Student Feminist Literature: Galvanizing Support and Solidarity

By Claire Coles

By 1977, the second wave of feminism was in full effect. The 92^nd Congress had passed more women’s rights bills in 1971 and 1972 than all other legislative sessions combined. The women’s movement saw massive growth and opportunity. Activists tested roadblocks holding the movement back such as outdated laws, customs, and deeply engrained patriarchal values.  Across the country young women living on college campuses participated in the feminist movement, spurring change on their respective campuses and local communities. These college women advocated for educational equity, economic parity, and reproductive health rights. The national feeling of liberation was palpable, and activists could measure real change. In Danville Kentucky, women who attended Centre College were excited to join in on the national women’s movement and used the written platforms they had on campus to uproot the sexist and patriarchal policies the administration still supported.

Sexism was very present in the everyday life of students at Centre College in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Men had housekeeping staff make their bed and tidy their rooms, while women did not receive that luxury despite paying the same for housing. The majority of majors and many classes such as science and mathematics were labeled as “male” dominant and therefore socially unacceptable career paths for women. There was a large disparity in the funding of male and female sports, the grand total of money funded for women's sports in 1977 was fourteen hundred dollars. The football team alone got $19,000.^[1] Many textbooks with sexist rhetoric remained in use well into the 1970s. Additionally, The Cento, the college’s newspaper, was full of poetry and art that objectified women. There was a very lighthearted, but patriarchal tone within the dating scene. According to alumni Sharon Morisi, women responded strongly to these issues.

You know at the time there was a lot of energy kind of simmering under the surface with you know these kinds of dynamics. Ms. magazine was published in 1972 it was midway through my college career and there were a lot of people beginning to question a lot of ideas about Sisterhood and Consciousness raising those were all there really trendy terms that kind of got bandied about. So, there was an awareness of women needing to claim their power. To start looking at some of the discrepancies between male rights and female rights- that kind of thing.^[2]

Many women understandably needed support from each other as they navigated a new path of womanhood that diverged from their mothers and grandmothers. Young women came together in the form of writing to call attention to the issues they were facing as well as galvanize support and solidarity. The primary way that female students called out sexism at Centre College was through student authored newspapers such as The Cento, which is the longest running newspaper at Centre College, dating back to 1891, and The Flame, which was a briefly run feminist newsletter. The 1960’s through the 1980s were a stretch of time in U.S. and Centre history where women used the written word to create solidarity and raise awareness for the systemic sexism they faced on a daily basis. The feminist undertones were subtle, but they resonated powerfully on the campus.

The specific grievances that women had at Centre College included women’s exclusion in academics, trouble gaining access to birth control, inequality in sports, and the continued use of sexist materials in school. These issues created a sexist environment at Centre, which students responded to in the 1977 November edition of “The Flame,” a less regulated newsletter written by women students for all students. The statement of purpose, written by Morisi, says, “Unlike male students, we have no recourse to fraternities or any organization where the main purpose is sisterhood. Therefore, this newsletter has been established with its purpose being a common meeting ground for Centre women. Hopefully through our own experiences we will be able to explore and expand role concepts as well as alternative lifestyles, provide a better understanding of the women’s movement and publish the current happenings within the movement itself.” (The Flame, Sharon Morisi) Women were taking note of the many disparities they faced while paying the same amount in tuition as men, and they wanted change. Additionally, The Flame sought to keep Centre women informed in the national movement and allow those who misunderstood the movement to gain a better understanding.

The women of Centre College were undoubtably influenced by the various feminist publications circulating starting in the 1940s that continued into 1970s. Significant sources of feminist information were highly popular for all women, such as The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (1963), Sexual Politics by Kate Millett (1970), The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer (1970) and Ms. Magazine (1972). These major feminist works allowed for visibility of women’s issues and played a crucial role in bringing women together. However, it is important to note that some of the most popular feminist publications were not inclusive to all women. They were more for white and middle-class women, and they left out women of color and lower-class working women. Much like the great and historical feminist writers of the women’s movement, Centre students were committed to building a body of knowledge which specifically addressed the ways in which they were marginalized on campus in hopes to bring change. The authors of The Flame and Cento recognized that written word is one of the most accessible ways to influence the student population in an unfiltered way. 

In an article titled “Don’t Talk to me about Women’s Liberation” student at the time and author Jennifer Gunn says, “I began optimistically to explain the women’s movement to men as something more than a horde of castrating lesbians screaming ‘down with men!’,”. (The Flame 1979, Jennifer Gunn) The beginning of the article clearly shows the frustration of trying to explain the feminist movement to men who didn’t see the value in it. This edition explains the reason many don’t take the women’s movement seriously because they don’t understand that it effects more than just women, “We will never accomplish anything until men see they are just as limited by societal roles as women are”. (The Flame 1979, Jennifer Gunn)

From The Cento, September 26, 1963

While the Cento was used as a way for students to participate in activism, it was also a place where sexism and patriarchy was displayed. Due to the newspapers and student newsletters being primarily student run, things that the school would not necessarily send out in an official newsletter made it onto the Cento. Images mocking women, poems objectifying women, and blatant sexist remarks are littered within the Cento publications. The number of sexual innuendos, blatant sexual remarks, and perspectives of sexual desire in the Cento speaks to the culture surrounding relationships at Centre. What this can tell us about hookup culture at this time was that it was very secretive and gave the men the power in the relationship. And while it is important to note that as much sexism as there was, there was also a strong female and feminist presence. Women were able to publish their own poems and artwork, giving them an equal stage to present themselves with the men.

This picture is a poem taken from the Vantage Point Spring 1977 Poem “Bestial Reflections As It Were” and is one of many examples of the female presence in the Cento. This poem is addressing a taboo topic of the time—women’s sexuality and self-image. The author depicts a sphynx that nobody wants because it has “sharp claws,” much like how women who have intense opinions are not seen as feminine and subsequently undesirable. Both female and male authors of the poetry in the various student run publications address a myriad of topics that would have been seen as radical.

Here is a student created “advertisement” in the Cento, making a joke that male students could drop off their laundry at the female dorms and they would do it for them. The depiction of the woman is very strange, because she appears to be old and matronly. The woman was most likely depicted this way to attest to the motherly figure women are expected to be for men.  Artwork, jokes, poems, and stories of this nature could be seen in countless additions of the Cento. Photos like this one begs the question, was the women’s movement a joke to many male students? College men were unquestionably a part of the feminist movement, but what’s interesting is this photo was published well into the second wave of feminism. When does satire cross the line? This advertisement is certainly not the most egregious display of sexism that has ever graced Centre College, but on top of all of the very real, very frustrating disparities that occurred on campus this can at the very least be labeled as insensitive. The 1979 March addition of The Flame dives deep into the relationship between men on Centre’s Campus, and the Women’s Movement.

The changes that needed to be made were spearheaded by the student population, not the administration. The lack of unmonitored physical space given to women for organizing like fraternities and other male only clubs pushed women to write to one another. The Cento and Flame became the free space they needed to discuss grievances and enjoy solidarity.