2: Counterspells
The Lavender Menace was formed to protest the exclusion of lesbians and lesbian issues from the feminist movement at the Second Congress to Unite Women in New York City on May 1, 1970. Many of the women were members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the National Organization for Women (NOW). The phrase "Lavender Menace" was first used in 1969 by Betty Friedan, president of NOW, to describe the threat that she believed associations with lesbianism posed to NOW and the emerging women's movement. Friedan and some other straight feminists worried that stereotypes of "mannish" and "man-hating" lesbians would provide an easy way to dismiss the larger movement. The Lavender Menace protest, and the publication of their manifesto, The Woman-Identified Woman, are widely remembered as a turning-point in the second-wave feminist movement, and as a founding moment for lesbian feminism. The group continued to meet, calling themselves the Radicalesbians.
12" x 18" (30.5 x 45.7 cm) image size
Mawata paper
Edition: 3