University of Virginia Library

Consciousness Raising

Our most important activity
remains our meeting, weekly in
small "consciousness raising"
groups, to share our feelings about
ourselves and society, and to try to
combat our oppression and feelings
of helplessness in the face of a
social system which is not
responsive to our needs.

Out of this growing awareness
have arisen more concrete actions
which help alleviate our situation.

We maintain a literature table in
Newcomb Hall where material
(some free and some for sale) is
available to acquaint university
women with the movement.
Beginning in the fall, we will also
offer birth control and abortion
counseling.

Most of the literature we have
now is written from a woman's
perspective; unfortunately very
little is available that speaks to a
man's experience in relation to the
movement. Hopefully there will be
some men this year who are
interested enough to meet, as we
do, to discuss and perhaps write
about their own oppression by
societal stereotypes and how this in
turn contributes to the oppression
of women.

Another of our activities has
been the establishment of a free
cooperative child care center. For
children of working or student
parents, the need for day care is
obvious.

Moreover, we feel that only
through responsible and creative
child care can women be freed from
the burden of 24-hours-a-day
mothering which cuts them off
from any outside activity; and only
in this way can children be freed
from constant confinement with
mothers who feel trapped and
unfulfilled.