Republican Feminists: Between Party Loyalty and Women's Rights

FAIN: FT-60695-13

Julie Berebitsky
University of the South (Sewanee, TN 37383-2000)

The Republican Party was once a champion of women's rights. Beginning in the mid-1970s, this changed, and Republican feminists were faced with a choice: stay loyal to their party or to their feminist principles. The story of Republican feminists, however, is not just about what happened in the Republican party. It is also about what happened to these women when Republican became a dirty word in feminist circles. The rise of conservatism created an organized opposition to feminism, but it also made it difficult for Republican feminists to continue their work in bipartisan and nonpartisan feminist organizations. Studying these women illuminates how both large-scale party politics and small scale organizational squabbling affected women's ability to participate in the political process and the feminist movement. Such a study demands simultaneous attention to political parties, organizational politics, and the evolution of a social movement on both an individual and group level.