Ti-Grace Atkinson and the Legacy of Radical Feminism

Abstract

Ti-Grace Atkinson and the LegacyofRadical Feminism Breanne Fahs A peculiar problem arises when stories of social change—and the radi cal figures of those stories—persistently stay in the past tense. Much of what is known about the birth of radical feminism has been lost in archives, stunted by its out-of-print status or otherwise obscured by mainstream feminist efforts to make feminism palatable to a wider audi ence. As such, opportunities for intergenerational knowledge making and intermovement dialogue have been lost to many feminists who came of age after the late 1960s and early 1970s. In my ongoing work, I have sought to reestablish intergenerational links by gathering oral histories of early radical feminists.1 This article focuses in detail on the much understud ied Ti-Grace Atkinson, whose role in the early radical feminist movement has received less recognition than it should. I present parts of an interview with Atkinson examining the impact of radical feminism, its ideologi cal and political origins, key figures in the movement, her connection to key feminist figures, and lessons feminists have both succeeded and failed to learn while building and sustaining a progressive social movement for gender justice. I came conduct to this interview in the context of writing a book about Valerie Solanas—noted author of the scum [Society forCutting Up Men] Manifesto, whose shooting of artist Andy Warhol in 1968 provoked deep FeministStudies37, no. 3 (Fall 2011). © 2011 by Feminist Studies, Inc. 561 562 Breanne Fahs fissures within the feminist movement.2 In order to research Solanas, I interviewed several radical feminists, including Ti-Grace Atkinson, hoping to glean information about her contentious relationship with Solanas and to learn about Atkinson's role in the early years of radi cal feminism. Although my Atkinson interview certainly shed light on conflicts about Solanas, it also showcased Atkinson's role as a nucleus of early radical feminism, a one-woman networking powerhouse, and a subject of great interest in her own right. Atkinson, born November 9,1938, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, started as a writer for Art News in New York City. After divorcing her husband of five years in 1961, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964 and joined the National Organization for Women (now) shortly there after, eventually becoming its president in 1967. In 1968, she split off from now dramatically and publicly when now decided to maintain its organiza tional hierarchical structure (e.g., insisting upon a president) and refused to address systemic issues surrounding abortion and sex. Shortly there after, she founded The Feminists, a radical feminist group that remained active from 1968 to 1973 (although Atkinson's personal involvement with the group ended in April 1970). Atkinson self-published several pamphlets and gave numerous activist speeches on college campuses and commu nity forums in US and French cities. Most notably, Atkinson made history by arguing publicly against the Catholic Church (and being phys ically assaulted during a speech at Catholic University for discussing the Virgin Mary's sexuality), crusading against marriage as a form of spiritual and physical oppression, advocating political lesbianism as a response to patriarchy, and claiming that vaginal orgasm represented, as she titled a speech, a "mass hysterical survival response." She protested antiwoman policies of the Ladies' Home Journal, battled the New York City marriage bureau, fought to reconfigure abortion politics, publicly defended Valerie Solanas after the Andy Warhol shooting, and was recognized by the New York Times as feminism's "haute thinker."3 During this time, she also forged an alli ance with Simone de Beauvoir, befriending her and visiting Paris where she gave speeches on antirape and abortion organizing. She supported herself by "living on the edge" and, during her later years, finding small research fellowships and selling pieces of her archive to libraries. In the Breanne Fans 563 early 1970s, she was asked by Links Books to compile an assortment of her highly controversial speeches and writings into a collection called Amazon Odyssey: The FirstCollection of Writingsby the Political Pioneer of the Women'sMovement, which was published in 1974. The book had only one edition and is currently out of print, although it sold many copies by...