RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Adults
WORKSHOP 13: THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT
BY BY REV. COLIN BOSSEN AND REV. JULIA HAMILTON
© Copyright 2011 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 9/29/2014 11:23:45 PM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
WORKSHOP OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
Something changed during that program at the church; we added our music to the women's movement. Singing together as women created something very special. We went into the service thinking of ourselves as a political activist group and came out of it singing! — Audrey Drummond, "Honor Thy Womanself"
Many of us are familiar with the famous women of Unitarian Universalism's history: our foremothers, ordained as early as the 1860s; the women who marched for suffrage, worked tirelessly for social justice, and advocated for an increased role for women in the public sphere. However, it was not until the latter half of the 20th century that the full participation of women and full inclusion of women's perspectives became imperatives embraced by Unitarian Universalism as a whole. The embrace of women in our religion has, in many cases, meant true change—a fundamental reexamination of the construction of tradition, theology, community, and power in our congregations.
The first official call for an Association-wide soul-searching about gender was the Women and Religion Resolution passed in 1977 at General Assembly, examined in this workshop. The resolution's call bubbled up from the work of hundreds of women and men who formed caucuses, consciousness raising groups, and other feminist spaces during the 1960s and '70s.
One striking aspect of this movement was the creative ways it found to express women's voices and experiences, outside traditional, male-dominated spaces like the pulpit and the chairmanship of the Board. This workshop explores art as a method of transforming society, showing how creating music together became an essential piece of the women's liberation movement for one group of Unitarian Universalists from Boston's Arlington Street Church.
To ensure you can help adults of all ages, stages, and learning styles participate fully in this workshop, review these sections of the program Introduction: "Accessibility Guidelines for Workshop Presenters" in the Integrating All Participants section, and "Strategies for Effective Group Facilitation" and "Strategies for Brainstorming" in the Leader Guidelines section.
GOALS
This workshop will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
WORKSHOP-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 10 |
Activity 1: A Resolution and a Revolution | 30 |
Activity 2: The Caucus | 20 |
Activity 3: Freedom | 20 |
Faith in Action: Music Supporting Resistance and Transformation | |
Closing | 10 |
Alternate Activity 1: There Was a Young Woman Who Swallowed a Lie | 20 |
Alternate Activity 2: Bread and Roses | 20 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
Take time to think about your own experiences of feminism and gender-based oppression. Does your religious background affect the way you view women and their role in society? What are your expectations about women's role in Unitarian Universalism? Are these expectations met, in your congregational life? Discuss this with your co-facilitator before the workshop.
Before you lead the workshop, take time to complete this sentence: "At the end of this workshop, I hope the participants leave feeling... "
WORKSHOP PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
As participants enter, invite them to sign in, put on name tags, and pick up handouts. Direct their attention to the agenda for this workshop.
OPENING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite a participant to light the chalice while you lead a unison reading of Reading 449 from Singing the Living Tradition, "We hallow this time together by kindling the lamp of our heritage."
Lead the group in singing "Spirit of Life" by Carolyn McDade.
Explain that this workshop focuses on the women's movement in the late 20th century and how it was expressed in the culture of Unitarian Universalism. Tell the group they will examine the Women and Religion Resolution that General Assembly passed in 1977 and a case study from Arlington Street Church, where a women's consciousness raising group transformed itself through music into a tight-knit sisterhood of revolutionary thought and action. Invite participants to consider: Other than at worship services, are there places and times where you regularly sing aloud?
After a minute for reflection, invite participants to briefly share their responses.
ACTIVITY 1: A RESOLUTION AND A REVOLUTION (30 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Share this brief introduction from Leaping from Their Spheres: The Impact of Women on Unitarian Universalist Ministry, an unpublished collection of essays distributed by the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association:
Some of the first women to serve as ordained clergy in the United States were Universalist and Unitarian ministers, women such as Olympia Brown and Antoinette Blackwell, ordained in the 1860s and '70s. There was a brief surge in the 1890s when the Universalists extended credentials to 46 women and the Western Conference of Unitarians was heavily influenced by the work of women in the ministry. During the late 1800s there were many women leaders involved in social justice issues, working the lecture circuits and drawing crowds of thousands. Unitarian and Universalist women were at the forefront of the first wave of feminism and worked tirelessly for a woman's right to participate in the public sphere, from the pulpit to the ballot box. Unfortunately this trend did not last, and the women in religion movement suffered greatly in the first half of the 20th century. By 1968, out of 616 full ministers listed in the UUA's directory, only 17 were women.
Explain that second-wave feminism came roaring into Unitarian Universalism in the 1960s and 70s, along with social change related to race, gender, sexuality, and other aspects of American culture, many of which are discussed in other workshops in this program. By 1977, Unitarian Universalists were ready to adopt the resolution to examine the roots of patriarchal attitudes that existed both personally and institutionally.
Invite participants to share briefly what they know about 1960s and 1970s feminism on Unitarian Universalism. Some participants may have experienced events the workshop will address; others may have heard about them. Allow about five minutes for participants to share what they know. Then, distribute Handout 1, 1977 Women and Religion Resolution. Invite participants to read the handout silently, and then invite a volunteer to read the resolution aloud. Lead a discussion using these questions:
Allow ten minutes for this part of the activity.
Then, ask participants to reflect: In your life and spiritual development, have you ever felt called to examine your personal religious background or belief system as it relates to gender? Invite them to consider the question for a minute and then turn to a partner to share their responses. Encourage participants to choose a conversation partner of another gender. Allow pairs five minutes.
Re-gather the group and explain that two concrete results of the 1977 resolution were a rewriting of the Principles and Sources and a re-examination of the hymnbook. Many "supplemental" hymnbooks featuring more inclusive language circulated until Singing the Living Tradition was published in 1993.
Distribute Handout 2, Thirty Years of Feminist Transformation. Invite a volunteer to read the article aloud. Ask: Why is the wording in the songs we sing so important? Invite responses, comments, and observations.
ACTIVITY 2: THE CAUCUS (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Introduce the activity using these or similar words:
One way women began to find their voices was by caucusing with other women. Often called "consciousness-raising" groups, these meetings were a chance for women to discuss their experiences of living in a world where gender-based oppression was a fact of daily life. For many, this was the first time they were able to freely discuss the details of their own stories in a safe space.
Invite participants to form groups of three, maintaining as much gender diversity in each group as possible. Distribute the story and invite participants to read it. Then ask participants to share in their small groups, responding to this question and ensuring that each person has a chance to speak:
Allow ten minutes. Then, re-gather the large group.
Point out that the description of the caucus ends with this statement:
Meetings are often ended with singing. If discussion becomes intense, singing offers a way to release tensions and bring the group together.
Invite comments, observations, and responses about the role of song in both the women's caucus groups of the 1960s and '70s and in contemporary, gender-based small groups.
ACTIVITY 3: FREEDOM (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute the Handout 3, Freedom—an explanation of what "freedom" meant to one member of the Arlington Street Women's Caucus. Read the first paragraph aloud, then have the two volunteers alternate reading the bulleted items. Lead a discussion with these questions:
If you have a multigenerational group, encourage conversation between people who experienced the 1960s and '70s as adults and those who were children or not yet born. Be intentional in including the perspectives and experiences of people of all genders.
CLOSING (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Make sure that each participant has their journal, and something to write with. Invite everyone to respond to this question:
How has music been a part of your own resistance and transformation or social justice work?
Allow five minutes for journaling. After five minutes, invite volunteers to share a word, phrase, or sentence from their journal entry.
Invite a participant to come forward and extinguish the chalice as you say these words: "As we extinguish this chalice, may we let the light of our tradition kindle our hope for a better world."
Distribute Taking It Home and invite participants to continue to write in their journals between workshops.
FAITH IN ACTION: MUSIC SUPPORTING RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute copies of Singing the Journey. Invite participants to find hymns that support the work of social justice, resistance, and transformation. Try singing some together. Ask your music director to teach the congregation one or two of these hymns if they are not already familiar to the congregation.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Take a few moments right after the workshop to ask each other:
Review the next workshop. Are there any questions to research or logistics to arrange between workshops? Make a list of who is responsible for which preparations and materials.
TAKING IT HOME
Something changed during that program at the church; we added our music to the women's movement. Singing together as women created something very special. We went into the service thinking of ourselves as a political activist group and came out of it singing! — Audrey Drummond, "Honor Thy Womanself"
Make a point of talking with Unitarian Universalist women whose life experiences are significantly different from yours—women from different generations, different places of origin, different family backgrounds, and racial and/or ethnic identities different from yours. How have they experienced the role of women in Unitarian Universalism? Are there particular workshops, worship services, or other congregational experiences they remember that have been important to them as women?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN WHO SWALLOWED A LIE (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute Handout 4 and tell the group it is a parody of the children's rhyme and song "There was an old woman who swallowed a fly." Remind the group of the pace and basic tune. Invite the group to read or sing the song together, encouraging loud and enthusiastic participation!
After reading/singing the song, invite reflection on the content. Were there any references they did not understand? Younger participants may not know who Dr. Spock was, for example, or that there was controversy in the 1960s about the birth control pill. If questions arise, see if participants can provide answers before sharing your own knowledge or research.
Post a sheet of blank newsprint. Invite participants to name the stereotypes mentioned in the poem; have a volunteer list them as they are mentioned. Some things that might come up include "women are nurturing," "wedding is when a woman is 'princess for a day,'" "girly things are 'fluff.'" Ask if any of these stereotypes are still part of our culture today. Have we as a society overcome or changed our views about any of these expectations of women? Invite the group to consider their congregation. Are any of these masculine/feminine roles evident in the way things are done? What is the gender breakdown among religious education leaders, for example? What about the people who set up and clean up coffee hour? What about the Board?
Finally, ask participants: What is the "lie" that she swallowed in the first place?
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: BREAD AND ROSES (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Read the following quote from Audrey Drummond, a member of the Arlington Street Women's Caucus:
Increasingly we found ourselves turning to music as our primary method of expression. Ruth recalled how music floated over and around and in and among us, songs, and words becoming part of our lives. Ruth wasn't one of our musical members and there simply had been no music in her life. A few old hymns, some Girl Scout Songs, a chorus or two of the "Star Spangled Banner;" that was it. As the Caucus began singing together, music suddenly became part of her life. It was, she said, "gorgeous music, flowing music" setting her life into the same gorgeous rhythms while the words urged her to revolution.
Distribute Handout 5, Bread and Roses and invite people to follow along with the words. Play the song, allowing a few moments of silence when it ends.
Say, in your own words:
"Bread and Roses" is one of the songs recorded by the Arlington Women's Caucus. The song itself is much older—it was written after a strike in a textile factory in Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. The workers were mostly women, and they took on the slogan "Bread and Roses" for the strike. Ask the group to remember that in 1912, women did not yet have the vote and many working class women were functionally illiterate, having been forced out of school and into the workforce at an early age. Singing was useful to the movement not only because it lifted the spirits of those on strike, but because a catchy song communicates the issues and aims of a movement.
Ask participants to name other labor, civil rights, or other justice movement songs they know. Encourage them to sing them! Lead the group to share knowledge about civil rights movements that used music as a primary feature of public demonstrations and contemporary movements that use song in the same way. Consider modern songs, rock songs, folk songs, traditional music, hip hop, and rap.
Play "Bread and Roses" again and invite participants to sing along! Ask everyone to sing with gusto.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
STORY: HONOR THY WOMANSELF — THE CAUCUS
Written by the Arlington Street Church Woman's Caucus and published in the Honor Thy Womanself program by the Unitarian Universalist Woman's Federation, 1973. Used with permission.
Meetings of the Caucus are open to all women and their friends. Mothers and daughters come. Women from other UU churches drop in and have come back. Women with no church affiliation have joined the group.
The Caucus usually meets in private homes in a geographical location that is accessible by public transportation. (Rides are provided, too.) The members bring their children, food to share, books and articles, and musical instruments.
Good communication seems to be central to the cohesive nature of the Caucus. The telephone is in constant use. Meetings are well-publicized in the church newsletter, and the elected chairwoman sends the most active members a sisterly reminder each month when they have made a commitment to do something for the group. One active member has taken on the task of putting together an occasional newsletter that is sent to any woman who has attended a meeting or voiced an interest in the activities of the Caucus.
Meetings are held monthly on Saturday afternoons from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Members feel free to come and go at any time during that period. The children feel free to dash in and out, but for the most part, prefer to have their own caucus.
Discussion at meetings is generally unstructured. What is happening at Arlington Street and where the Caucus can effectively support other groups in the church are topics that usually come up. Plans are made for support activities with individual members volunteering for assigned tasks.
Most of the afternoon is absorbed in discussion about what has been happening to the members and topics generate from immediate concerns. As the Caucus has evolved, members have felt freer to discuss more personal problems and many have returned to the next meeting because of the quality of understanding and support they have felt from their sisters.
Some of the topics that have been discussed include: marriage, separation and divorce, relationships with men, other women, siblings, parents and children, male-female roles, the world of work for women, the education and socialization of women, legal rights, child care, welfare, therapy, women and their gynecologists, the aging process, living alone, self-image, alternative life-styles, and ways of effecting change.
Meetings are often ended with singing. If discussion becomes intense, singing offers a way to release tensions and bring the group together.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
HANDOUT 1: 1977 WOMEN AND RELIGION RESOLUTION
This Business Resolution passed unanimously at the 1977 Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly in Ithaca, New York.
WHEREAS, a principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association is to "affirm, defend, and promote the supreme worth and dignity of every human personality, and the use of the democratic method in human relationships"; and
WHEREAS, great strides have been taken to affirm this principle within our denomination; and
WHEREAS, some models of human relationships arising from religious myths, historical materials, and other teachings still create and perpetuate attitudes that cause women everywhere to be overlooked and undervalued; and
WHEREAS, children, youth and adults internalize and act on these cultural models, thereby tending to limit their sense of self-worth and dignity;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1977 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association calls upon all Unitarian Universalists to examine carefully their own religious beliefs and the extent to which these beliefs influence sex-role stereotypes within their own families; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the General Assembly urges the Board of Trustees of the Unitarian Universalist Association to encourage the Unitarian Universalist Association administrative officers and staff, the religious leaders within societies, the Unitarian Universalist theological schools, the directors of related organizations, and the planners of seminars and conferences, to make every effort to: (a) put traditional assumptions and language in perspective, and (b) avoid sexist assumptions and language in the future.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the General Assembly urges the President of the Unitarian Universalist Association to send copies of this resolution to other denominations examining sexism inherent in religious literature and institutions and to the International Association of Liberal Religious Women and the IARF; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the General Assembly requests the Unitarian Universalist Association to: (a) join with those who are encouraging others in the society to examine the relationship between religious and cultural attitudes toward women, and (b) to send a representative and resource materials to associations appropriate to furthering the above goals; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: The General Assembly requests the President of the UUA to report annually on progress in implementing this resolution.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
HANDOUT 2: THIRTY YEARS OF FEMINIST TRANSFORMATION
Excerpted with the author's permission from the article "Thirty Years of Feminist Transformation" by Kimberly French, which originally appeared in UU World, Summer 2007. Copyright Kimberly French, 2007.
(In this section of the article, French describes the results of the 1977 Women and Religion Resolution)
With staff, funding, and ink backing them up, women across the Association began strategizing how to eradicate sexism from their own religion.
The first task was to change sexist language. Women and Religion groups charged that the UUA's Principles, written in 1961, failed to affirm women (with phrases like "the dignity of man") and failed to show respect for the earth. A revision process led to the 1985 Principles and Purposes, which substantially rewrote the previous six Principles and added a seventh: "Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part."
Activists also objected to language in Hymns for the Celebration of Life, the UUA's 1964 hymnal, which had sections titled "Man," "Love and Human Brotherhood," and "The Arts of Man." Interim hymnbooks circulated until a commission could complete Singing the Living Tradition in 1993, which uses more inclusive language.
One of the most visible changes spawned by the Women and Religion movement has been the rapid increase in women UU ministers—from about 5 percent in 1977 to about 50 percent today. That trend is expected to escalate, as 70 percent of UU retired ministers are men and 75 percent of those preparing for fellowship are women.
Along with more women in the pulpit, feminist theology has reshaped the tone of both UU worship and religious education. Many of the new worship forms designed by Women and Religion groups—such as the water ceremony, chalice lighting, and sharing of joys and sorrows—have been so wholly embraced by churches that UUs are often surprised to discover their relatively recent, and feminist, origins.
Women demanded and got curricula celebrating goddesses, women religious leaders, and women's spirituality: Cakes for the Queen of Heaven by the Rev. Shirley Ranck in 1986 (revised 1997) and Rise Up and Call Her Name by Elizabeth Fisher in 1994.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
HANDOUT 3: FREEDOM
Written by the Arlington Street Church Woman's Caucus and published in the "Honor Thy Womanself" program by the Unitarian Universalist Woman's Federation, 1973. Used with permission of the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation.
As a movement that touches my life, deeply, humanly, profoundly, the women's movement has to do with FREEDOM—freedom to become, to grow, to create, freedom to come to the following realizations:
1. I'm not a BODY, but a PERSON. I don't have to use my body to sell me, to anyone for any reason.
2. I have a right to be judged not as a sexual object, but as me, a person. I can get angry at catcalls, at dehumanizing advertising that uses women's bodies to sell its products.
3. At the same time that my body is freed as a sex object, I become free to appreciate it and to discover ways to experience a fuller sexuality in which I am an equal partner. I am freed from being a vehicle for a man's sexual enjoyment, and in so being, help to lead both myself and my partner toward a fuller sexuality.
4. I am free to become—whatever I want (given the confines of institutional sexism and a capitalistic society). I can pursue a career. My life does not depend in any way on finding a man to support me. I am independent, self-confident, and alive. I have a good and creative mind, and I can use it. I do not have to hide it to enable me to catch a man.
5. I don't have to play games with men, because I don't have to "catch" a man. I don't have to be anything but who I am and let the chips fall where they may.
6. This frees me to have a healthy and sharing relationship with men and women. I am not competing with women to "catch a man". I am not clinging dependently to a man for my life, my support or my interests; I can participate freely in a loving relationship. I am free from what my culture calls feminine—to be myself.
7. I can use and enjoy my body as a man can. I don't have to trap it in uncomfortable and fashionable clothes that advertising tells me I need to lure a man into my net. I can dress comfortably and functionally. I can run and laugh and yell and be alive. I am free to explore all of my emotions—anger, too.
8. I am free from what society says are my duties and ROLES. I am not a housekeeper, cook, and, eventually, mother—unless I chose freely to do those things. I expect my mate to share equally in those tasks. I am not confined to dull, unimaginative, service-oriented jobs. I am free to create, to lead, to express myself, to pursue a vocation that is a challenge to all of myself—to GROW and not become stagnant in society's roles.
9. Finally, I am free to help other women and men see the sorts of ROLES they are often trapped in—to help all of us become more able to relate to each other as human beings and to throw off the stifling roles of masculine/feminine.
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
HANDOUT 4: THERE WAS A YOUNG WOMAN WHO SWALLOWED A LIE
By Meredith Tax, from the Arlington Street Church Women's Caucus worship service. Used with permission. In the Women's Caucus worship service, lines 5 and 43 of the text read, "...live to serve others." At the author's request, we have restored her original phrase, "...live to serve men."
There was a young woman who swallowed a lie,
We all know why she swallowed that lie,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was a young woman who swallowed a rule,
"Live to serve men," she learned it in school;
She swallowed the rule to hold up the lie,
We all know why she swallowed that lie,
Perhaps she'll die.
There was a young woman who swallowed some fluff,
Lipstick and candy and powder and puff.
She swallowed the fluff to sweeten the rule,...
There was a young woman who swallowed a line,
"I like 'em dumb, baby, you suit me fine."
She swallowed the line to tie up the fluff,...
There was a young woman who swallowed a pill,
Might have said "no", but she hadn't the will.
She swallowed the pill to go with the line,...
There was a young woman who swallowed a ring,
Looked like a princess and felt like a thing.
She swallowed the ring to make up for the pill,...
There was a young woman who swallowed some Spock,
"Stay at home, mother, take care of your flock."
She swallowed the Spock to go with the ring,...
One day this young woman woke up and she said,
"I've swallowed so much that I wish I were dead.
I swallowed it all to go with the Spock,
I swallowed the Spock to go with the ring,
I swallowed the ring to make up for the pill,
I swallowed the pill to go with the line,
I swallowed the line to tie up the fluff,
I swallowed the fluff to sweeten the rule,
I swallowed the rule to hold up the lie,
Why in the world did I swallow that lie?
Perhaps I'll die."
She ran to her sister, it wasn't too late
To be liberated, regurgitate.
She threw up the Spock and she threw up the ring,
Looked like a princess and felt like a thing,
She threw up the pill and she threw up the line,
"I like 'em dumb, baby, you suit me fine."
She threw up the fluff and she threw up the rule,
"Live to serve men," she learned it in school.
And last but not least, she threw up the lie,
We all know why she threw up that lie,
SHE WILL NOT DIE!!!
RESISTANCE AND TRANSFORMATION: WORKSHOP 13:
HANDOUT 5: BREAD AND ROSES
Song lyrics from a poem written by James Oppenheim, published in The American Magazine, 1911.
As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day,
A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray,
Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses,
For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!
As we go marching, marching, we battle too for men,
For they are women's children, and we mother them again.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses.
As we go marching, marching, unnumbered women dead
Go crying through our singing their ancient call for bread.
Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew.
Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses too.
As we go marching, marching, we bring the greater days,
The rising of the women means the rising of the race.
No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes,
But a sharing of life's glories: Bread and roses, bread and roses.
Our lives shall not be sweated from birth until life closes;
Hearts starve as well as bodies; bread and roses, bread and roses.
FIND OUT MORE
Learn more about Cakes for the Queen of Heaven (at www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/), a feminist theology curriculum.
Read the full article "Thirty Years of Feminist Transformation (at www.uuworld.org/ideas/articles/23905.shtml)" by Kimberly French, in UU World, Summer 2007.