Weatherwomen

Assertive, tough, and idealistic, the Weatherwomen—members of the Weather Underground Organization (WUO) from the late 1960s—were determined to stamp out sexism and social injustice. They asserted that militancy was necessary in the pursuit of a socialist revolution that would produce gender, racial, and class equality. This book excavates their long buried history and reclaims the voices of the Weatherwomen.The Weatherwomen's militant feminism had many facets. It criticized the role of women in the home, was concerned with the subordination of women to men, attacked the gender pay gap, and supported female bodily integrity. The Weatherwomen also refined their own feminist ideology into an intersectional one that would incorporate multiple identity perspectives beyond the white, American, middle-class perspective. In shaping a feminist vision for the WUO, the Weatherwomen dealt with sexism within their own organization and were dismissed by some feminist groups of the time as inauthentic. This work strives to recognize the WUO's militant feminist efforts, and the agency, autonomy, and empowerment of its female members, by concentrating on their actions and writings.

The Weatherwomen uncovers the voices of Weatherwomen in the Weather Underground Organization and makes a compelling defense for the organization as a source of female empowerment. Creating their own brand of feminism—militant feminism—the WUO practiced elements of second wave feminism and even third wave feminism, decades before intersectionality defined feminist beliefs."—Ashley Baggett, North Dakota State University

Mona Rocha is an instructor of classics and history at Fresno State. She has published on women's history, feminist theory, and pop culture, including articles on Buffy, Sherlock Holmes, Dungeons & Dragons, and Veronica Mars.