November 1978 Newsletter
Title
Subject
Description
WOMEN IN GERMAN
Number 17
November 30, 1978
Subscription fee: $2.00 per year ($1.00 if unemployed)
The responses to our special call for boycott of the AATG made clear once again that the readership of Women in German is anything but passive. Our call evoked responses which range from enthusiastic support of the principle and our strategy, to support in principle only, to criticism of our strategy and timing. In a letter meant to reach so broad an audience, it was obviously not possible tom detail the process of our decision. We find it essential to fill in this gap for those who could not attend the annual WIG conference in Ohio. The issue was initially raised by the two women who were supposed to lead our workshop at AATG. Because they had recently returned from West Germany, they were not fully aware of the nation-wide boycott or its relevance to Chicago, but felt quite uncomfortable about participating in a meeting held in an unratified state. The discussion of this issue in Ohio with sixty members present was long, and represented the same spectrum of opinions that out readers have registered. While everyone agreed to the principle of upholding the nation-wide boycott, there was hesitation because the protest would come so late. In spite of these reservations, an overwhelming majority voted for the boycott. Everyone, even those who felt they had to attend AATG because of previous commitment agreed to acknowledge and support the boycott in their sections. To make their support concrete, those present donated $80.00 for the mailing of our letter. Thus, this action did not in any way deplete Women in German revenue.
In addition to the excitement generated by our decision to take this political action, there was tremendous energy, enthusiasm, and exchange of ideas generated by all the workshops. Our new format proved to be both feminist in spirit, setting a tone of cooperation and sharing, and academically much more rewarding than the traditional speaker/adversary set-up. Of course, we are planning on a fourth annual conference, to be held in Milwaukee in 1979. See further pages in the newsletter for details.
It has become clear that the WIG annual conference and the many panels we sponsor at national and local meetings, as well as our general high visibility in the profession have begun to make a real impact on the study and teaching of German. The Fall 1978 issue of Monatschefte published the results of a special survey of “Women in German Literature and Culture” which “investigates the extent to which Departments of German have introduced courses dealing with German women, either as writers of as a literary topic, the participation of German Departments in Women’s Studies Programs, and the available personnel.” The number of schools that offer courses related to women is quite impressive—-almost one hundred answered, many in some detail. A number of the schools that have no courses listed provide the names of interested faculty. (Separate issues of Monatshefte are available at $3.00 each.) This year we plan to increase outreach even further—in greater numbers there is greater strength!
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LETTERS
Dear women editors of WIG:
I have just read Number 16 of your publication and feel very deeply touched. I was to say thank you for the consideration of every sister which comes through so very clearly. I am one of those Germanists who didn’t survive, and I am quite sure that people like me might have made it, had there been a WIG organization at that time. I was teaching German at the University of _____ . . .and then was booted out of the department with incredible intrigues of male collegues. If I didn’t survive as a Germanist, I made it as a person. Sometimes I can’t help feeling that I have gained much insight into women’s situations and life in general, perhaps more so since I had to experience the insecurity of the outsider. I am fortunate enough to have a former (woman) collegue who still works (now as the only woman in that department and that I am kept with a good supply of the most recent publications in German literature, etc., which I find quite essential for keeping in touch with my Germanistin past. Through her I shall also be able to keep up with your publication and I wish to congratulate you.
With greetings and best wishes--
Erdmute Jöttkandt
Christ-Church, New Zealand
LETTERS LIKE THIS NOURISH US, and make us realize that our work has not only a national, but an international impact. It also gives us the energy to push ourselves just a little harder, especially on those days when it all seems too much.
WIG CONFERENCE SITE
MARK YOUR CALENDARS EARLY!
We have found a beautiful place in Milwaukee for our next Women in German Workshop. Rather than the last week in September we will meet over the weekend of 12-14 October 1979. Detailed information in our next issue.
Material for the next WIG Newsletter must be in by February 1, 1979. and should be sent to the address on the last page of this newsletter.
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WIG CONFERENCE
FEMINIST APPROACHES TO TEACHING GERMAN LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
The overriding theme for all three presentations in this workshop was how to translate feminist theory and philosophy into practice in the classroom.
Charlotte Amster’s goal in teaching turn-of-the-century drama (Hauptmann, Vor Sonnenaufgang, Wedekind, Marquis von Keith and Isben, The Dollhouse) was to lead students to look at societal structure, to look beyond even economic dependency in their analysis of the female figures. Although students realized that the only solutions to the problems women confronted in the plays were suicide or marriage, their conflicts and choices were seen as personal, and the female figures were judged to be restricted and incapable of reflecting upon their fate. The feminine “types” portrayed by the dramatists were not questioned as to their reality. Students did not reach a societal analysis.
One theme emerged in the student discussions on Marquis von Keith: Anna, the female counterpart of the confidence man Keith, is, unlike Keith, successful because she follows the rules of business by selling her body to secure money by marrying money. Given Wedekind’s conception of the female mystique – he saw the truth and function of female existence as sexual, Lulu as “das wilde wahre schöne Tier” – this was interpreted by some students as positive, as emancipated: prostitution as false liberation. Interesting about Charlotte’s experience is the success she had in helping students define the issues. Challenging, of course, is achievement of a more historical and far reaching analysis of women’s oppression in the classroom.
Judith Scheid discussed the influence of ideology and role playing in the class discussion of Christa Wolf’s Divided Heaven and Quest for Christa T. Her approach to the interpretation of the works was essentially “-ism”-free in the hope that ideology would not impede the possibility of exploration for the students. The students began with an over-acceptance of society’s influence on Manfred in Divided Heaven and society’s role in Christa T.’s death. Role playing distanced the students from their own identification with the characters and made them aware of the contradiction between inner values and the role society forces on the characters.
As a third step after discussion and role playing, students analysed the results of their interpretation in a paper. Part of the analysis concerned itself with the question of female identity: Rita’s dependence on Manfred and Christa’s restriction to the mother role, and with the individual’s role within society.
The discussion following the two papers addresses itself to the importance of “coming out” with a feminist ideology at the beginning of the course as opposed to the value-neutral approach suggested by the papers. Some felt that an explicitly feminist analysis gave students a handle on perspective and interpretation at the start of the course. Certainly discussing the oppression of women is vital when images of women in literature are the result of years of societal oppression and consequent stereotypes in literature. Many felt that it was very difficult to develop certain insights organically, and that the “objective approach could neither a get at the problems in the texts nor lead beyond the course into students’ lives.
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The problems and results of the courses discussed might be summarized by emphasizing that increasing numbers of women isolated in the profession are trying to undo what society had done to students and to their perceptions of themselves and their relationships to others. The fact that there was some change in the perspective of students and in their ability to question the manifestations of oppressive behaviors and oppression in their own lives was very encouraging. And the attempts to introduce feminist process into the classroom was very exciting.
Marjorie Tussing presented an overview in answer to the question: “Are we overcoming sexism in the classroom?” According to her there is some hope that the presentation of feminine sex roles and stereotypes is changing I some of the new editions of German textbooks. They do show new role models, positive portrayals of independent girls and women in leadership positions. Due to greater involvement in textbook selection for the high schhols, books for that level are now better than those for the college classroom.
Suggestions for overcoming still existing sexism in the texts ranged from pedagogical techniques (greater number of role models, role reversal, relating material to bi-cultural setting) to political and professional measures (contacting publishers, inviting them to meet with WIG, reviewing new texts).
ANNOUNCEMENT
Luise Rinser Fundraising Effort: A Progress Report
The fundraising effort to finance Luise Rinser’s participation in the Women in German program at the MLA has once again proven what we too often forget in our physical and professional isolation: “Frauen gemeinsam sind stark!” To date 62 members have contributed $468.00 to make this ambitious project a reality. Your generous response bears out what the women in leadership of WIG have long suspected? namely that in that amorphous group called Coalition of Women in German there exists more commitment and personal involvement than we could thus far register. At this time we would like to thank each of you not only for your support of this special project, but also for your concrete support of one another.
Unfortunately, because Rinser will be staying less than a week in New York and traveling during the Christmas holiday season, she may not be able to take advantage of special discount airfares. If this is the case, a roundtrip flight between Rome and New York will cost $720. We have requested $500.00 from the West German embassy, since we have learned that they have cultural funds available for projects such as our own. We encourage any of you who intended to contribute to the Rinser fund and never got around to singing the check to act upon your impulses of solidarity. We are still very anxious to accept any belated contributions! (If all else fails and a deficit still exists, one of our members has agreed to make up the difference to insure Rinser’s participation.) But we would prefer that our collective goal was reached collectively.
We urge you once again to make plans to join us in New York. You have made this program possible!
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ANNOUNCEMENT
The Coalition of Women in German will sponsor an afternoon series of special sessions on POST-WAR WEST GERMAN WOMEN WRITERS at the annual MLA in New York on Friday, December 29, from 1:00 to 5:45 p.m. Women in German has financed the participation of Luise RInser in this program in order to give members of the profession an opportunity to make the acquaintance of a woman writer who can speak from the perspective of a career which has spanned a period extending from the pre-war era, through National Socialism, and into the contemporary Federal Republic. All interested persons are welcome to attend each of these sessions in the Biarritz Room in the Americana Hotel. (Numbers in parentheses refer to listings in the official MLA program guide.)
Friday, December 29
I (413) “POSTWAR WEST GERMAN WOMEN WRITERS” (1:00 – 2:15 p.m.)
1. “Ambiguity in Ilse Aichinger’s ‘Der Gefesselte’” (Ruth Sanders, Miamia University-Ohio)
2. “Ursula Erler’s Die neue Sophie: Literary Tradition and the Problem of Femininity” (Marilynn U. Helt, Washington University-St. Louis)
3. “Gerlind Reinshagen’s Sonntagskinder in the Context of Twentieth Century Adolescent Literature” (Janice Mouton, Loyola University-Chicago)
4. “perspectives between East and West: A Comparison between Women Writers of the Two Germanies” (Biddy Martin, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
II (469) “POSTWAR WEST GERMAN WRITERS” (2:45 – 4:00 p.m.)
Presentation by Luise Rinser, author and critic
Moderated by Patricia Russian
III (506) Informal business meeting of the Coalition of Women in German, as well as an opportunity for continued discussion of session II (4:15 – 5:45 p.m.)
- - - open to all interested persons
Thursday, December 28
I “The Culture of the New Women’s Movement in German” (slide-tape presentation (1:00 – 2:00 p.m. in the Women’s Caucus Suite in the Americana Hotel)(Miriam Frank, Wayne County Community College
Nancy Vedder-Shultz, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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The Division on Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-Century German Literature will sponsor a series of sessions on FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES in the Regency Ballroom in the Americana Hotel.
Thursday, December 28
I (86) “FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES” (:30 – 9:45 A.M.)
1. “Frank Wedekind and Women’s Rights” ( Audrone B. Willeke, Miami University-Ohio)
2. Where Have All the Women Gone? The Critical Standard and the Question of Quality” (Patricia A. Herminghouse, Washington University-St. Louis)
3. “Ricarda Huch: Myth and Reality” (Miriam Frank, Wayne County Community College)
II (123) “FEMINIST APPROACHES TO GERMAN LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURIES” (10:15 – 11:30)
A discussion of the papers presented in meeting 86. Presiding: Susan Cocalis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Participants: Jeanette Clausen, Indiana-Purdue University, Fort Wayne; Kay Goodman, Miami University, Ohio
RESEARCH
Contributions are being sought for a forthcoming volume of Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik concentrating on women’s studies in German literature (ca. 1750-present). A wide range of topics and approaches is encouraged. Please send one to two page abstracts by April 30, 1979, to:
Marianne Burkhard
German Department
University of Illinois
Urbana, IL 61801
The tentative deadlind for complete articles is January 1980.
1979 Women in German Meeting at MLA
“Women’s Letters, Diaries, and Autobiographies”
One of the Most interesting questions we addressed at the Oxford conference was that of a feminine for feminist aesthetic: are there specific ways in which women write differently than men, and if so, what do these differences mean. We felt that this question might be investigated by looking at works of women not intended for publication, so that their choice of language and structure was not influenced by the exigencies of pleasing a published or the reading public. We also felt it might be interesting to investigate diaries and letters as literary exercises for material later intended for publication.
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We thus decided to choose as a topic for the 1979 Women in German meeting at the MLA “Women’s Letters, Diaries, and Autobiographies” and to ask that papers submitted concentrate particularly on the question of alternative Women’s literary forms. Because of MLA regulations which require that the proposal for our meeting must be submitted by April 1, 1979, completed presentations should be sent to the co-chairwomen, Miriam Frank and Sara Lennox, by March 15, 1979. But please also contact us before then with your inquiries, abstracts, proposals or other comments. To save us time, send a copy to both Miriam Frank, 4722 Third, Detroit, Michigan 48202 and Sara Lennox, German Department, [redacted] University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003.
BOOKS
Gisela Brinker-Gabler möchte uns auf zwei neue Buchreihen, die sie im Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt, herausgibt, aufmerksam machen:
Die Frau in der Gesellschaft – Frühe Texte
Ziel dieser Reihe ist es, die gegenwärtige Erneuerung der Auseinandersetzungen um Status und Selbstverständnis der Frau in unserer Gesellschaft auf eine Tradition zurückzuführen, in der Schriftstellerinnen, Wissenschaftlerinnen und Politkerinnen bereits erstaunliche Vorarbeiten geleistet haben. Diese frühen, kaum noch bekannten Texte, die im Zuge der erste Frauenbewegung seit den siebziger Jahren des 19. Jahrhunderts entstanden, sind in ihrem Argumentationsstand und sachlichen Engagement geeignet, den heutigen Emanzipationsbewegungen neue Impulse zu geben… Die einzelnen Bände stellen die Hauptthemen der Frauenfrage zur Diskussion.
Bd. 1: Zur Psycholoie der Frau
Bd. 2: Frauenarbeit und Beruf
Bd. 3: Frauen gegen den Krieg
Bd. 4. Frau und Kind (Bd. 1-4 Hg. G. Brinker-Gabler)
Bd. 5 Frau und Recht (Hg. Von Hannelore Schröder)
Die Frau in der Gesellschaft – Lebensgeschichten
Innerhalb der Reihenkonzeption “Die Frau in der Gesellschaft“ wird diese Reihe Lebensdarsellungen – Erinnerungen, Tagebücher, Briefe, autobiographische Romane -, veröffentlichen, in denen Frauen die gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen schildern, unter denen sie vor hundert oder vor fünfzig Jahren lebten, und in denen sie ihr kritisches Bewußtsein, ihren Willen und Vorschläge zur Veränderung äußern. Dieser private Einblick in das Leben von Frauen aus der Zeit sozialen Aktivitäten sind bewegende Selbstzeugnisse und gleichzeitig Beiträge zur Aufhebung der Geschichtslosigkeit der Frau.
Bd. 1: Fanny Lewald, Meine Lebensgeschichte (Hg. V. G.Brinker-Gabler)
Bd. 2: Maria Wagner, Mathilde Franziska Anneke, eine deutsche Dichterin des Vormärz und amerikanische Feministin in Selbsteugnissen und Dokumenten
Vorschläge für beide Reihen sind an die Herausgeberin zu richten: Gisela Brinker-Gabler, [redacted]
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No renewal notices will be sent.
Read your label and renew immediately when numbers match.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
We held firm as long as we could (for 4 years!) BUT, rising costs make it impossible for us to continue to produce Women in German for $2.00 for 4 issues. Therefore, we are raising the fee to $5.00; $2.00 for students and unemployed.
Enclosed please find my check for $5.00 ($2) for a year’s subscription to Women in German. Send your check to Women in German, German Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53705.
NAME___________________________
ADDRESS_________________________
This newsletter was prepared by Evelyn Torton Beck, Yvette Brazell, Nadia Donchenko, Viktoria Harwig, Biddy Martin, Marsha Meyer, Sara Markham Pietsch, Mary Rhiel, James Steakley, Gabriele Strauch and Christa Stutius.
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Summary of WiG Business and Planning Meeting. cont.
3) Women and Aesthetics (Biddy Martin, Leslie Adelson)
4) Lesbian Themes in Literature (Miriam Frank, Naomi Stephan)
In addition, it was agreed to continue the “tradition” begun this year of beginning the conference on Friday evening with a discussion of Personal and Professional Survival as a Woman Germanist (moderator: Judy Scheid). and to have another Saturday evening presentation of Women’s Culture (Coord. Evelyn Beck and Nancy Vedder-Shults). The evening program will be closed men; this will be announced in the printed program.
The general coordinators of the 1979 conference will be selected after the question of the 1979 conference site has been settled. We need to begin thinking ahead for 1980’s conference site, which must be in a state which has ratified the ERA.
8. The material gathered at the 1978 conference (tape-recorded and written notes by the recording secretaries) will be put together in summary form by the recording secretaries and session coordinators. Helen Fehervary suggested that NGC could include a more comprehensive summary of the conference proceedings in a future issue than can be printed in the WiG newsletter.
Summary of WiG Business and Planning Meeting, Sunday 9-24-78
1. The need to increase WiG membership dues was announced and discussed. Dues are now $2. for graduate students and those unemployed, $5. for everyone else, to be paid when issue number matches the number on your mailing label.
2. It was agreed that the WiG steering committee should consist of at least 5 people to represent major geographical areas of the U.S.; new committee members are to be selected annually with the understanding that at least two will continue from the previous year. On the steering committee for 1978-79 are: Pat Russian (Madison, WI) and Naomi Stephan (Valparaiso, IN), continuing members; Karen Achberger (Eugene, OR), Susan Cocalis (Amherst, MA), Charlotte Smith (Enid, OK), Majorie Tussing (Fullerton, CA).
3. The 1979 WiG conference (Sept. 28,29,30) will be held either in Milwaukee or Madison. WiG members from both locations will communicate with each other and the steering committee by 11-1-78 to agree on the site.
4. Concerning the selection of topics for WiG sessions at the annual MLA convention, it was proposed that a topic and one chairperson be selected each year at the September conference (since not everyone can attend). There was agreement to have the WiG session at the 1979 MLA deal with aesthetics through investigation of women’s literary forms not generally recognized as literature (diaries, letters, autobiographies). Co-chairs: Sara Lennox, Miriam Frank.
5. Discussion of attendance at the Nov. 1978 AATG meeting in Chicago was resolved as follows:
--Wig will protest the holding of the meeting in Illinois, which has not ratified the ERA, by withdrawing our session on Women’s Culture.
--letters will be sent to all conference participants and session chairs asking them not to attend the Nov. 78 meeting; the letter is also to e made public in our German deparments, in the AATG newsletter, and sent to the Ilinois convention bureau and to NOW.
--WiG members committed to giving papers in other sessions at the Nov. AATG meeting agreed to support the WiG boycott by prefacing their presentations with a statement of solidarity with the WiG decision.
--contact person for protest strategy by those attending is Detti Ledochowski
[redacted]
6. Pat Russian described the fund-raising activities which will be carried out to help finance Luise RInser’s visit at the Dec. 1978 MLA. She distributed a draft of the letter requesting contributions which will be mailed. It was pointed out that such fund-raising should not become the regular responsibility of WiG rather, the MLA, AATG and other organizations should be urged to give financial support to scholarly and professional activity by and about women, and should not be led to expect that WiG will do it along.
7. Plans for the September 1979 conference. Sessions agreed upon were (the following titles are broadly descriptive and will be modified by the coordinators):
1) Women in German Literature and Culture prior to 1800 (Judy McHermann, Jill McDonald, Gabriele Strauch)
2) Feminist Pedagogy, to focus on the intermediate level, including the teaching of composition and conversation (Gail Hankins, Charlotte Smith)
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II. Strategies for success: suggestions general and specific
In seeking solutions to such problems, we found that three interrelated general points emerged as necessary presuppositions to more practical steps.
1. We should recognize the reality and force of discriminatory practices in the academic establishment, and resist the impulse to trust naively in the fairness and good will of the system. Such pessimistic realism better prepares us to take steps to defend our interests, make us less vulnerable to being personally crushed by judgements of the established powers, and increases our sense of solidarity with other women facing similar biases.
2. We should learn to take responsibility for our own careers and not rely on someone else—chairman, dean, etc.—to look out for our interests. This means a conscious effort a) to think about and plan for the development of our career, and b) to assert ourselves on behalf of our professional goals and well-being.
3. Given the sexism of the system and the uncertainties facing our profession there is no sure route to success; no one course of professional or political action can be expected to pay off in all circumstances. It is therefore all the more important to be sure that we know ourselves, know what we really want to do and what we are not willing to sacrifice—-personally, professionally, politically—-in the pursuit of possibly illusory career goals.
Specific strategies: looking for a job
1. Find ways to communicate in resume and interview the qualities which make you unique, the specific strengths which make you attractive to the type of institutions you are interested in. Be sure you effectively convey your enthusiasm and strengths as a teacher.
2. Be ready to play an active, assertive role in the interview; have serious, intelligent, informed questions concerning the institution and department. Study the catalogue in advance, demonstrate interest in and knowledge of the program and problems of the institution; be ready to tell how you would teach its courses you might like to propose. Familiarize yourself with the work of department members, as about it. Be ready to discuss what you are interested in doing for the department, and your own long-range professional goals.
3. Show you are a self-respecting professional who expects to be taken seriously by asking about salary, health and retirement plans and other benefits. Raise such questions near the end of the interview; don’t make them appear the most important thing on your mind. Again, bone up on the comparative salaries and benefit plans so that you will know what’s what and impress the interviewers as knowing.
4. Going through interviews builds confidence and skill at handling interview situations, even though all interviews don’t pay off in a job offer. Try role-playing interview situations with a friend before your first interview.
Practical suggestions: keeping a job
1. Develop and maintain an active, visible presence in department, college, and profession. Giving papers and colloquia is a more rapid way of developing visibility than waiting for publications to appear. Don’t wait
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passively to be shot down at tenure or earlier; find out what to do to make yourself indispensable to department or college and/or become marketable elsewhere in Germanistics or in another field.
2. Do not accept all the “shit-work” teaching and service assignments of your department in the naïve assumption that such a “cooperative attitude” will guarantee job security. Find out what will count in person decisions (cooperation may be among them) and concentrate on these: don’t be afraid to assert your own professional interests—it may help to establish your reputation as one who takes herself and her work seriously and cannot be “walked on.”
3. Instances of discriminatory or unfair treatment should be challenged from the beginning of your employment situation on. Dated records should be kept of such experiences, including memos of conversations with chairpersons, deans, etc. Such documentation may be essential in building a case if a subsequent personnel decision is to be appealed or challenged. Mention of engaging a lawyer (and doing it) can be effective at the appropriate time, though caution may be in order—this can also be counterproductive, depending on the stage and the chances of the case. If you are seeking federal help for legal actions, the Department of Labor is more supportive of sex discrimination cases than is HEW.
4. What about academic and political involvement in Women’s Studies and other feminist activities? While being an aggressive supporter of feminist causes may earn one a reputation of troublemaker or outsider, such involvement may also be a source of job strength as enrollments in traditional German programs decline. Women’s Studies programs are proliferating in colleges throughout the country, even though their status may sometimes be precarious. Where possible, feminist Germanists can try for joint appointments with Women’s Studies programs.
For personal, professional and political reasons we should work at the double tasks of bringing feminist approaches to Germanistics and of bringing the study of German culture and society into the wider forms of Women’s Studies nationwide.
III. Career and life: alienation or integreation?
The sense of frustration and alienation that many of us experience as women and feminists in a male-dominated profession may lose some of its personal painfulness if we recognize that such contradictions between our needs for human fulfillment and the conditions of survival in the field are inevitable within the patriarchal system. Give this awareness, we must then decide how far we are willing to compromise what we believe is important with the demands of the profession. For a number of us a genuine integration of the personal, professional and political spheres has become possible as we have begun to bring both feminist content and process into our work in the classroom and in scholarship, as one of us put it, by “doing revolutionary work.” A further solution to the alienation inherent in our situation has been found by some of us in new life-styles emphasizing relationships among women; such communities can provide us a clearer critical perspective on our profession and necessary support for resistance to its often excessive and dehumanizing demands as well as the vision and energy to build a new, less alienating professional and social reality.
Joey Horsley,
Secretary of the session