest readers, I guess a comparison might be all right, though sisters on the coast won't believe or give credit to my impression because of regional elitism exists- and as strongly as ever. To meet the need of women must remain a primary task in our movement. I don't want to see any women ignored and neglected. Something that made me very uncomfortable on my trip (and i saw when i returned to I.C) is how some of us are getting so involved with the movement in our area. I mean the menial, necessary task of providing a center for exchange of information and communicating. Some groups have actually found it necessary to acquire an office worker, like one person to do shit work regularly. I've gotten the impressions sometimes that we're having fun playing, in-the-name-of-the-revolution; that we cant stop ourselves from ignoring ne faces around our centers because we're so busy with the phone and paper work. Whose needs are being considered by publishing a movement paper? I guess I'm in a mood of the audacity we have to be so flagrantly privileged. besides beating myself over the head for the privilege of putting out a paper, our audiences also bothers me. have we, and other papers, become inner movement, full of heavy analysis and international news relevant to our beliefs but that no "new" person can read? Or chicago women or black women or poor white women? Who will understand what I'm writing now? who reads this paper. and we competing with rat and the bate and the other movement produced papers and magazines? are they competing with us and each other? Why ? Why ? Those of us that are old people in this movement sometimes get off at new people's meetings on the good this that are said. New people don't know it usually. but they're describing and recognizing dimensions of sisterhood: an elusive term supposedly describing our relationship to each other. I think the needs of long term movement people, are, can, and will only be met through sisterhood. no competition. no administrariveness. not regional elitism that makes me us not sister but competitors-- and not even that in your eyes. good feelings are coming out between us we're disrupting social norms.Let it happen. sisterhood is spreading! And I love it. But I can't help thinking that many women, who do or don't read ain't i a women? wouldn't be very interested in what i feel about sisterhood, or care, for that matter, that it exists, when they have no tangible proof of it in their lives. and these same woman also probably aren't interested in an analysis with all sorts of political points and heavy ideology that sounds preachy or do this do that, which i don't feel has a place in a leaderless, collective movement anyway although it happens. so how are their old crutches being removed. whats taking the place of old feelings? Should the women's liberation movement to meet the needs of all women in it? Those of us who devote all our time and energy to it do need to be considered, i think. yet i feel guilty because I get wrapped in our office work, in putting out the paper, in going to meetings, that i don't and wouldn't and haven't had time to rap with a woman who must have mad the effort to find out office or our collective in order to talk with someone. We have a lot of things to talk about and try and work out, dont we? Sometimes I feel like we've fought to get where we are in our movement to do something fulfilling--without men. Then i see that I'm also doing things that men do in their world-- like not really communicating personally to other women or taking the time to try when there is an opportunity to== and ego trip in the guise of a newspaper being put out at the disregard of that harder task. Doesn't anyone else ever feel that way? Like We've set up our own culture, but that we're running it a little like the other? I feel it very strongly in thing like competition and elitism, coming down on married sisters, lesbians, hypocrisy in life style and ideology, feeling satisfied and actually doing our thing to bring on the revolution. Maybe i don't belong in the women's liberation movement anymore. Self-Criticism To make known the issues of women’s liberation to the new students, Iowa City women’s liberation front held two days of workshops entitled “Why Women’s Liberation”. The morning sessions were with everyone. We broke at noon and ate lunch together and split up into smaller discussion groups in the afternoon on topics like: marriage, women’s attitudes toward women, men’s attitudes toward women, women’s liberation as a revolutionary movement, lesbian consciousness, and sisterhood. The first saturday’s morning session was a beautiful success with both new and old people getting high from the experience. The second saturday’s morning session was deeply depressing to me and unsuccessful in general. The difference was the structure. In the morning session of the first saturday the theme was to be why women’s liberation and we began by going around the room—everyone telling what they expected and wanted from women’s liberation. The topic for the morning session of the second saturday was the issues that have been important in women’s liberation. We began by having everyone tell their name and how long they’ve been in women’s liberation. Both the topic and the way in which the workshop began set the stage for an elitist discussion in which no new people could take part. The manner in which we began clearly pointed out who was new and who had been in women’s liberation for a while with the implication that we therefore knew everything and so the new people started asking questions of us instead of talking themselves. The topic lent itself to old people talking too because what in hell do new people know about what we’ve been into when this is their first meeting. In an internal workshop the next day we agreed that our structure had been poor. We decided from past experiences that the best way to begin a discussion meeting is to go around the room with everyone giving an answer to a question. The best kind of question is not one that points out the differences between people as the question we used to begin the second day of workshops did, but one that involves people in the discussion because they are giving their personal feelings about a subject. We’ve had good things happen with this. Like at one of our loving women internal workshops when we began by everyone telling what they love in women and then recently with the question’ what do you expect or want from women’s liberation’. The unique thing about the last question was that people who had been involved in women’s liberation for awhile got excited by it just as much is new people. The most successful tactic for workshops still remains our circle discussions. Most newcomers have said they immediately feel part of the group and experience an atmosphere of friendly exchange of ideas; whereas the outer political groups they’ve belonged to are competitive and hostile during discussions. Despite other possible failures of our workshops and discussions, we do make use of a positive encounter situation conducive to everyone talking and with emphasis on equal value of each woman’s ideas. [hand drawn face] WORKSHOPS for WOMEN [female sign] WESLEY HOUSE [female sign] SAT. SEPT.19 10 AM WOMENS LIBERATION [female sign] day care provided eight volume 1; number 6 Ain't I vy