If you are interested in starting your own feminist consciousness raising group, here is a concise and easy introduction (with tons of questions to last for many many meetings). You can start groups in almost anything and it's really easy and simple to do. It does not have to be about feminism. It can be anything you are most preoccupied with or interested in. LGBTQ+ groups, environmental groups, black liberation, etc.
BECOMING AWARE OF OUR OPPRESSION One of the purposes of consciousness raising is to make us aware of the societal pressures that oppress women. Some women use the awareness gained from consciousness raising solely in their personal lives without becoming active in the women’s movement. This is a valid purpose of consciousness raising. It is hoped, however, that consciousness raising will help to radicalize us, as women, to participate in whatever action is necessary to change our society.
BREAKING DOWN
BARRIERS Women often feel competitive with other
women or isolated
from them. It is another purpose of consciousness raising to break down
these barriers and encourage open, honest communication among women.
PRIDE A third
purpose of consciousness raising is to develop pride in being a woman
through identification with other women.
The method of
consciousness raising may vary from group to group. However,
through practice and experience we have developed a format that we have found
to be the most effective. Try to follow this
format that we have found to be most effective. Try to
follow this format with your consciousness raising group for
a while. If it works, fine. If not, experiment with new procedures and stick to
the one that works best.
SELECT A
TOPIC. A topic is usually selected at the previous meeting so
that those who wish to may have time to consider it. The suggested
list of topics that follows is meant as a guideline and not as a
questionnaire·. Refer to the list when you need to and include what you
like. Sometimes you may even wish to spend
an entire meeting on a single aspect of a
topic. It is a good idea to discuss BACKGROUND EXPERIENCES before
moving on to ADULT EXPERIENCES, etc. This is invaluable for
developing trust and intimacy within the group. If you
plunge into a “heavy” topic such as marriage or lesbianism at your third
session, there may be women who will feel threatened or defensive, as you will
still be relative strangers to one another.
GO AROUND IN A CIRCLE.
This creates a kind of “free space” where
women can talk about themselves in a way
they may never have before. Going around in a
circle enables women who are
more reticent to have the
same opportunity to talk as more
aggressive women. It also helps us to listen
to each other and breaks down feelings of competitiveness
among us.
CONFIDENTIALITY.
Consciousness raising discussions are confidential. No one should repeat outside the group
anything that anyone says.
ALWAYS SPEAK
PERSONALLY, SPECIFICALLY AND FROM YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE. Try not to generalize, theorize or talk in
abstractions.
DON’T INTERRUPT,
except to ask a specific informational question or to
clarify a point. If someone else’s experience reminds
you of one of yours, you might take notes so that you remember what it is
you wish to say when it is your turn. Everyone
will get a chance to speak.
NEVER CHALLENGE
ANYONE ELSE'S EXPERIENCE. Try to accept that what another woman says
is true for her, although it may seem
all wrong to you. Keep in mind that she
may never before have had a chance to talk about
herself without being interrupted or challenged.
TRY NOT
TO GIVE ADVICE. The purpose of
consciousness raising is not to help you
solve your day-to-day problems (e.g. "How can
I become less dependent on my boyfriend?")
but to help you gain strength through
the knowledge that other women share many of your feelings and experiences.
SUM UP.
After each woman has related her personal experience with the topic, the
group should try to find the common element and see what conclusions
can be drawn. This is one of the most important
parts of consciousness raising because it is here that we can begin to discover
the nature of our oppression.
We have found
that 8 to 12 women is a good size for a group if everyone is to
get a chance to speak. Each member should have the
names, addresses and phone numbers of the other members. A group usually meets
once a week and lasts for about 3 hours. Skipping meetings
or perennially coming late can create bad feelings and isn't
conductive to on-going intimacy and growth. By the same
token, it is not a good idea to add people after say,
·your third or fourth meeting.
Groups usually meet
in a different woman's home each week. It is important to create an atmosphere
of informality and comfort. It helps to have coffee and something to eat
standing by that members can help themselves to during the meeting. Also, the
group should have privacy. Husbands, roommates or
parents should either be out of the house or in another room for the duration
of the meeting.
Consciousness
raising is different from therapy and encounter groups. Although it is often
therapeutic, its purpose is not the solution of
personal problems. Some of the means used in therapy to get at the
"truth"-- confrontation, challenge, acting-out -- are
all foreign to consciousness raising. Consciousness raising is,
rather, free space to talk about yourself as
a woman.
It is a good idea
to periodically devote an entire meeting to reviewing what each member expects
from consciousness raising and how the group can best achieve these goals. In
addition, to re-evaluate the direction of the group, this kind of meeting might
also provide an opportunity to air personal dissatisfactions and group
problems. This is best done in the usual consciousness raising fashion.
We have found that
many of the problems that arise within the group are the result of carelessness
in using consciousness raising technique. Often problems can be eliminated
simply by paying particular attention –for the next few meetings at least -- to
the consciousness raising format.
Occasionally, a
member of the group might have an urgent need to discuss a current personal
problem. An effective way of dealing with such a situation is to let her be the
first person to speak. Then, when she is finished, try to identify her main
emotion or feeling in the situation (e.g., loneliness, anger, dependency) and
use this as the topic for the meeting. In this way, the woman who has brought
the problem to the attention of the group feels that her problem is shared by
each of the other members. This is another way in which we can show support
toward one another.
Getting Together: How to
Start a Consciousness-Raising Group
Adapted from "Getting
Together,"
A pamphlet by Cape Cod
Women's Liberation
What follows is the text
of a pamphlet about how to start and run consciousness-raising groups, written
in 1972 by Marge Piercy and Jane Freeman for the Cape Cod Women's Liberation
organization. In response to many requests from WMST-L readers, Lynn
Freeland of Northwestern Michigan College re-typed it to make it available
online.
QUESTIONS THAT ARE LIKELY TO COME UP AT THE FIRST MEETING
I. Why can't we have men
in the groups?
We have all heard a
great deal from men in the course of our lives about what they think women are
or should be. It is time to examine ourselves. Because men and women
have different amounts of economic and social power in the society, our
behavior and often our interest differ. Often the women who most need the
support of a group are those who would be least able to get a word in edgewise
with aggressive and articulate men. If a man involved with a woman is present,
she may modify what she says to please, mollify, or to score points with him.
We often find ourselves unable to take seriously groups consisting only of
women, because the society does not grant us dignity: "hen parties,"
"just us girls," "kaffe-klatches," "gossiping with the
neighbors," and "picking each other apart" are the common images
of women in groups. One thing a consciousness-raising group can do is change
the way women relate to each other.
Many of us can't discuss
sexual or emotional events, marriages or past experiences honestly if men are
present. Imagine the problem of a woman trying to discuss a feeling that she
must pretend orgasm, in a mixed group. Often a discussion of sex in the
presence of a man becomes a form of flirtation or competition. Women cannot
find out what we have in common except in a group, a group we take seriously
and that consists of other women.
II. Why don't we have a
leader?
For most of us our
responsibilities have been focused on home and family. We have not had the
opportunity for decision-making or leadership. We all need such experiences. If
we don't have a leader, we can all go through the strains, tensions and
fulfillment of accepting personal responsibility for making something work. All
of us need to be spokeswomen for our feelings. We believe each of us, given the
chance, can fulfill the function of leader. And if one woman is "the
leader" the others will never get the chance to learn what each can do.
But sometimes we so much
fear leadership that no one takes responsibility for something the group has decided
to do. We can be so uneasy about having even temporary structure that no one
feels she has the group's permission to be the one to call a meeting or place
an ad in a newspaper. When there is a need for a spokeswoman or for a project
coordinator or chairwoman, the role can be rotated. No one should ever be
forced to take on a role that makes her uncomfortable, but public speaking and
writing and talking to people become easy only with practice. We can work in
twos to give each other support when we falter or are stuck.
III. What's the
difference between an encounter group and a consciousness-raising group? Aren't
they both doing therapy?
A women's group
ideally supports rather than negates
a woman's identity. By sharing feelings and experiences, we find what we
have in common and feel less weak and less alone. However, the aim of
coming together is not to adjust each other to the way things are. We don't
believe that we have trouble being "good women" or "fulfilled
women" because we're neurotic. We believe there's something wrong with
those roles we're supposed to spend our lives acting out. A feminist believes
that it isn't the case that we're too stupid or too inept to live up to our
programming, but that the programming is destructive.
Consciousness-raising
groups resemble therapy groups at times because personal experiences are
discussed and some meetings get emotionally heavy. Further, the group may help
a member to change behavior, if she decides she wants the change. The group may
offer emotional support in our struggles, but the direction of the change is
not usually toward adjustment. We are trying to learn to communicate and
to move away from viewing our "neuroses" as personal problems to
perceiving them as social issues. For instance, when we go around the room
talking about how each of us feels about her appearance, and we hear every
single woman expressing the same dissatisfaction with her body or her
personality (my breasts are too small, too big, too flabby, my stomach is too
round, my legs are too thick, I'm too loud, too quiet, etc.), we begin to
realize we are dealing with something larger than a personal hang-up. The
consciousness-raising group aims at changing our heads and our behavior but
also at preparing us to change the attitudes of society and the structured
roles that women, men and children must play today.
IV. What's the
difference between a consciousness-raising group and a women's studies, or a
discussion group in general?
The
consciousness-raising group is personal and political. It is not a
study group discussing ideas abstractly, removed to the intellectual plane.
The direction of the group is determined by the women in it. The group
is oriented toward actual change and has to deal with real life situations and
real emotions and real problems. Women who are best at summarizing abstract
ideas may have a hard time talking about their feelings and their fears.
Reading books and
literature can be useful, but mainly for getting started, introducing new
ideas, or getting launched again when the group has stalled. More and more
women are writing about their experiences and struggles. We want to stay in
touch with each other's ideas, battles and programs. We have much to learn from
each other.
HOW DO WE GET OUR NEW GROUP STARTED?
I. You might start by
discussing something everyone has read, to get over the initial awkwardness.
II. Try talking about
what each woman imagines feminism to be. Or what each expects -- hopes and/or
fears -- to get out of the group.
III. Personal histories
can be shared, what each woman does, her living situation, how long she has
been interested and how each found out about the group.
IV. Each woman can
briefly describe her background. We all have childhoods: they influenced us but
are less threatening to discuss than recent events.
V. Whatever we start
with, one simple method is to "go around the room." Each woman talks
in turn. That way no one is passed over. It is vitally important that every
woman speak.
After the first meeting,
you might want to choose topics in advance. Some groups do, some do not. You
might proceed by "going around" and seeing what people need to
discuss that evening. You might discuss some external event that relates to
women. Topics your group might want to discuss include:
CHILDHOOD MOTHERS
FATHERS GOAL CONDITIONING MENSTRUATION DATING SEXUAL EXPERIENCES MARRIAGE
DIVORCE SEXISM IN EDUCATION JOB DISCRIMINATION CHILDBEARING CHILDREN'S SEX
ROLES EXPERIENCES IN THERAPY AMBITIONS RAPE GOSSIPING VIOLENCE ANGER ATTITUDES
TOWARD OTHER WOMEN FRIENDSHIP ABORTION OUR OWN BODIES FEAR OF BEING RIDICULED
GAY WOMEN FEAR OF BEING ALONE THE POLITICS OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT
RELATIONSHIPS TO OTHER OPPRESSED GROUPS
WHAT IF ONE OR TWO WOMEN
DOMINATE THE GROUP?
You should talk about
the problem openly. Perhaps you could use poker chips or pieces of paper for
tokens: every time anyone talks, she has to spend a token. This has worked
quite well in some groups. We can also try having a rotating chair so that
every woman takes a turn, in turn.
THE MOST IMPORTANT
GROUND RULE IS NOT TO ABUSE TRUST
No one in the group
should ever repeat what the other women say -- not in bed, not at the table, not on the phone. If you live
with a man, he will usually ask you what the group talked about. Often he is
seeking reassurance. If you want to, there is no reason why you shouldn't tell
him what you said. But never, never
repeat what other women said. The easiest way to destroy a group and
injure other women is by gossiping about what we have heard. Groups cannot
function if each woman goes home and tells the man or woman she lives with what
she may have heard from other women in the group.
If two women live
together, experience seems to indicate they would be better off in different
groups. A relationship as close as being lovers or mother and daughter with
another woman in the group can keep us from using the group as we might
otherwise -- it can inhibit what we discuss.
OUR GROUP CAN'T SEEM TO
GET MOVING. WHAT'S WRONG?
Nine out of ten groups
start awkwardly, with long silences. When we know each other better as women,
those silences go away naturally.
Sometimes women come
once and don't return. For the first five or six meetings we may have women who
are new to the group. It appears that nothing is going forward. Awkwardness
remains. Frequently some woman arrives who wants to argue with everybody else
about why women's liberation is silly and unimportant, and a great deal of
group time is used rehashing that argument. Then she may go away and not come
back.
Perhaps after the first
couple of meetings, we should suggest to such a visitor that she observe the
group functioning and join in the general discussion, rather than taking up the
time of the whole group by arguing the question of whether it should exist.
Getting underway is a
straggly process and we must all be patient. If what we were doing was easy, we
would not have to bother. Eventually, sometimes not till a month or six weeks
later, we have a stable group and begin to talk to each other openly, to relate
to each other as women and to discover that what we had thought of as our
private hang-ups are no more individual than having two eyes and one nose, but
are issues common to every woman in the room. There we begin.
CLOSING THE GROUP
When we have eight to
ten women, some of us decide to stop taking in women at every meeting. Soon we
will be too big and people will feel lost and drop out. This isn't an iron
rule: none of these are, except for keeping confidence. We should get into the
habit of asking our group before bringing other women. After functioning for a
while, our group may feel it can take in new women again. On the other hand, if
someone in our group is going through bad troubles, she might not want to have
someone she doesn't yet know well, present at that particular meeting. New
women should be integrated into the group. At least part of a meeting
should be spent introducing yourselves and giving some history of the group.
With each new woman confidentiality should be stressed.
If our group gets too
big, we should not be afraid to split into two. That is not rejecting each
other. A group that is too big doesn't work. Some women don't get a chance to
talk.
COMMITMENT TO THE GROUP
No group will work if
the women in it don't take it seriously and make an emotional and intellectual
commitment. Women should come every week. If you really cannot come, you should
call. Putting social engagements, plays or movies first indicates the member is
not taking the group seriously. However, missing a meeting in order to get a better
perspective on the group or just to rest from what hopefully is an involving
process must be respected. We do need to be honest about why we are not
attending.
Not speaking up when we
disagree is something women are conditioned to do, but a habit that means that
what's said in our group won't really deal with our own ideas and that we are
being dishonest with ourselves or other women in our group. It is better to say
that we disagree or feel differently. We don't have to attack each other just
because we have different experiences or perceive something differently. But we
must honestly try to communicate, or we will once again have many silences, and
those silences will hide doubt and hostility.
Since we are often used
to talking things over with friends but not so used to functioning in groups,
we have a few bad habits that can hurt us. Often instead of being open with the
woman we disagree with, we tend to discuss the problem with one or two women in
the group we feel friendly with. That serves to cut the group into blocks and
to assure that the misunderstanding or disagreement will never be cleared up or
worked through. Sometimes we make our own women's groups unresponsive through
an unwillingness to put effort into really trying to work problems through.
Even in cases where we will never agree, to discuss our differences in the
group gives us a chance to learn from them.
We have a lot of
profound reconditioning to do, all the while subject to insults and
intimidations and casual put-downs every day. The problems are enormous and
it's easy to get discouraged. Our groups don't always function well, but we
have to stick through the rough times and invest some faith in ourselves and
other women in order that things can change.
HOW WOMEN SOMETIMES
THREATEN EACH OTHER IN CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING GROUPS
We all know through
experience what repression does to us, how it makes us frightened, unsure of
our ideas and unable to act. Discovering our repression is painful and creates
mistrust and anger as well as joy and high energy. We must use this energy to
confront ourselves and others. We don't want to turn this anger inward to hurt
ourselves. Anger turned inward is often experienced as depression. Sometimes
women become angry with other women in the group who remind them of themselves,
or their past selves. We have to try to be conscious of these feelings,
although we are not in a group to act our encounters with each other, but to
give support. Sometimes anger is misused by being turned against other members
of the group, rather than against those who have actually hurt us, or against
the institutions that are holding us down and denying us a fair chance.
We must try to express
our negative feelings directly but carefully -- not by a frontal attack or by
gossiping or putting the other women down when they are not there, but by
honestly explaining what the problem is. Often we can get past that uneasiness
and mistrust into a better sense of what the other person is like, and that is
often not what we had imagined.
We can learn from each
other's lives at all ages, and we must try not to focus discussions just on
women with children, or just on women who are married, or just on women living
with women. We need to be sensitive to clues we give each other about how we are
feeling, especially if those clues indicate a woman feels put down, withdrawn
or unable to talk. We can become bored or restless when an evening's discussion
centers on a phase of life we think is behind us, or one we have not yet
experienced. We have to learn to respect our differences.
We sometimes experience
differences as an attack. A woman who has children will hear a woman who has
decided to have none saying so, and will see it as an attack on her choice. A
woman who is happy in a monogamous relationship may feel criticized when
another woman talks about her none exclusive relationships. Every woman should
feel that she can talk honestly and be received with respect, no matter how
different her life is from the other women in the group. We are too divided
from each other by small differences that have little to do with our basic
situation.
Class or ethnic
differences can create static. Some women are more emotional, louder, less
inhibited in feelings and choice of words and expressions. Other women may see
these women as "violent" emotionally. More expressive women in turn
may feel the group is trying to make them act more middle class, more
traditionally feminine. Women who easily get angry and shout may be punished by
the rest of the group, who might, if they thought about it, like to do
something with their anger sometimes besides turn it into depression or
brooding.
We are not, as we have
been repeatedly told with words, gestures, actions, advertisements, pictures,
movies, signs, living only in order to be acted upon. If we disagree with
something in our group, we need to say so. The worst that can happen is that
another woman will disagree, perhaps with anger. This does not mean we will be
thrown out of the group.
Quiet women may trouble
others also. Other members may feel that women who don't speak, don't like what
is happening. Quiet women may make more verbal women feel uncomfortable or fear
they are talking too much. We should try to find out why some of us do not
talk. If it turns out that someone really has nothing to say at the time or
wants to listen, fine. But perhaps the more verbal women have not been
encouraging, and have left the quiet women out of the discussions. The only way
to find out what someone is feeling is to ask. We don't want to coerce each
other into talking or not talking. We want to make each other feel comfortable
contributing. At the same time, a few women cannot and should not keep the
group going. If this is happening, it should be talked about.
Some topics create
anxiety. If we sense a woman who is distressed wants to talk more and is
waiting for help, we should give that help. But we should not coerce each
other. If someone is pushed into talking about a topic before she is ready, the
chances of ever getting to talk openly about it in a manner useful for her and
everyone else are lessened. Our small groups are places where we can learn to
feel that what we have to say and give is worth something, and therefore so are
we.
RELATING TO OTHER GROUPS
We are all part of the
Feminist Movement throughout the country and across the world. There are few
formal membership organizations, but most consciousness-raising groups and
project groups relate through some umbrella organization in their area.
Our umbrella is the
Bath-Brunswick Women's Center. We consist of consciousness-raising groups,
project groups and concerned individuals. We meet the second Thursday night of
the month. Each consciousness-raising group should ask one or two of its
members to be a liaison to the Center Committee which meets irregularly on
Sunday nights. The Center Committee is working now on setting up courses and
study groups at the Women's Center, getting out a newsletter, reaching new
women. We need help in staffing the Center and providing the funds to keep it
running. Perhaps your consciousness-raising group may decide to work on a
project together and will want to use the Center, or perhaps you have your own
ideas for projects and ways to use the Center.
We can work on creating
new institutions to serve our needs -- day care centers, women's centers,
cooperatives. We can find meaningful work -- work that we feel good about, that
has some relevance to our lives. We can force changes in the policies of
hospitals, libraries and schools. We need to meet with each other to share our
ideas, get support and productive criticism for our projects.
For many of us it will
be a long time before we feel comfortable acting politically. Not all women
will want to work in the Women's Movement. We should encourage each other to
live, work and act in our own best interests.
Still,
consciousness-raising groups are intended to be more than discussion groups,
for in order to be a movement for change, we have to act as well as talk. What
is the satisfaction in raising our consciousness if that is only to increase
our awareness of an oppressive society and an intolerable living situation -
that only increases our frustration. The more we look at our lives, often the
angrier we get. But when we begin to make changes around us, we can use that
anger and energy to tear down and to build. We can find solidarity with each
other, friendship, closeness, and we can have the pleasure of reaching out to
other women and bringing them into new groups and new projects where we can
help each other to grow. The more there are of us, the stronger we are. The
more of us there are, the more we can change what has hurt us and what will
continue to hurt women of all ages until we have at last remade our world.
Unlearning to not speak
Blizzards
of paper
in
slow motion
drift
through her.
In
nightmares she suddenly remembers
a
class she signed up for
but
forgot to attend.
Now
it is too late.
Now
it is time for finals:
losers
will be executed.
Phrases
of men who lectured her
drift
and rustle in piles:
Why
don't you speak up?
Why
are you shouting?
You
have the wrong line,
wrong
answer, wrong face.
They
tell her she is womb-man,
babymachine,
mirror image, toy,
earth
mother and penis-poor,
a
dish of synthetic strawberry icecream
rapidly
melting.
She
grunts to a halt.
She
must learn again to speak
starting
with _I_
starting
with _We_
starting
as the infant does
with
her own true hunger
and
pleasure
and
rage.
Marge
Piercy
SUGGESTED TOPICS FOR CONSCIOUSNESS
RAISING
INTRODUCTIONS
1.
What is feminism to you?
2.
What do you expect --
hopes and/or fears -- to get out of the group?
3.
What do you do? Work,
school, hobbies, activities?
4.
What is your living
situation? Roommates? Pets? Living with
family?
5.
What is your life story?
(i.e. what is your family like? Where did you grow up? Where did you go to
college? What is the pride and joy of your life? What are your struggles? What was your childhood like?)
6.
Is there anything on
your mind in particular that you would like to discuss tonight that is
particularly critical to you at this moment?
GENERAL QUESTIONS
How have you felt most oppressed
as a woman, recently?
What do you think a Women’s
Liberation group (and the larger movement) can do for you?
Why did you come to an all-women
group?
What do you most want from this group
to accomplish?
Which do you prefer to have- a
boy child, a girl, no children? Why?
Do/did you ever feel dumber than
men? Why?
Do/did you ever feel you were
supposed to be dumber? Why?
Do/did you ever want your man to
be smarter than you? Why or why not?
Did you ever wish you were a man?
Why? Why not?
Have you ever thought you were
pregnant when you didn’t want to be?
Where you using birth control?
Did you tell anybody? Why or why not?
What did you do? How did you
feel?
What has it meant for women in
the group to earn their own money?
What has it meant to your mother
and her friends?
Has it been possible for someone
to earn her own money doing her own thing? If not, why?
Do women have to work to move
towards independence?
1. Do you get your money from a
man?
2. Do you give your money to a
man?
3. Do you work for a man?
4. Does a man work for you?
1. Are you, or do you want to be,
married (or its equivalent)?
a.
If so, why?
b.
If not, why not?
2. What are the advantages in
your particular decision about this question? Why?
3. What are the liabilities? Why?
If you’re married, why do you
think you’re married? If you’re single,
why do you think you are single? If
you’re in a relationship, why do you think you’re in a relationship?
Do you think you
have a choice in being married or being single?
If you’re single, how do you feel
about married women? If you're married, how do you feel about single women? Why
do you feel the way you do?
How do you feel about sex,
commitment and fidelity? How have your feelings changed over a period of time?
Why?
Do you feel that having sexual
relations with a man changed your attitude toward him? In what ways? Did
it change his toward you? Did you expect it to change yours or his? Did it ever
make
you feel more sense of urgency
about marriage or less?
Have you ever wanted to carry on
more than one sexual relationship at a time (to be unfaithful)?
Why or why not? If you did, how
did you feel?
Have you ever felt
"afraid" of sex? When and why? What were the things you were afraid
of? Did you ever feel afraid not to have sex? When and why? In general, have
you felt more afraid to have it than not to have it? If you haven't been afraid
why do you think you haven't been? Have you at times and not others?
Sex objects-do you feel like one?
If so, how? Do you ever feel invisible?
Are you a nice girl? What is a
"nice girl"? Were you a "nice girl"? Are you a bad girl? What
is a “bad girl”? Were you a “bad girl”?
Have you ever felt that men have
pressured you into having sexual relationships?
Have you ever been raped? Did you
stay? If so, why? Did you tell anyone?
Why or why not? Do you have “rape fantasies”?
What would you most like to do in
life and what has stopped you?
Why did you marry the man you
did? (or date the man you do?)
How do you feel men see you?
How do you feel about housework?
What does your husband do around the house?
Do you feel guilty when your
house is dirty?
Do you think that what you do
with your day is as important as what your husband does with his day?
What did/do you want to do in
life? What kept you from doing it?
How did you learn as a little
girl what "feminine" meant?
Do you worry about being
"truly feminine"?
What does "femininity"
mean to you in terms of your own life?
What did you do as a little girl
that was different from what little boys did? Why?
Did you ever want to do anything
else? What did your parents teach you about sex?
How do you feel about
menstruation?
How did you feel when you had
your first period?
What was your first sex
experience?
Have you had an abortion?
How do you feel about being
pregnant?
Do you enjoy taking care of your
children? If you don’t have children, how do you feel about taking care of
other children?
What hopes do you have for your
daughter? For your son? Are these hopes different? If so, why? If you don’t have children, what would your
hopes be for them if you did have children?
Do you think you could get a
better job? Why not?
Are you economically dependent on
a man?
What do you feel about
lesbianism? What do you know about it?
What is the basis of love between
a woman and a man? Between a woman and a woman? Between parent and child?
BACKGROUND EXPERIENCES
1. Childhood
training for your role as a woman:
a. Were you treated differently from boys?
b. What toys did you have? What games did you play?
c. What activities were encouraged? Discouraged?
d. What did you think it was going to be like to be a woman?
2. Early childhood
sexual experiences:
a. What experience did you have with children your own age? With
adults? How did you feel about these experiences at the time?
b. Did these experiences affect your view of sex? Did they
affect your view of yourself as a woman?
3. Puberty:
a. How did you feel about your bodily changes? Breasts? Body
hair?
b. What happened the first time you got your period? Were you
told what to expect beforehand? Was it a surprise?
c. What attitudes did you encounter toward your bodily changes
from your peers? From adults?
4. Adolescent
social life:
a. How did you spend most of your time? How did your parents
feel about how you spent your time?
b. What sort of relationships did you have with girls? Did you
have a best friend? How did you feel about girls your own age?
What did you talk about with other girls? What were your
activities?
Were there older women that you admired and wanted to be like?
c. What sort of relationship did you have with boys? Did you
date?
Was there pressure from your peer group to date? What were your
parents• attitudes toward dating? How did you get your dates?
What kind of boys did you date? What kind of boys did you want
to date?
d. How were your relationships with girls affected by your
relationships with boys? Which was more important?
e. What were your adolescent sexual experiences? Did you neck,
pet, make out, go all the way etc.? Were you concerned about your “reputation”?
5. First adult
sexual experience:
a. What did/does your virginity mean to you?
b. Describe 'the first time you had sex. What did you think it
would be like? Did it live up to your expectations? Was it voluntary? Was it
planned? Were you raped, seduced or pressured?
c. Did
you want to do it again?
d. How
did you feel about yourself afterward? Your partner?
e. Did you tell anyone about it?
6. Education:
a. What were your parents• attitudes toward education? Did you
feel they had the same attitude
for girls as they did for boys? What were your parents•
academic expectations of you?
b. What were your teachers/guidance
counselors expectations of you? Did you feel
they had different expectations of female and male
students?
c. What were your own aspirations? Were there courses that you
wanted to take but were discouraged from taking? What subjects
interested you most? Did these interests change as you went through school?
d. What kind of student were you? Were you competitive? With
whom did you compete?
e. Were you involved in any extracurricular
activities?
f. Was your education relevant to what you do now?
7. Religion:
a. What part did religion play in your childhood? Does it play
the same part now? What effect did it have on you as a woman? What was
your religion’s view of women?
8. Transportation:
At what age were
you allowed to travel alone? Was it the same age as a sibling of the opposite
sex?
Were there specific
instructions you received as a girl [or a boy] to deal with potentially
disturbing experiences?
Did you have disturbing
experiences in using public transportation?
Do you believe you would have had such experiences if you had been a boy
[or a girl]?
If you reported
such experiences, to whom did you report them and what was the response?
When an adult male
was driving, did anyone make comments on his driving? When an adult woman was
driving, did anyone make comments on her driving? Were the comments different
depending on whether a man or a woman was driving?
Are there any
places or any times you won't drive? Why?
ADULT EXPERIENCES
1. Masturbation:
a. Have you ever masturbated? If so, when did you begin? What connotations
did masturbation have for you?
b. How often and under what circumstances do you masturbate? How
do you masturbate? Do you have an orgasm? Do you fantasize?
2. Orgasm:
a. Have you ever had an orgasm? Have you
ever faked an orgasm? If so, why?
b. How do you feel if you don’t have an orgasm?
c. Describe what brings you to orgasm. Can you describe your feelings
and sensations during orgasm? Compare the orgasms you have during sex to those
you have during masturbation.
d. To have an orgasm: are you physically aggressive? Do you
communicate to your partner what will bring you to orgasm? Do
you depend totally on your partner?
e. Is it necessary for you to have an orgasm in order to enjoy
sex? Is it necessary that your partner have an orgasm in order to enjoy sex? Do
you feel that your orgasm is as important as your partner’s?
How important is orgasm, anyway?
f. How do you feel about the following: vaginal orgasm, clitoral
orgasm, simultaneous orgasm, frigidity?
3. Contraception: (withdrawal,
rhythm, pills, diaphragm, condom, foam, IUD, vasectomy, hysterectomy, tubal
ligation, etc.)
a. Do you use contraception? If so, what
method? Have you ever used any others? How do you feel about the methods you
have used?
b. Do you use contraception, or does your partner? Are you
satisfied with this arrangement?
4. Abortion:
a. Have you ever had an abortion? Describe your experience. How
did you feel about it? Would you have another one?
b. If you have never had an abortion, can you imagine yourself
in a situation where you would want one? How do you think you would feel?
5. Lesbianism:
a. What do you feel about lesbianism? What do you know about it?
b. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a sexual
relationship with another woman? Have you ever
felt sexually attracted to another woman? Have you ever had a
homosexual experience?
c. If you are not a lesbian, how do you react when you meet a woman
who you know is a lesbian? If you are a lesbian, how do you feel about women
who are not?
d. What are socially accepted ways of expressing
love for another woman?
6. Rape:
a. Have you ever been raped? By
a stranger, a husband, a friend or by someone
you knew? What happened? Did you feel you provoked it in any
way? Did you call the police? If so, what
was their reaction?
b. Have you ever been coerced into having sex? Have you
ever felt pressured to have sex with someone
when you didn’t want to?
7. Prostitution:
a. Have you ever had sex in exchange for: money, food, entertainment,
gifts, security, approval, etc.?
b. Have you ever wanted to be a prostitute? What do you imagine it
would be like?
c. Have you ever used your sexuality to
get someth1ng you wanted?
8. Marriage/Being
Single:
a. Are you, or have you been,
married or in a marriage-type relationship? Why did you get married?
Does/did being married live up to your expectations? How
does/did being married affect your self-image? Did/do you find yourself operating
within the traditional female/male roles?
b. If you are single, how do you feel about it? How would being
married affect your self-image? Do you feel pressured
by your family or society to get married?
c. Do you feel more important, or different, as
part of a couple, or on your own?
9. Other Women
a. Do you compete with other women? In what ways? For a man? For success? For attention?
b. How do you relate to women of a different economic status
and/or race? What things do you have in common? What things differ?
c. How do you relate differently to women in general than to
men?
d. Do you talking/gossiping behind women’s backs to other men,
other women? What do you get out of this
process?
e. Do you find that you compare yourself to other women? On the basis of weight? Achievements? Looks?
Popularity?
10. Housework:
a. How important is it to you to have a clean house? How is your self-image
related to the condition of your home?
b. If you’re living with someone, who does
the housework? Is it a shared responsibility? If so,
is it because of an agreement,
because one person nags the other, or
because both feel equally responsible?
11. Pregnancy and Childbirth:
a. Have you ever been pregnant or borne children?
How did you feel about yourself during pregnancy? What
was the attitude of those around you (i.e., the father of the child,
your parents, your employer, other
women, men?)
b. If you have not been pregnant, do you want to
bear children? Under what circumstances? How
would being pregnant affect your self-image?
c. If you became pregnant now, what would you do?
d. How do you feel about giving birth? If
you’ve had a child, was the labor and delivery
what you expected? How did you feel
about the child when you fir s t saw it?
e. What are some of the myths of pregnancy and delivery?
12. Motherhood and
Childcare:
a. How does, or would, being a mother affect your
self-image? How would you feel if you couldn’t
have children? How would deciding not to have children affect
your self-image?
b. If you are a mother, what is it like? Does
being a mother live up to your expectations? Whose
decision was it to have children? Is being a mother different from being a father?
How did becoming
a mother change your life?
c. If you live with someone, do you share childcare
responsibilities? If so, is it because of an agreement, because one person nags the
other, or because both feel equally responsible?
d. Do you consider childcare equal
in status to paid work? What is your attitude toward working mothers? Working
fathers? Do you, or would you, use daycare
facilities?
e. What are some of the myths
of motherhood?
13. Divorce:
a. Have you ever been divorced or separated or close to someone
who has been? How did you feel about
it?
b. If not, how would being a “divorcee”
affect your self-image?
c. What is the marital status of most of your friends?
d. If you have been divorced, why did you stay
married as long as you did?
14. Employment:
a. What were your parents• attitudes toward work? Toward women
working?
b. Did your family expect you to get married? To
have a career? To get a job and support yourself? Or what?
c. What kinds of jobs have you had, if
any? What did you like/dislike about them?
d. Describe your relationships with bosses or employees
of lower rank, both male and female. Do
you feel you have certain problems or privileges
in your job because you're a woman? Do you
think your job duties would change if
a man were to replace you?
e. How do you feel when people ask you “What do you
do?” What do you say?
f. If you work full time, do you
consider it a “job” or a “Career?” Why?
g. What role does your job play in your life?
h. If you are married, or in a
marriage-type situation, whose job is considered
more important? Who earns more money?
i. If there were a machine that
could give you any job, what button would you push?
15. Aging:
a. How old are you? How do you feel about this age?
b. What age do you consider to be 11 old? 11
c. What relationships do you have
with women who are considerably older than you? Younger?
d. How do you feel about getting older? Have you
noticed any changes in your body?
e. Are you satisfied with the attentions you receive from men
and women of your own age? Older? Younger?
f. Do you, or have you ever, disguised
your age? How do you feel when someone mistakes your age?
g. How do you feel about menopause? What
do you know about menopause?
16. Medical/Psychological
Care:
a. Psychological Care.
(1) Have
you ever been in therapy? Was it
with a male or female therapist?
Why did you go?
(2) Do you think
your therapist has/had any prejudice about women?
(3) Did your
therapist ever make any sexual advances
toward you?
b. Medical Care.
(1) Have you
ever been to a gynecologist? Have you ever had
a bad experience with a gynecologist-- i.e.,
condescending attitude, inadequate explanations,
careless or brutal treatment, sexual
advances?
(2) Do you think your
doctors understood your problems fully and
had confidence in their treatment?
(3) If you've ever had a vaginal
infection, ·how did it affect your feelings about yourself?
CONTEMPORARY ISSUES
Here are
some questions that concern women. These may be
discussed in any order and should be approached
both from personal experience and
with abstract thought.
1. How
does the media present women?
2. How
do you feel about your body? Fashion? Makeup?
3. Describe
some patterns in your relationships with men.
4. What is friendship?
What is love?
5. What part
has competition played in your life?
6. What is
femininity?
7. What is your
mother like?
8. What
are some of the myths of womanhood (i.e., Prince Charming)?
9. What kind of
fantasies do you have?
10. How do you
handle street harassment and
threats of violence? Do you feel you can defend
yourself adequately?
11. What makes
you feel secure?
12. How do
you manage money? How important are
material possessions to you?
13. How do
you feel about the following: monogamy, polygamy, communal living,
voluntary celibacy, living alone?
14. How do you
express anger?
15. What
is non-sexist child rearing?
16. What
are your personal goals?
THE LIBERATED WOMAN
1. What strengths
do women have?
2. What is a
liberated woman?
3. What are some of
the problems/pressures of a liberated woman?
4. What is the best
way to deal with a woman who is antagonistic toward the women's movement?
5. Can a woman with
a ''raised consciousness" still relate to men?
6. What is
equality? Is this what you want?
7. What are the
goals of the women's liberation movement? What are the goals of your group?
8. Is consciousness
raising a political action? Is it enough?
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