Getting states to ratify the proposed Constitutional amendment consumed much of NOW’s energy for years. To tell that story, Turk brings in Ellie Smeal, a Pittsburgh housewife who dominated NOW for years, often in opposition to Collins. Turk basically ends her story in the nineties, saying that NOW became too narrow, with lots of members but not lots of action. There were other problems, some of which plague it still.
NOW was personal as well as political. Lesbians forced NOW to confront its initial homophobia but not without a struggle. Minority women were suspicious of NOW’s support for abortion. Their men often claimed that abortion was genocide. Enemies of the ERA used abortion to persuade state legislators to oppose the ERA. Eventually abortion morphed into the broader issue of reproductive rights.
Turk gives useful insights on how NOW operated. For several years administrative functions were handled by a firm run by Collins’ husband. A change in national leadership ended that relationship. Eventually a national office opened in Washington, D.C. to be close to the seats of power. Relying on chapter dues left NOW in perpetual debt; switching to direct mail appeals made it rich. That created other problems. Not all that glitters is gold!
This is an easy book to read, but not useful for further research. There is an index but no bibliography. To find the sources Turk used you have to read 95 pages of notes in small type. Only the first cite is complete; to find the source of a later cite you have to read through those early pages again. Or wait for the e-book so you can do a word or name search.
Whether you are interested in feminist organizations or the women who worked in them, you will find much in this book that is worthwhile.
Copyright © 2023 by Jo Freeman
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