Talk:Social feminism

Social feminism in the later years (1920-1960s)
I am a student in Feminist Economics and Public Policy planning to make revisions to this article as part of a class project. This article focuses on the activities of social feminists in the late 1800s and early 1900s, particularly the women’s suffrage movement. It draws some distinctions from “equity feminism,” or equal rights feminism, but due to its historical focus on the early twentieth century, it glosses over the activities of social feminists in later years, mainly their opposition to the ERA. I propose adding content to this page about the activities of labor feminists, who advocated for social rights in the decades prior to the rise of equal rights feminism, and the debate between labor feminists and equal rights feminists over the ERA. The revisions will primarily affect two areas of the article.

First, I will add an overview of labor feminism to the social feminism introduction section. This section currently equates social feminism with the women’s suffrage movement, but labor feminists continued to advocate for protectionist legislation and special benefits for women after women won the right to vote. Second, I will add under “America” a new sub-section on the activities of labor feminists from 1920 through the 1960s, with a specific focus on the ERA. Labor feminists opposed the ERA because they did not want to end all distinctions based on sex. I will address in more detail 1) the labor feminist position, 2) the legal debate whether there could be a model of equal rights and special protections, and 3) the decline of labor feminism due to divisions within labor and the broader historical environment.

Here are some of the sources I plan to use: 1. Barbara Kirk Cavanagh, A Little Dearer than his Horse: Legal Stereotypes and the Feminine Personality, 6 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 260, 286 (1970-1971). 2. Dorothy Sue Cobble, The Forgotten American Feminists (2005). 3. Dorothy Sue Cobble, The Other Women’s Movement: Workplace Justice and Social Rights in Modern America (2004). 4. Alice Kessler-Harris, In Pursuit of Equity (2001). 5. Jennifer Klein, For All These Rights 1, 7 (2003). 6. Phillip B. Kurland, The Equal Rights Amendment: Some Problems of Construction, 6 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L.Rev. 243 (1970-1971). Dthim (talk) 21:43, 29 April 2015 (UTC)

Potential Additions
I think it might be helpful to add descriptions of other countries' activities in social feminism. It might also be helpful to have information about any lingering social feminist politics today. Finally, the section Dthim added from 1920s-1960s was really great and comprehensive. It might benefit from breaking it up into sub-sections.

Emeyer76 (talk) 14:27, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for your contribution, I think you did a good job. The text is clear and pleasant to read. I do agree with Emeyer that you maybe can add descriptions of activities in additional countries, and add some more information on current activities around the world. Maybe you can also add some references to the introduction? And add some more blue links? DewinneA (talk) 16:52, 13 May 2015 (UTC)


 * The additions are well-sourced and readable, but make the article a bit lop-sided. It starts with the movement in Europe and the US up to around 1920 for middle-class women to engage in social reform. It then shifts to labor feminism in the US, which is primarily about treatment of women in the workplace. Should the section on labor feminism be split into a separate article? I would be glad to make a start. Aymatth2 (talk) 21:46, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

I went ahead with the split in response to a template on this article saying it was excessively US-oriented. I think the result makes both the source and target articles a bit more coherent. Aymatth2 (talk) 14:38, 19 January 2016 (UTC)