“Feminism has fought no wars. It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practised no cruelties. Its battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety on the streets, for childcare, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women’s refugees, reforms in the law. If someone says, ‘oh I’m not a feminist,’ I ask, ‘why? What’s your problem?”
...
In 1980, Dale published Man Made Language – originally her PhD thesis.
The work established her as a feminist academic and remains influential in contemporary analysis of sexism in language and in the social and political reality it creates.
Her research unearthed a factor that even women questioned: in mixed sex conversations it was not women who talked too much.
It was men who dominated and who interrupted when others, especially women, were speaking.
She was delighted when the word ‘mansplaining’ gained currency.
She noted that until the terms ‘sexism’ and ‘sexual harassment’ were coined, women who objected to men’s behaviour were mocked as lacking a sense of humour.
https://archive.md/aholg#selection-853.0-873.156
Original article https://www.couriermail.com.au/lifestyle/vale-dr-dale-spender-am-brisbanes-brilliantly-controversial-writer-teacher-feminist/news-story/cdf9480cf2d36a9cd192e666784a1bc3?amp&nk=49dc74271abd60956fdda6ef2ae68eb1-1700910673
( ... In London she joined the Fawcett Society, a charity named after Millicent Fawcett, a suffragist and women's rights campaigner. She adopted the purple, green and white of the suffragists and determined that in future she would wear only purple. ... )
I will admit I was not as aware of her work as I probably should have been. So partly posting as a reminder that many of our gains aren't because of the well known "names" we hear today, but the many women who consistently worked and contributed to women's liberation over the years.
(sorry in the wrong forum - have asked MNHQ to move.)