Then. Now. Next.

by Sue Gillis, Publisher

This issue marks the completion of eight years of publishing Vermont Woman. Combined with the first incarnation of our newspaper, 1985-1990, that makes thirteen. That’s thirteen years of publishing a newspaper dedicated to providing a platform for women’s voices, and written nearly entirely by Vermont women.  

Lest you think this unremarkable, I urge you to pause and reflect with us about what this has meant to the Vermont community, both women and men, and to the Vermont media mix. What does the future hold for the continuance of such a publication?

The genesis of Vermont Woman  began 26 years ago, riding high on what came to be referred to as the second wave of feminism, originally ignited by Betty Friedan’s  The Feminine Mystique  in1963.  Supported by a survey of thousands of married women who revealed wide spread dissatisfaction, Friedan developed her groundbreaking work. It became a radical indictment of the way women, post-WWII, were leading their lives. She attacked the pervasive belief and myth of suburban women’s domestic fulfillment, which held that no matter how educated, her life was entirely one of chores, children and caring for her husband. Millions of copies were sold, translated into dozens of languages, and thus began a social upheaval not seen since the suffragette movement at the turn of the century.

Friedan also was a founder of several lobbyist groups: the National Organization for Women (NOW), the National Association for the repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), and the National Women’s Political Caucus (NWPC). City by city, state by state, we women formed grassroots organizations that would eventually effect enormous change.

Of course, cultural change is uncomfortable and imperfect and does not come quickly or easily. Friedan herself evolved into a polarizing figure alienating other leaders of this movement. And resistance often came from women themselves. After all our mothers, our grandmothers, were raised under the same patriarchal culture we daughters were trying to change. But change did come and when it did, it was huge.

Through the sixties and seventies reproductive choice was the critical and common issue that bound women into the force that moved from the kitchen table to the streets. The Pill was legalized in 1964, abortion in 1973. Pressure for two household incomes became the basis for enormous economic change coupled with the inevitable shake up of marital roles within the family structure.  The turmoil of the Vietnam War protests coupled with the rise of Black power also had a significant impact on the structural societal change right along with women’s demands for equal rights in the workplace, education, politics, in personal relationships.  Job and education opportunities opened up and gender discrimination was exposed in every institution from the military, religion, medical, banking, political, sports and the arts. Women political writers suddenly were able to publish often starting there own presses.

There was no going back.

So it was from this time of social upheaval that  Vermont Woman  was first published in 1985. Vermont was on the cutting edge. Madeleine Kunin was elected governor, only the third woman in the country to hold this office. Women’s Shelters and Rape Crisis Centers were established and largely run by volunteers. The Vermont Woman’s Health Center was created.

Women’s groups worked with the local police to seriously investigate domestic violence cases. We even marched against UVM’s silence regarding a fraternity gang rape. Less significant, but still foundational change came in phone book listings and classified ads, eventually listing a woman’s own name instead of her husband’s, and eliminating gender preference for employment ads. Even The New York Times refused, until 1987, to use Ms., insisting on using Miss or Mrs. to delineate a woman’s marital status.