MNers who were woman-ing the barricades and burning bras to enable us to win the right to have oral contraceptives, rights at work and the rest - come and tell me about Feminism in the 70s and 80s!

[tabouleh]

What the thread title says really!

I've become aware that there are some inspirational MNers who were active in the 70s and 80s and I'd be really interested to know more.

Also are we (women) where you expected us to be in 2010?

What do you think of the recent revitalisation of the feminist movement?

BUMP!
This was a good thread!

Loads of people said they'd send this thread to their mums.

Where are you, mums?

Tell us your stories!

Greenham women...anyone else out there with fond memories?

Went to Greenham with some Hackney women (wimmin?) of various sundry types. Still fondly remember one of them traipsing through the mud in floral kneelength M&S frock, tights & court shoes. Oh joy. We were in the 2nd phase of consciousness raising, just about to move away from the idea of actually changing anything in favour of aromatherapy massage and poetry. Not that useful on a miners' picket line, but still nice in its own way. Don't think we understood how badly the 80's Thatcherfest was going to affect women and usher in the rejection of collective solutions in favour of personal advancement. So feminism got repackaged as empowerment, sexual liberation as porn.

As Greenham woman of the 1980"s my experience of feminism was primarily of sisterhood.Of the woman in the floral dress standing alongside the woman in long johns and monkey boots.Of strength.Of feeling the fear and doing it anyway.We showed the world what women could do.Well,that"s what it felt like! Oh happy days!

My mum would love this thread! She's always telling us how she tried to open a building society account but they wouldn't let her without my dad's permission. She could have gotten this easily but decided instead to kick up such a stink until they caved in exhausted and let her. That was her big triumph! Go mum ...

When I was a kid some girls wanted to do technical drawing but this caused a huge fuss. In the end the teacher came into home ec and said we could do tech as long as we "didn't come crying when we broke a nail"!!! That put me off knowing I wouldn't be welcome and I always regret it.

As a youngish teenager in the 80s I wore dms big hair and felt relatively optimistic thinking the old way was on the way out. Little did I know!!!! I remember having a sinking feeling watching Madonna's Like A Virgin video thinking no that's not the way we should be going. Unfortunately the whole irony thing was setting in and it was seen as churlish to complain.

Still a long way to go but we have gained so much thanks to our mothers' generation and that's why I'll always call myself a feminist. It would be ungrateful not to.

Funny old world isn"t it? Funny to think now that I didn"t give a moments thought to the whole "girls doing home economics and boys doing woodwork thing" at school! It"s just the way it was!It was only after school I fell into the world of women"s groups and DM"s!Mid -80"s -was I coming of age and enlightenment or was enlightenment just reaching the masses?Either way I was warned that I was never going to get a boyfriend as I was too militant and would scare them all off!!!