Immodest witnessing: The epistemology of vaginal self-examination in the U.S. feminist self-help movement

Feminist Studies

Volumn 30, Issue 1, 2004, Pages

  Murphy, Michelle ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 3543044392     PISSN: 00463663     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (88)

1. Rickie Solinger, "Chronology of Abortion Politics," in Abortion Wars: A Half Century of Struggle, ed. Rickie Solinger (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), xii-xiii: California had already loosened its abortion laws in 1967, but the high fees and necessity of a medical board's approval still placed legal abortions outside the reach of all but the privileged few. In 1967, Colorado and North Carolina also reformed their abortion laws. In 1970, New York, Hawaii, and Washington legalized abortion. On the feminist scene in Los Angeles, see Sherna Berger Gluck et al., "Whose Feminism, Whose History? Reflections on Excavating the History of (the) U.S. Women's Movement," in Community Activism and Feminist Politics: Organizing across Race, Class, and Gender, ed. Nancy Naples (New York: Routledge, 1998), 57-80. My reconstruction of these events are based on interviews with Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer.
2. Rickie Solinger, "Chronology of Abortion Politics," in Abortion Wars: A Half Century of Struggle, ed. Rickie Solinger (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), xii-xiii: California had already loosened its abortion laws in 1967, but the high fees and necessity of a medical board's approval still placed legal abortions outside the reach of all but the privileged few. In 1967, Colorado and North Carolina also reformed their abortion laws. In 1970, New York, Hawaii, and Washington legalized abortion. On the feminist scene in Los Angeles, see Sherna Berger Gluck et al., "Whose Feminism, Whose History? Reflections on Excavating the History of (the) U.S. Women's Movement," in Community Activism and Feminist Politics: Organizing across Race, Class, and Gender, ed. Nancy Naples (New York: Routledge, 1998), 57-80. My reconstruction of these events are based on interviews with Lorraine Rothman and Carol Downer.
3. Lorraine Rothman, interview by author, 23 Oct. 1999.
4. On the Army of Three, see Ninia Baehr, Abortion without Apologies: A Radical History for the 1990s (Boston: South End Press, 1990). Carol Downer, interview by author, 24 Oct. 1999. See also Patricia Maginnis and Lena Clarke Phelan, The Abortion Handbook for Responsible Women (North Hollywood, Calif.: Contact Books, 1969);
5. On the Army of Three, see Ninia Baehr, Abortion without Apologies: A Radical History for the 1990s (Boston: South End Press, 1990). Carol Downer, interview by author, 24 Oct. 1999. See also Patricia Maginnis and Lena Clarke Phelan, The Abortion Handbook for Responsible Women (North Hollywood, Calif.: Contact Books, 1969);
6. On the Army of Three, see Ninia Baehr, Abortion without Apologies: A Radical History for the 1990s (Boston: South End Press, 1990). Carol Downer, interview by author, 24 Oct. 1999. See also Patricia Maginnis and Lena Clarke Phelan, The Abortion Handbook for Responsible Women (North Hollywood, Calif.: Contact Books, 1969);
7. Rothman, interview.
8. On the history of radical feminism, see Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-1975 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989); Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left (New York: Vintage, 1979); on the small group format, see Jo Freeman, The Politics of Women's Liberation: A Case Study of an Emerging Social Movement and Its Relation to the Policy Process (New York: David McKay, 1975).
9. On the history of radical feminism, see Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-1975 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989); Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left (New York: Vintage, 1979); on the small group format, see Jo Freeman, The Politics of Women's Liberation: A Case Study of an Emerging Social Movement and Its Relation to the Policy Process (New York: David McKay, 1975).
10. On the history of radical feminism, see Alice Echols, Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-1975 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989); Sara Evans, Personal Politics: The Roots of Women's Liberation in the Civil Rights Movement and the New Left (New York: Vintage, 1979); on the small group format, see Jo Freeman, The Politics of Women's Liberation: A Case Study of an Emerging Social Movement and Its Relation to the Policy Process (New York: David McKay, 1975).
11. On the history of the pelvic exam, see Audrey Davis, "Life Insurance and the Physical Examination: A Chapter in the Rise of American Medical Technology," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 55 (Fall 1981): 392-406; and Terri Kapsalis, Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997). For early critiques of exploitative medical practices, see National Women's Health Network, "Sterilization Abuse: What It Is and How It Can Be Controlled" (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Health Network, 1981): Helen Rodriguez-Trias, "Sterilization Abuse," in Biological Woman-the Convenient Myth, ed. Ruth Hubbard, Mary Sue Henefin, and Barbara Fried (Cambridge: Schenkman, 1982); Adele Clarke, "Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse: A Reproductive Rights Analysis," in Test-Tube Women: What Future for Motherhood? ed. Rita Arditti, Renate Klein, and Shelly Minden (London: Pandora Press, 1984), 188-212.
12. On the history of the pelvic exam, see Audrey Davis, "Life Insurance and the Physical Examination: A Chapter in the Rise of American Medical Technology," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 55 (Fall 1981): 392-406; and Terri Kapsalis, Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997). For early critiques of exploitative medical practices, see National Women's Health Network, "Sterilization Abuse: What It Is and How It Can Be Controlled" (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Health Network, 1981): Helen Rodriguez-Trias, "Sterilization Abuse," in Biological Woman-the Convenient Myth, ed. Ruth Hubbard, Mary Sue Henefin, and Barbara Fried (Cambridge: Schenkman, 1982); Adele Clarke, "Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse: A Reproductive Rights Analysis," in Test-Tube Women: What Future for Motherhood? ed. Rita Arditti, Renate Klein, and Shelly Minden (London: Pandora Press, 1984), 188-212.
13. On the history of the pelvic exam, see Audrey Davis, "Life Insurance and the Physical Examination: A Chapter in the Rise of American Medical Technology," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 55 (Fall 1981): 392-406; and Terri Kapsalis, Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997). For early critiques of exploitative medical practices, see National Women's Health Network, "Sterilization Abuse: What It Is and How It Can Be Controlled" (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Health Network, 1981): Helen Rodriguez-Trias, "Sterilization Abuse," in Biological Woman-the Convenient Myth, ed. Ruth Hubbard, Mary Sue Henefin, and Barbara Fried (Cambridge: Schenkman, 1982); Adele Clarke, "Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse: A Reproductive Rights Analysis," in Test-Tube Women: What Future for Motherhood? ed. Rita Arditti, Renate Klein, and Shelly Minden (London: Pandora Press, 1984), 188-212.
14. On the history of the pelvic exam, see Audrey Davis, "Life Insurance and the Physical Examination: A Chapter in the Rise of American Medical Technology," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 55 (Fall 1981): 392-406; and Terri Kapsalis, Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997). For early critiques of exploitative medical practices, see National Women's Health Network, "Sterilization Abuse: What It Is and How It Can Be Controlled" (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Health Network, 1981): Helen Rodriguez-Trias, "Sterilization Abuse," in Biological Woman-the Convenient Myth, ed. Ruth Hubbard, Mary Sue Henefin, and Barbara Fried (Cambridge: Schenkman, 1982); Adele Clarke, "Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse: A Reproductive Rights Analysis," in Test-Tube Women: What Future for Motherhood? ed. Rita Arditti, Renate Klein, and Shelly Minden (London: Pandora Press, 1984), 188-212.
15. On the history of the pelvic exam, see Audrey Davis, "Life Insurance and the Physical Examination: A Chapter in the Rise of American Medical Technology," Bulletin of the History of Medicine 55 (Fall 1981): 392-406; and Terri Kapsalis, Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum (Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1997). For early critiques of exploitative medical practices, see National Women's Health Network, "Sterilization Abuse: What It Is and How It Can Be Controlled" (Washington, D.C.: National Women's Health Network, 1981): Helen Rodriguez-Trias, "Sterilization Abuse," in Biological Woman-the Convenient Myth, ed. Ruth Hubbard, Mary Sue Henefin, and Barbara Fried (Cambridge: Schenkman, 1982); Adele Clarke, "Subtle Forms of Sterilization Abuse: A Reproductive Rights Analysis," in Test-Tube Women: What Future for Motherhood? ed. Rita Arditti, Renate Klein, and Shelly Minden (London: Pandora Press, 1984), 188-212.
16. Joan W. Scott, "The Evidence of Experience," Critical Inquiry 17 (Summer 1991): 773-97, 25.
17. For an example of the academic focus on epistemic concerns in standpoint theory, see the comments and responses sparked by Susan Hekman, in "Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited," Signs 22 (Winter 1997): 341-97.
18. Downer, interview.
19. Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, A New View of a Woman's Body (Los Angeles: Feminist Health Press, 1991).
20. Downer, interview. "Taking back turf" was a phrase that circulated among activists, rather than in materials for public consumption, as expressed to the author in an interview with Dido Hasper, Shauna Heckert, and Eileen Schnitger of the Chico Feminist Women's Health Center, November 1999.
21. Colleen Wilson lessened her involvement in the movement around the time of her 1972 trial.
22. Medical supply stores were quite willing to sell their merchandise and thus self-help clinics met with little resistance in that regard. An offshoot of these tests was that some of the women who tested positive asked for help obtaining abortions. Downer and Rothman then negotiated with a local hospital to provide abortions under strict conditions. They specified what the doctor should wear, the technique used, and importantly, the price. In return, the self-help clinic received fifteen dollars, provided the initial counseling, and accompanied the woman through the whole procedure. (Downer, inter-view).
23. Lolly Hirsch, "The Breeders," in The Witch's Os, ed. Millie Alleyn (Stanford, Conn.: New Moon Publishers, 1972), 24.
24. One such church basement presentation in New York City was attended by Ellen Frankfort, who, based on that encounter, would write the best-selling book Vaginal Politics (New York: Bantam Books, 1972).
25. This lack of reflexivity about racism is pervasive in white feminist memoirs of this era: see Barbara Smith, '"Feisty Characters' and 'Other People's Causes': Memories of White Racism and U.S. Feminism," in The Feminist Memoir Project: Voices from Women's Liberation, ed. Rachel Blau DuPlessis and Ann Snitow (New York: Crown Publishing, 1998), 477-81.
26. Downer, interview.
27. For a description of the procedures in a well-woman clinic, see Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (Hollywood, Calif.: Women to Women Publications, 1981), and the manual called the "Black Book," Well Woman Health Care in Woman Controlled Clinics (Los Angeles: Feminist Women's Health Center, 1976); on feminist self-help treatments, see Chris Nelson, Self-Help Home Remedies (Chico, Calif.: Chico Feminist Women's Health Center, 1977).
28. For a description of the procedures in a well-woman clinic, see Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (Hollywood, Calif.: Women to Women Publications, 1981), and the manual called the "Black Book," Well Woman Health Care in Woman Controlled Clinics (Los Angeles: Feminist Women's Health Center, 1976); on feminist self-help treatments, see Chris Nelson, Self-Help Home Remedies (Chico, Calif.: Chico Feminist Women's Health Center, 1977).
29. For a description of the procedures in a well-woman clinic, see Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (Hollywood, Calif.: Women to Women Publications, 1981), and the manual called the "Black Book," Well Woman Health Care in Woman Controlled Clinics (Los Angeles: Feminist Women's Health Center, 1976); on feminist self-help treatments, see Chris Nelson, Self-Help Home Remedies (Chico, Calif.: Chico Feminist Women's Health Center, 1977).
30. A New View of a Woman's Body, 17.
31. Although the research took place in the mid-1970s as part of a single unpublished manuscript titled "Women's Health in Women's Hands, " the material was divided up into several books that were not published until much later. How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (1981); A New View of a Woman's Body (1991); and Ginny Cassidy-Brinn, Francie Hornstein, Carol Downer, and Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, Woman Centered Pregnancy and Birth (Pittsburgh: Cleis Press, 1984).
32. Although the research took place in the mid-1970s as part of a single unpublished manuscript titled "Women's Health in Women's Hands, " the material was divided up into several books that were not published until much later. How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (1981); A New View of a Woman's Body (1991); and Ginny Cassidy-Brinn, Francie Hornstein, Carol Downer, and Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, Woman Centered Pregnancy and Birth (Pittsburgh: Cleis Press, 1984).
33. Although the research took place in the mid-1970s as part of a single unpublished manuscript titled "Women's Health in Women's Hands, " the material was divided up into several books that were not published until much later. How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office (1981); A New View of a Woman's Body (1991); and Ginny Cassidy-Brinn, Francie Hornstein, Carol Downer, and Federation of Feminist Women's Health Centers, Woman Centered Pregnancy and Birth (Pittsburgh: Cleis Press, 1984).
34. Such allied centers were founded in Detroit, Mich.; Ames City, Iowa; Gainesville, Fla.; Cambridge and Amherst, Mass.; Santa Cruz, Calif.; New Haven, Conn.; Chicago, Ill.; St. Louis, Mo.; Concord, N.H.; Philadelphia, Penn.; Tijuana, Mexico; Vancouver, Canada; and Berlin, Germany. On the reticulate, decentralized, and segmented form of late-twentieth-century social movements, see Luther P. Gerlach, and Virginia H. Hine, People, Power, Change: Movements of Social Transformation (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1970).
35. Deborah Khun McGregor, From Midwives to Medicine (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1998).
36. Donna Haraway, Modest_Witness@Second_Millennium. FemaleMan_Meets_OncoMouse (New York: Routledge, 1997), 193.
37. On consciousness raising, see Echols, 82-92; and Kathie Sarachild, "Consciousness Raising: A Radical Weapon," in Feminist Revolution, ed. Redstockings (New York: Random House, 1975), 144-50. On New Left ideology, see Doug Rossinow, The Politics of Authenticity: Liberalism, Christianity, and the New Left in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).
38. On consciousness raising, see Echols, 82-92; and Kathie Sarachild, "Consciousness Raising: A Radical Weapon," in Feminist Revolution, ed. Redstockings (New York: Random House, 1975), 144-50. On New Left ideology, see Doug Rossinow, The Politics of Authenticity: Liberalism, Christianity, and the New Left in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).
39. On consciousness raising, see Echols, 82-92; and Kathie Sarachild, "Consciousness Raising: A Radical Weapon," in Feminist Revolution, ed. Redstockings (New York: Random House, 1975), 144-50. On New Left ideology, see Doug Rossinow, The Politics of Authenticity: Liberalism, Christianity, and the New Left in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998).
40. Echols, 85-86. For examples of the two poles of this debate, see Ti-Grace Atkinson, "Resignation from N.O.W.," in Amazon Odyssey (New York: Links, 1974), 9-11; and Joreen, "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood," Ms., April 1976, 49-51, 92-98.
41. Echols, 85-86. For examples of the two poles of this debate, see Ti-Grace Atkinson, "Resignation from N.O.W.," in Amazon Odyssey (New York: Links, 1974), 9-11; and Joreen, "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood," Ms., April 1976, 49-51, 92-98.
42. Echols, 85-86. For examples of the two poles of this debate, see Ti-Grace Atkinson, "Resignation from N.O.W.," in Amazon Odyssey (New York: Links, 1974), 9-11; and Joreen, "Trashing: The Dark Side of Sisterhood," Ms., April 1976, 49-51, 92-98.
43. Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: Dell, 1963), 11.
44. Given as a talk in March 1969 and reprinted in Carol Hanish, "The Personal Is Political," in Feminist Revolution, 204-5.
45. Kathie Sarachild, "A Program for Feminist Consciousness-Raising, " in Feminist Revolution, 202-3; this was originally delivered at the First National Women's Liberation Conference, Chicago, 27 Nov. 1968; Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," also in Feminist Revolution, was first presented as a talk at the First National Conference of Stewardesses for Women's Rights, New York, 12 Mar. 1973.
46. Kathie Sarachild, "A Program for Feminist Consciousness-Raising, " in Feminist Revolution, 202-3; this was originally delivered at the First National Women's Liberation Conference, Chicago, 27 Nov. 1968; Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," also in Feminist Revolution, was first presented as a talk at the First National Conference of Stewardesses for Women's Rights, New York, 12 Mar. 1973.
47. Kathie Sarachild, "A Program for Feminist Consciousness-Raising, " in Feminist Revolution, 202-3; this was originally delivered at the First National Women's Liberation Conference, Chicago, 27 Nov. 1968; Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," also in Feminist Revolution, was first presented as a talk at the First National Conference of Stewardesses for Women's Rights, New York, 12 Mar. 1973.
48. Pamela Allen, "Free Space," in Radical Feminism, ed. Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone (New York: Quadrangle Books, 1973), 271-79. The puzzle metaphor from Rothman, interview.
49. Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," 147. On "universalizing" in global feminism, see Robin Morgan, ed., Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology (New York: Doubleday, 1984); and for a critique, see Chandra Talpade Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," Boundary 2, 12, no. 3/13, no. 1 (1984): 333-59.
50. Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," 147. On "universalizing" in global feminism, see Robin Morgan, ed., Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology (New York: Doubleday, 1984); and for a critique, see Chandra Talpade Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," Boundary 2, 12, no. 3/13, no. 1 (1984): 333-59.
51. Sarachild, "Consciousness-Raising: A Radical Weapon," 147. On "universalizing" in global feminism, see Robin Morgan, ed., Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology (New York: Doubleday, 1984); and for a critique, see Chandra Talpade Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," Boundary 2, 12, no. 3/13, no. 1 (1984): 333-59.
52. West Coast Sisters, "Self Help Clinic, Part II," mimeograph, 1971.
53. Francie Hornstein, Carol Downer, and Shelly Farber, "Self Help and Health: A Report," mimeograph (Washington Women's Self Help and Los Angeles Feminist Women's Health Center, 1976).
54. Montreal Health Press, The Birth Control Handbook (1967); list of supplies from West Coast Sisters, "How to Start Your Self-Help Clinic, Level II," mimeograph, 1971.
55. Montreal Health Press, The Birth Control Handbook (1967); list of supplies from West Coast Sisters, "How to Start Your Self-Help Clinic, Level II," mimeograph, 1971.
56. Cervical Erosion and Tipped Uterus were two examples of technical terms commonly used by gynecologists to describe women's reproductive anatomy that the feminist self-help movement quickly redefined as healthy variation. How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 31-32, 82-83.
57. Rothman, interview.
58. How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 24-25.
59. "Vaginal Infection Slides (Wet Mount)," in Well Woman Health Care in Woman Controlled Clinics.
60. On the professional separation of the mouth from the rest of the body, see Sarah Nettleton, Power, Pain, and Dentistry (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992). The quotations are from How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 24-25. For the broader cultural politics, see Amelia Jones, ed., Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" in Feminist Art History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996); Ellen Frankfort; and Betty Dodson, Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self Love (New York: Bodysex Designs, 1974).
61. On the professional separation of the mouth from the rest of the body, see Sarah Nettleton, Power, Pain, and Dentistry (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992). The quotations are from How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 24-25. For the broader cultural politics, see Amelia Jones, ed., Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" in Feminist Art History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996); Ellen Frankfort; and Betty Dodson, Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self Love (New York: Bodysex Designs, 1974).
62. On the professional separation of the mouth from the rest of the body, see Sarah Nettleton, Power, Pain, and Dentistry (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992). The quotations are from How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 24-25. For the broader cultural politics, see Amelia Jones, ed., Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" in Feminist Art History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996); Ellen Frankfort; and Betty Dodson, Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self Love (New York: Bodysex Designs, 1974).
63. On the professional separation of the mouth from the rest of the body, see Sarah Nettleton, Power, Pain, and Dentistry (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1992). The quotations are from How to Stay Out of the Gynecologist's Office, 24-25. For the broader cultural politics, see Amelia Jones, ed., Sexual Politics: Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" in Feminist Art History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996); Ellen Frankfort; and Betty Dodson, Liberating Masturbation: A Meditation on Self Love (New York: Bodysex Designs, 1974).
64. The women who took part in the clitoral study of 1978 were Carol Downer, Suzann Gage, Sherry Schiffer, Lorraine Rothman, Francie Hornstein, Lynn Heidelberg, Kathleen Hodge, Lynn Walker, Chris Clear, and Nancy Walker. Lesbians were part of the feminist self-help movement from the beginning, and numerous women's health centers had lesbian health clinic;, see Lesbian Health Matters! (Santa Cruz, Calif.: Santa Cruz Women's Health Center, 1980); Jennifer Terry, "Agendas for Lesbian Health: Countering the Ills of Homophobia," in Revisioning Women, Health, and Healing, ed. Adele Clarke and Virginia Olesen (New York: Routledge, 1998), 324-42.
65. The women who took part in the clitoral study of 1978 were Carol Downer, Suzann Gage, Sherry Schiffer, Lorraine Rothman, Francie Hornstein, Lynn Heidelberg, Kathleen Hodge, Lynn Walker, Chris Clear, and Nancy Walker. Lesbians were part of the feminist self-help movement from the beginning, and numerous women's health centers had lesbian health clinic;, see Lesbian Health Matters! (Santa Cruz, Calif.: Santa Cruz Women's Health Center, 1980); Jennifer Terry, "Agendas for Lesbian Health: Countering the Ills of Homophobia," in Revisioning Women, Health, and Healing, ed. Adele Clarke and Virginia Olesen (New York: Routledge, 1998), 324-42.
66. The women who participated in this study were Suzann Gage, Carol Downer, Karen Grant, Lynn Heidelberg, Kathy Hodge, Francie Hornstein, Margo Miller, Sylvia Morales, and Lorraine Rothman.
67. Rothman, interview.
68. Sylvia Morales, a professional filmmaker, captured the close-up images of the cervix for the Menstrual Cycle Study that were published in A New View of a Woman's Body. She also worked with the Los Angeles Feminist Women's Health Center in making the vaginal self-exam film A New View of Myself (1975) and later became famous for her documentary Chicana (1979). The omission of social location was purposeful; see "Clinic Record," in Well Woman Health Care in Woman Controlled Clinics.
69. "Self-Help Study: Observing Changes in the Menstrual Cycle," mimeograph (Los Angeles: Feminist Women's Health Center, 1975).
70. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
71. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
72. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
73. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
74. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
75. On partial perspective, see Donna Haraway, "Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective," Feminist Studies 14 (Fall 1988): 575-99; on difference in the contemporary women's health movement, see Sheryl Burt Ruzek, Virginia Olesen, and Adele Clarke, eds., Women's Health Complexities and Differences (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1997); on the history of African American women's health activism, see Edith Butler, "The First National Conference on Black Women's Health Issues," in Women's Health: Readings on Social, Economic, and Political Issues, ed. Nancy Worcester and Marianne Whatley (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1988), 37-41; Byllye Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves: The Evolution of the National Black Women's Health Project," in The Black Women's Health Book: Speaking for Ourselves, ed. Evelyn White (Seattle: Seal Press, 1990), 4-10; Deborah Grayson, " 'Necessity Was the Midwife of Our Politics': Black Women's Health Activism in the 'Post'-Civil Rights Era, 1980-1996," in Still Lifting, Still Climbing: African American Women's Contemporary Activism, ed. Kimberly Springer (New York: New York University Press, 1999), 131-48; Susan Smith, Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: Black Women's Health Activism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995).
76. The police were hoping to catch the women performing a menstrual extraction, and when they failed they fell back on the ludicrous yogurt charge. Wilson plea-bargained on her more complicated charge; the origins of this frequently reprinted graphic were reported to me by Rothman. For an analysis of the work of Wonder Woman in this image, see Haraway, Modesr_ Witness.
77. Wendy Simonds, Abortion at Work: Ideology and Practice in a Feminist Clinic (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1996), 137-68.
78. Claudia Dreifus, ed., introduction to Seizing Our Bodies (New York: Vintage, 1977), xxxi (for a genealogy of this credo, see Michelle Murphy, "Liberation through Control in the Body Politics of U.S. Radical Feminism," in The Moral Authority of Nature, ed. Lorraine Daston and Fernando Vidal [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003]); Robin Morgan, introduction to Circle One: A Woman's Beginning Guide to Self Health and Sexuality, ed. Elizabeth Campbell and Vicki Ziegler (pamphlet, 1975), 3. For the appreciation of anticolonial discourse, see Haraway, Modest_ Witness.
79. Claudia Dreifus, ed., introduction to Seizing Our Bodies (New York: Vintage, 1977), xxxi (for a genealogy of this credo, see Michelle Murphy, "Liberation through Control in the Body Politics of U.S. Radical Feminism," in The Moral Authority of Nature, ed. Lorraine Daston and Fernando Vidal [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003]); Robin Morgan, introduction to Circle One: A Woman's Beginning Guide to Self Health and Sexuality, ed. Elizabeth Campbell and Vicki Ziegler (pamphlet, 1975), 3. For the appreciation of anticolonial discourse, see Haraway, Modest_ Witness.
80. Claudia Dreifus, ed., introduction to Seizing Our Bodies (New York: Vintage, 1977), xxxi (for a genealogy of this credo, see Michelle Murphy, "Liberation through Control in the Body Politics of U.S. Radical Feminism," in The Moral Authority of Nature, ed. Lorraine Daston and Fernando Vidal [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003]); Robin Morgan, introduction to Circle One: A Woman's Beginning Guide to Self Health and Sexuality, ed. Elizabeth Campbell and Vicki Ziegler (pamphlet, 1975), 3. For the appreciation of anticolonial discourse, see Haraway, Modest_ Witness.
81. Claudia Dreifus, ed., introduction to Seizing Our Bodies (New York: Vintage, 1977), xxxi (for a genealogy of this credo, see Michelle Murphy, "Liberation through Control in the Body Politics of U.S. Radical Feminism," in The Moral Authority of Nature, ed. Lorraine Daston and Fernando Vidal [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003]); Robin Morgan, introduction to Circle One: A Woman's Beginning Guide to Self Health and Sexuality, ed. Elizabeth Campbell and Vicki Ziegler (pamphlet, 1975), 3. For the appreciation of anticolonial discourse, see Haraway, Modest_ Witness.
82. Haraway, Modest_Witness, 8-14 (quote on 11).
83. Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985).
84. Sharon Traweek, Beamtimes and Lifetimes (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), 162.
85. Boston Women's Health Book Collective, Our Bodies, Ourselves: A Book by and for Women (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971), 2.
86. Sandra Harding, "Subjectivity, Experience, and Knowledge: An Epistemology from/for the Rainbow Coalition Politics," in Who Can Speak? Authority and Critical Identity, ed. Judith Roof and Robyn Wiegman (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995), 124.
87. Haraway, "Situated Knowledges," 584.
88. This phrase is from an interview with Hasper, Heckert, and Schnitger.