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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 -
Oberlin Review, May 8, 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 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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On March 8 members of Women’s Liberation sponsored a series of activities for International Women’s Day. A male, upon hearing about the celebration, said, ‘They got Mother’s Day, what more do they want?’
“International Women’s Day Dramatizes Oppression,” Oberlin Review, March 9, 1971 -
Oberlin Review, February 23, 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 -
At a general women’s meeting held last Thursday in Wilder an ad hoc history course in the status of women in America was proposed…The unfortunate lack of historical studies on the status of women is indicative of the need for basic research in the field. As a consequence, much of the class reading would necessarily be in primary source materials, constantly forcing the student to evaluate these readings as historians and to construct, in part, the as yet unwritten history of American women.
Letter to the Editor, Oberlin Review, November 24, 1970 -
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…We need to see ourselves not only as women of Oberlin, but as part of a historical continuum…Therefore, we feel a pressing need for the initiation of Women’s Studies Program at Oberlin College.
“Department of Women’s Studies,” Oberlin Review, November 17, 1970 -
Oberlin Review, November 4, 1966
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Women always seem to be the first to be shuffled around, and the last to get what they want.
“What is the Status of Women at Oberlin?” Oberlin Review, February 7, 1975 -
A proposal for a Women’s Studies curriculum planning course was recently rejected by the Educational Plans and Policies Committee. Their main contention in turning down the proposal presented by Ellen Henle, instructor of history, was that courses about courses do not merit academic credit. The intent of the course, which would have started at Spring Break, was ‘to have students collect and evaluate information on Women’s Studies curricula being offered in other institutions so that a well planned program on Women’s Studies at Oberlin may be realized.’…Precedent for a course about course planing now exists in the Afro-American Community and Student Development Program, but even without that precedent, there is clearly educational value in a critical review of the literature in a currently developing field.
“Women’s Course Proposal: Why Rejected?” Editorial, Oberlin Review, April 19, 1974
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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