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I have no doubt that Thurston would be a suitable home for a variety of different groups of people. It is, however, my overwhelming feeling that it is already someone’s home. The Collective is not a dorm for women. It is a house which women have cared enough about to make it a home in the fullest sense of the word. Our belongings are the house’s furnishings. We ourselves are a family. I consider the discontinuation of the women’s collective to be a dangerously damaging blow to women; I see the designation of Thurston to upperclass men a puzzling slap in the face.
“Why a Women’s Collective?” Oberlin Review, January 25, 1974 -
The fact that housing and dining can make an arbitrary determination to discontinue the women’s collective is offensive in terms of a seeming attempt by the administration to inhibit the development of the women’s movement at a time when affirmative action and declared institutional support require a responsive and even encouraging attitude.
Letter to the Editor from faculty member Brenda Way, Oberlin Review, January 25, 1974 -
Sociologically women have played a subordinate role in Western society and thus have not been considered historically relevant. Understanding and changing this secondary role is the purpose of Women’s Liberation, but such change is impossible if we cannot comprehend women as a historical entity. Relating to a small group of peers in consciousness-raising groups is a good experience, but it is insufficient—we need a broader perspective on women culturally and sociologically in order to define critical problems. We need to see ourselves not only as women of Oberlin, but as part of a historical continuum…Therefore we see a pressing need for a Women’s Studies Program at Oberlin College.
“Department of Women’s Studies,” Oberlin Review, November 17, 1970 -
Perhaps the most significant thing that can be said about women in this society is that we are relegated to the private world and not expected to enter the public sphere. We can look at careers in terms of being secretaries, maids, or whores. As a group, we are brainwashed to believe that we are physically and mentally inferior to men, and this feeling has led to our being passive women who do not feel qualified to assert ourselves as people, only as objects.
“The Woman Question,” Oberlin Review, May 8, 1970 -
Because men receive status in their roles and women do not, she explained, women suffer from lack of self-esteem and a lack of identity, while apologizing for their existence in a male dominated world. Instead of asserting themselves, they adopt behavior patterns of ‘having to please, attract, and submit.’
“Women Probe Their Sex’s Rights at Three Day Conference Here,” Oberlin Review, November 25, 1969 -
Oberlin Review, May 8, 1970
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Editorial, Oberlin Review, September 25, 1970
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Access and Activism: Reproductive Health at Oberlin College, 1960-1980 tomorrow, Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 10 am in Hallock Auditorium.
Please come! If you’re in Oberlin, I’d love to see you there, even if I don’t know you.
Hallock is the auditorium in the AJLC on Elm Street.
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Oberlin Review, November 17, 1972
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Oberlin Review, February 15, 1972
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I think that more and more women are discovering the power of sisterhood and are not striving to ‘measure up,’ not because we are afraid we won’t be able to, because we have decided that we don’t want to.
“The Women’s Movement: Striving for a New Perspective,” Oberlin Review, November 19, 1971 -
“Oberlin women are not exempt from cultural conditioning. We had dolls, chalk boards and tea sets when our brothers had cars, baseball bats and erector sets. Deep down there is a feeling that men are really more suited to lead an intellectual community or to compete in the marketplace, if not by birth then by upbringing. the unfortunate corollary is that we must model ourselves after the better model and surpass him at what is essentially his own game.
This is the psychology of the underdog, the modus vivendi of the oppressed minority. Before they recognize the virtues of womanhood, ladies will spend some time imitating men. We will wear work shirts, open doors for ourselves, and smoke pipes. But most of all, we will feel more relaxed with the label ‘one of the guys’ than ‘one of the girls.’”
-“An Oberlin Woman on Oberlin Women,” Oberlin Review, November 9, 1971
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One thing is certain, however. Oberlin women in general do not tend to identify with the Mademoiselle Magazine/Cathy Co-ed image. To say what exactly we do identify with is a difficult problem. Like women in society at large we are in the business of redefining our roles. And like them we are not yet able to say what it is that we want as we are not sure of what it is that we need.
“An Oberlin Woman on Oberlin Women,” Oberlin Review, November 9, 1971 -
Oberlin Review, April 27, 1971
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I walked into Women’s Lib after fall break to see what it was like, and stayed…Given half a chance, this group could do a lot for Oberlin, male and female.
“The Purpose of Women’s Politics,” Oberlin Review, December 11, 1970
My name is Brittany Craig and I'm a rising senior at Oberlin College. For the last year and a half, I've been working on a history of abortion and birth control access at Oberlin College. This has formed into a history of women's activism and reproductive health activism at Oberlin College. This is the dirt I find in the archives, bamf quotes, and other fun Oberlin facts. If you are an alum who graduated roughly between 1960 and 1980 and want to get involved, please email me at bacraig@oberlin.edu.
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