Fifty years ago, we who are Senior College women participants were starting our adult life paths, most likely in the evolving stages of family formation. And, for many of us, the “women’s liberation movement” turned everything we knew or thought we knew about being a woman on its head. It was a time that changed lives and the course of history. The structure and goal of this class will be to create a small, facilitated discussion group to revisit pages that suddenly made our clearly defined paths not so paved, our feelings of doubt, emptiness, and frustration given voice, and our questions find unexpected and exciting answers. Answers that spurred us to leaps of faith knowing that we had “sisters” that were right there, arms connected. We will read together two of the most influential books of that time, The Feminine Mystique by Betty Frieden and the novel, The Women’s Room by Marilyn French. I will also provide a bibliography, timeline, and of other notable feminist works prior to class start. I will not “teach” but rather serve as a companion guide through discussions that allow all to share their histories during this singular era and our responses to cracking the spines on historic writings now 50 years later in, once again, scary times. Class Limit: 10
Instructor Marion Coleman received her doctorate in Sociology (focus on family, mental health, and evaluation research) from the University of Texas in Austin. This class, while informed by that education, actually draws upon her work prior to graduate school when she worked in the mid 1970s for the United States Army teaching classes in the Human Relations Division to active-duty soldiers on Feminism/Equal Rights Amendment, and Women in the Military at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma. At the same time, she facilitated consciousness-raising groups and taught Assertiveness Training to military officers’ wives. The class/discussion will be offered in person only because that circle of sharing from 50 years ago needs to still be the same safe space.