Consciousness raising groups were a major cornerstone of the feminist movement of the '70's. The purpose of these groups was to get women to see that the "personal was political." They were both a goal (causing awareness of oppression by sharing experiences) and a method to achieve a goal (motivation for political action.)<hr>
Small leaderless groups of women gathered and discussed personal experiences that have to do with being a woman. Experiences were shared and compared. A network of mutual aid developed. Ultimately through their stories, group participants realized that oppression did really exist. Eventually the "personal became the political" in the mind of the participants, and as numbers and support grew, the feminist movement of the '70's gained fuel and momentum.
Guidelines on how to run a consciousness raising group are spelled out on <a href="http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/crguidelines.html">
this website.</a> As a substitute for a group leader, the printed guidelines can be used, and poker chips can be used for each person that speaks. Playing cards or something else can be used just as easily.
After reading the article spacefem wrote last week about <a href="http://www.spacefem.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11223">Backlash, </a>I believe that the feminist movement needs to start all over from the ground up. Reading the spacefem forums, I can see so many examples of young women believing they are second class citizens, and don't have the value of men in society. The issues may not be exactly the same for women today as they were in the '70's but there is definitely a need for consciousness raising. And even though the majority of the members of the forum are under 18 and can't vote yet, I still see the need of consciousness raising. I'm not suggesting 70's style mass demonstrations of female high school students to gain some goal. But I can imagine poor self images improving when it becomes apparent that culture and society has been giving false messages of worthlessness to young girls, and support is offered from other girls in the group.
Here are some links to sources I used on the internet for consciouness raising groups:
<a href="http://www.nald.ca/canorg/cclow/newslet/1990/March_v7/11.htm"> Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women </a>
<a href="http://www.cwluherstory.com/CWLUArchive/crguidelines.html"> Chicago Women's Liberation Union</a>
<a href="http://free.freespeech.org/thrall/04fem.html"> Thr@ll, a magazine published by an independent collective of anarchists currently living in New Zealand</a.>
<a href="http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/women/html/wh_008100_consciousnes.htm"> Houghton Mifflin College Division, a textbook publisher</a>
Daughter of the fiercest pirate captain in high space, and pirate wench of the SNSDW
to your signature.
=)
