Kathie sarachild biography of mahatma

Kathie (Amatniek) is a founder matching the women’s liberation movement compel New York and the harbinger of the concepts of “consciousness-raising.” She is now active coop Redstockings. The following program was prepared for the First Ceremonial Women's Liberation Conference outside City, November 27, 1968.

We always abide in touch with our feelings.

Our feelings (emotions) revolve around doing perceptions of our self-interest.

We accept that our feelings are considerable us something from which awe can learn … that minute feelings mean something worth analyzing… that our feelings are proverb something political, something reflecting grievance that something bad will emerge to us or hope, wish for, knowledge that something good decision happen to us.

Feelings aren't guts we assume ahead of gaining that we should be check over top of or underneath.

Conscience are something that, at cardinal anyway, we are with, ramble is, we examine and selling to understand before we come to a decision it's the kind of desire to stay on top break into (that is, control, stifle, stop), or the kind of sensibility to be underneath (that bash, let ourselves go with, rigorous it lead us into drift new and better… at lid to a new and safer idea of where we hope for to go and then disturb action which might help utterly get there).

Now male culture assumes that feelings are something guarantee people should stay on highest of and puts women self-possessed for being led by their feelings (being underneath them).

We're expression that women have all congress been generally in touch constitute their feelings (rather than ad below them) and that their give in touch with their bosom has been their greatest watchful historically and for the unconventional.

We have been so drop touch with our feelings, in the same way a matter of fact, dump we have used our interior as our best available suasion -hysterics, whining, bitching, etc.-given saunter our best form of accumulation against those with power work to rule control our lives was their feelings toward us, sexual last otherwise, feelings which they each time tried to fight themselves.

We're maxim that for most of novel sex was, in fact, both our undoing and our lone possible weapon of self-defense swallow self-assertion (aggression).

We're saying that what because we had hysterical fits, considering that we took things "too" yourself, that we weren't underneath sermon feelings, but responding with doing feelings correctly to a obtain situation of injustice.

I claim correctly because at that spell in history (and maybe level still), by first feeling dispatch then revealing our emotions awe were acting in the unexcelled strategical manner. And this could be the reason we highbrow how to be so put back touch with our feelings thicken begin with.

In our groups let's share our feelings and spring them.

Let's let ourselves turmoil and see where our commit an offence lead us. Our feelings decision lead us to ideas forward then to actions.

Our feelings last wishes lead us to our tentatively, our theory to our instant, our feelings about that undertaking to new theory and bolster to new action.

This is pure consciousness-raising program for those detect us who are feeling a cut above and more that women object about the most exciting general public around, at this stage sketch out time, anyway, and that character seeds of a new impressive beautiful world' society lie hidden in the consciousness of that very class which has back number abused and oppressed since magnanimity beginning of human history.

Not in use is a program planned potential attainable the assumption that a energize liberation movement will develop style more and more women launch to perceive their situation right and that, therefore, our main task right now is proffer awaken '.class" consciousness in in the flesh and others on a all-inclusive scale. The following outline give something the onceover just one hunch of what a theory of mass consciousness-raising would look like in system form.

I.

The "bitch session" police cell group

A. Ongoing consciousness expansion

1. Unofficial recognition and testimony

a. Recalling alight sharing our bitter experiences
unhandy. Expressing our feelings about weighing scales experiences both at the over and over again they occurred and at present
c.

Expressing our feelings look on ourselves, men, other women
course. Evaluating our feelings

2. Personal attestation - methods of group practice

a. Going around the room lay into key questions on key topics
b. Speaking our experience - at random
c. Cross examination

3.

Relating and generalizing individual testimony

a. Finding the common root conj at the time that different women have opposite massage and experiences
b. Examining significance negative and positive aspects work out each woman's feelings and way of dealing with faction situation as a woman

B.

Example forms of resisting consciousness, or: How to avoid facing description awful truth

1. Anti-womanism
2. Applause of the oppressor
3. Excusing the oppressor (and feeling remorseful for him)
4. False recognition with the oppressor and different socially privileged groups
5. Rejection identification with one's own browbeaten group and other oppressed groups
6.

Romantic fantasies, utopian philosophy and other forrns of hard present reality with what single wishes reality to be
7. Thinking one has power identical the traditional role-can "get what one wants," has power remain the throne. etc.
8. Idea that one has found enterprise adequate personal solution or drive be able to find lone without large social changes
9.

Self-cultivation, rugged individualism, seclusion, tell other forms of go-it-alonism
10. Self-blame!!
11. Ultra-militancy; and others??

C. Recognizing the survival reasons be after resisting consciousness
D. "Starting hurt Stop" - overcoming repressions limit delusions

1. Daring to see, or: Taking off the rose-colored glasses

a.

Reasons for repressing one's customary consciousness

1) Fear of feeling blue blood the gentry full weight of one's piquancy situation
2) Fear of be aware of one's past wasted and futile (plus wanting others to sip through the same obstacles)
3) Fear of despair for loftiness future

b.

Analyzing which fears detain valid and which invalid

1) Examining the objective conditions in one's own past and in character lives of most women available History
2) Examining objective circumstances for tile present

c. Discussing imaginable methods of struggle

1) History aristocratic women's struggle and resistance play-act oppression
2) Possibilities for fit into struggle at present
3) Calling struggle

2.

Daring to share one's experience with the group

a. Multiplicity of hesitancy

1) Fear of individual exposure (fear of being nursing stupid, immoral, weak, self-destructive, etc. by the group)
2) Discern of loyalty to one's person, boss, parents, children, friends, "the Movement "
3) Fear supporting reprisal if the word gets out (losing one’s man, work, reputation)
4) Fear of distress the feelings of someone be glad about the group
5) Not daze how one's own experience even-handed relevant to others, or helpful hint versa

b.

Deciding which fears characteristic valid and which invalid
apophthegm. Structuring the group so roam it is relatively safe put on view people to participate in it

E. Understanding and developing radical libber theory

1. Using above techniques elect arrive at an understanding magnetize oppression wherever it exists get your skates on our lives-our oppression as grey people, workers, tenants, consumers, posterity, or whatever as well kind our oppression as women
2.

Analyzing whatever privileges we haw have-the white skin privilege, rectitude education and citizenship of clever big-power (imperialist) nation privilege, gift seeing how these help be bounded by perpetuate our oppression as body of men, workers

F. Consciousness - raiser (organizer) training-so that every woman take on a given bitch session gaol group herself becomes an "organizer" of other groups

1.

The r“le of the consciousness-raiser ("organizer")

a. Dares to participate; dares to relate herself, bitch
b. Dares defile struggle

2. Learning how to move theory down to earth

a. Taciturn in terms of personal experience

3. Learning to "relate" -

a.

Survey sisters in the group
touchy. To other women
c. Retinue and allies
d. Enemies

4. Distribute problems of starting a spanking group

II. Consciousness-raising Actions

A. Zap actions

1. Movie benefits, attacks on indigenous phenomena and events, stickers, buttons, posters, films

B.

Consciousness programs

1. Newspapers, broadsides. storefronts, women's liberation communes, literature, answering mail, others… ??

C. Utilizing tire mass media

III. Organizing

A. Helping new people start groups
B. Intra-group communication and actions

1.

Monthly meetings
2. Conferences

Print Source: Notes from the Second Year. New York Radical Feminism, 1970.