A History of U.S. Feminisms by Rory C. Dicker

Author:Rory C. Dicker
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781580056144
Publisher: Seal Press
Published: 2015-01-10T16:00:00+00:00

Feminism at the Newsstand

When Ms. magazine began publishing in 1972, most monthly magazines aimed at women focused on beauty and fashion or homemaking and decorating. Most publications directed at feminists were mimeographed articles and newsletters distributed in very small quantities. Created by journalist Gloria Steinem and editor Patricia Carbine, Ms. tried to combine the political analysis of feminist publications with the slick production values of women’s magazines, becoming in the process the first mainstream feminist periodical on the market.

Appearing inside the December 20, 1971, issue of New York magazine, the preview edition of Ms. featured articles such as “Raising Kids Without Sex Roles,” “Women Tell the Truth About Their Abortions,” and “Lesbian Love and Sexuality.” Jane O’Reilly’s “The Housewife’s Moment of Truth” introduced the concept of the “click” to feminist discourse; O’Reilly described the click as the moment of awareness that women feel when they suddenly realize the sexist assumptions permeating their everyday lives. Judy Syfer’s now-classic “I Want a Wife” outlined, with great humor, the invisible and unrewarded work done by housewives.

When the first freestanding issue of Ms. hit newsstands in July 1972, it sold three hundred thousand copies in eight days. While naysayers such as the television journalist Harry Reasoner quipped that the magazine would last six months before it “ran out of things to say,” this prediction proved incorrect: Ms. continues to be published more than forty years later. Also critical of the magazine were radical feminists, who saw the publication as offering a watered-down version of women’s liberation, one that tried to be palatable and politically correct to everyone. They criticized the glib feminism Ms. packaged and delivered along with advertisements that signaled the magazine’s co-optation by capitalism. Recognizing that it would not be able to please everyone, Ms. tried to find a middle ground that would reach seasoned feminists as well as converts. The many letters it received attested to the magazine’s ability to influence and inspire housewives and working women alike. And the periodical’s introduction of the word “Ms.” to the popular lexicon gave women a title that hid their marital status, analogous to “Mr.,” which men had been using for centuries.

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