Women's Voices and Experiences of the Hill‐Thomas Hearings

Abstract

As activist research, this study of women's experiences of the Hill‐Thomas hearings was conducted within three weeks of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on Anita Hill's charges of sexual harassment by Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Unlike polls at the time, interviews of 100 Detroit‐area women (65 percent white, 35 percent African American) revealed a msyority of strong support for Hill, a default category of support for Thomas, age rather than race as predictor of strong support for Hill or Thomas, and responses of anger and pain from women across the board. The study brings out strengths and challenges of activist research.