Free and open to the public, this small-group discussion series encourages informed conversations around complex topics affecting Virginia. On the second Wednesday of each month, the Library will screen a segment from a documentary film, followed by a round-table conversation with input from a moderator and historical expert from the Library. Attendees are encouraged to share their perspectives with the group.
March 11, 2020’s event featured a screening from the Netflix documentary Feminists: What Were They Thinking. Our conversation centered around current and historic feminist terminology and attitudes. The Library of Virginia’s Education & Outreach Manager, Catherine Wyatt, moderated our discussion and our Exhibitions Coordinator, Barbara Batson, lent her expertise on suffrage and feminism. For more information, contact Cindy Marks at cindy.marks@lva.virginia.gov.
Potential Discussion Questions:
- Is the feminist movement as relevant and necessary today as it has been in the past?
- Do you feel the term “feminism” carries too much baggage for usage today? If so, what term is used more frequently by women in current generations?
- Does the idea of intersectionality aid or detract from a feminist agenda?
- Do women who are more oriented towards careers or service as fulfillment feel differently about feminism than women who choose to stay shy of the workforce because they find their homes and raising their children a more fulfilling orientation? How about women who do not have the option to choose a focus but do both—where do they see feminism playing a role in their lives?
- What factors contribute to women’s equality?
- Does equality in society ever happen organically or is it a constant battle?
- Does a feminist have to be female?
LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA RESOURCES
Books:
- Creating a Progressive Commonwealth : Women Activists, Feminism, and the Politics of Social Change in Virginia, 1970s-2000s – by Megan Taylor Shockley
- Virginia Women : Their Lives and Times – by Cynthia Kierner and Sandra Treadway
- Women’s Reform in Islam – by Amina Wadud
- Feminism and Socialism – by Linda Jenness
- Woman Suffrage and the Origins of Liberal Feminism in the United States, 1820-1920 – by Suzanne M. Marilley
- The Tangled Roots of Feminism, Environmentalism, and Appalachian Literature – by Elizabeth Sanders Delwiche Engelhardt
- The Disorder of Women: Democracy, Feminism, and Political Theory – by Carole Pateman
- Remapping Second-wave Feminism: The Long Women’s Rights Movement in Louisiana, 1950-1997 – by Janet Allured
- Voices of the New Feminism – by Mary Lou Thompson
- Radical Feminism – by Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine and Anita Rapone
- Rebirth of Feminism – by Judith Hole and Ellen Levine
- The Campaign for Woman Suffrage in Virginia – by Brent Tarter, Marianne Julienne and Barbara Batson, Library of Virginia historians
- Votes for Women! The American Woman Suffrage Movement and the Nineteenth Amendment – by Marion Winifred Roydhouse
- All Stirred Up: Suffrage Cookbooks, Food, and the Battle for Women’s Right to Vote – by Laura Kumin
- Home Without Walls: Southern Baptist Women and Social Reform in the Progressive Era – by Carol Crawford Holcomb
- Remaking Appalachia: Ecosocialism, Ecofeminism, and Law – by Nicholas F. Stump
- History & Feminism: A Glass Half Full – by Judith Zinsser
- Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum American – by Nancy Isenberg
- Encyclopedia of Feminism – by Lisa Tuttle
- Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions of American Feminism – by Josephine Donovan
- Religious Issues in Nineteenth Century Feminism – by Donna Behnke
- The Origins of the Equal Rights Amendment: American Feminism Between the Wars – by Susan Becker
- Feminism Without Illusions: A Critique of Individualism – by Elizabeth Fox-Genovese
- Gyn/ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism – by Mary Daly
- The Grounding of Modern Feminism – by Nancy Cott
- Engaging Feminism: Students Speak Up & Speak Out – by Mary Wyer and Jean O’Barr
- A Black Woman’s History of the United States – by Kali Gross and Daina Ramey Berry
- Black Women, Feminism and Black Liberation: Which Way? – by Vivian Verdell Gordon
- Segregated Sisterhood: Racism and the Politics of American Feminism – by Nancie Caraway
- Sexual Power: Feminism and the Family in America – by Carolyn Johnston
- Still Missing: Amelia Earhear and the Search for Modern Feminism – by Susan Ware
Archive Materials:
- Zelda Kingoff Nordlinger Papers, 1970-2007. Accession 31719, 44035. Consisting of articles, bills, biographies, church bulletins, campaign buttons, circular letters, civil actions, clippings, essays, letters, lists, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, press releases, questionnaires, resolutions, and speeches relating to Nordlinger’s activities as a member of the Women’s Liberation movement and the National Organization for Women (NOW).
- Zelda Kingoff Nordlinger journals, 1985-2008. Accession 45328. Personal papers collection.
- The Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. Accession 37797
- Virginia Chapter of the National Organization for Women Records, 1971-2004, 2011. Accession 43458
- Virginia Equal Rights Amendment Ratification Council. Records, 1970-1982. Accession 31486
- Papers, 1954-1985, of Carroll Kem Shackelford, Orange County attorney and counselor of law, concerning her legislative activities on the Equal Rights Amendment and other women’s rights legislation. Accession 32577
- Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams. Papers, 1917-1990. Accession 37402
- League of Women Voters of Virginia records, 1920-2011. Accession 39487
- A Report on the Legal Status of Homemakers in Virginia, 1977. Database of Virginia Entry
Articles:
- “The Challenger: Zelda Nordlinger Ignited Richmond’s Woman’s Rights Movement in 1969,” Broadside: the Magazine of the Library of Virginia
- “Betty Friedan to Beyonce: How the Generation that Grew Up with the Internet Embraces Feminism on Its Own Terms,” Washington Post (available only with your Library of Virginia library card)
- “Merriam Webster’s Word of the Year Largely Has Kellyanne Conway to Thank,” Washington Post (available only with your Library of Virginia library card)
Blog Posts from the UncommonWealth:
- “Legislative Debutantes”: 95 Years Of Women In Virginia’s House Of Delegates
- “Our Share In The War Is No Small One”: Virginia Women And World War I, Part I
- “Our Share In The War Is No Small One”: Virginia Women And World War I, Part II
- Last Call: Women And The Repeal Of Prohibition
- “Really and Truly A Citizen”: Virginia Women Register to Vote in 1920
- Unfinished Business: The Fate of the Equal Rights Amendment
Resources Related to the Library’s 2020 exhibition We Demand: Women’s Suffrage in Virginia:
- Exhibition Home Page
- The Library’s Women’s Suffrage Playlist on YouTube
- Read several blog posts about Women’s Suffrage in Virginia on the UncommonWealth.
- Suffragists Biographies
Videos:
- Virginia Humanities Research Fellow Talk: Finding Virginia’s Historical Midwives
- Mary Sarah Bilder discusses her book “Female Genius”
EXTERNAL RESOURCES
Books:
- Sex, Gender, and the Politics of ERA: A State and the Nation by Donald G. Mathews
- The Oxford Handbook of Transnational Feminists Movement by Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen
Articles:
Why the Fight Over the Equal Rights Amendment Has Lasted Nearly a Century from History.com
Websites & Podcasts:
- The Ordinary Equality podcast
- 7 Googled Questions About Feminism Answered by Feminists on the amnesty.org website
- Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions – by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- We Should All be Feminists – by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Virginia Commonwealth University Special Collection: The Virginia Feminist Oral History Project, 2013-2014. The Virginia Feminist Oral History Project consists of oral history interviews that Dr. Megan Taylor Shockley conducted with women involved in second-wave feminism and related activism in Virginia during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
- The Combahee River Collective Statement – We are a collective of Black feminists who have been meeting together since 1974. During that time we have been involved in the process of defining and clarifying our politics, while at the same time doing political work within our own group and in coalition with other progressive organizations and movements.
- Stanford University list of feminist websites, blogs, and resources
- Kent State LibGuide to Feminist Resources
- The Wild Woman Project list of Feminist Resources
- Suffolk University LibGuide to Women’s Studies: Essential Writings of Feminism
- Syracuse University Library Feminism – Research and Resources
- Duke University Feminist Movements, 1880s to the Present
TED Talks:
Why I am not a feminist | Betsy Cairo | TEDxMileHighWomen
What does the word “feminist” mean today? In this informative talk, Betsy Cairo explores the impact of gender specific language in our culture, and wonders if the word “feminism” itself has stalled the movement. Is there a better option, and what would it mean to let this word go?
We should all be feminists | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | TEDxEuston
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie a renowned Nigerian novelist. She was named one of the twenty most important fiction writers today under 40 years old by The New Yorker and was recently the guest speaker at the 2012 annual commonwealth lecture. She featured in the April 2012 edition of Time Magazine, celebrated as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Is Modern Feminism starting to undermine Itself? | Jess Butcher | TEDxAstonUniversity
Jess Butcher is a entrepreneur, non-exec director and angel investor. Co-Founder of Blippar, one of Britain’s best-funded technology scale-ups and one of the world’s leading computer vision and augmented reality technology platforms. She is the recipient of numerous female entrepreneur and tech awards including BBC’s Top 100 Women and Fortune’s Most Powerful female entrepreneurs and is a passionate start-up mentor, public speaker and writer on subjects as diverse as women in technology, female entrepreneurialism, digital innovation, digital detox and work-life balance.
MEETING THE ENEMY A feminist comes to terms with the Men’s Rights movement | Cassie Jaye | TEDxMarin
By facing long-held assumptions, one woman reevaluates her own gender biases. Documentary Filmmaker, The Red Pill. Cassie Jaye founded Jaye Bird Productions in 2008, which has since produced a collection of documentary films that have been praised for being thought-provoking, entertaining and respectful in representing multiple competing views within each film. Jaye is known for tackling complex and often controversial subject matters.
Stop fighting for feminism | Minh Thuy Ta | TEDxBaDinh
Feminism seems to be a hot trend with strong images of female stars. But do you really understand Feminism? Ms. Minh Thuy Ta shares her idea on Feminism from the perspective of her work life and personal life. Minh Thuy Ta (VJ Thuy Minh) is a journalist, TV host, a columnist, an author and a single mom.