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E-book
Author Kempker, Erin M., 1978- author.

Title Big sister : feminism, conservatism, and conspiracy in the heartland / Erin M. Kempker
Published Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2018

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 201 pages)
Series Women, gender, and sexuality in American history
Women, gender, and sexuality in American history.
Contents Introduction -- Women's experience in Cold War America -- Anticommunists and the world government conspiracy -- The battle over the ERA -- Low-key feminism as a strategy -- The International Women's Year as a fulcrum -- Epilogue
Summary The mid-Seventies represented a watershed era for feminism. A historic National Women's Conference convened in Houston in 1977. The Equal Rights Amendment inched toward passage. Conservative women in the Midwest, however, saw an event like the International Year of the Woman not as a celebration, but as part of a conspiracy that would lead to radicalism and one-world government. Erin M. Kempker delves into how conspiracy theories affected--and undermined--second wave feminism in the Midwest. Focusing on Indiana, Kempker views this phenomenon within the larger history of right-wing fears of subversion during the Cold War. Feminists and conservative women each believed they spoke in women's best interests. Though baffled by the conservative dread of "collectivism," feminists compromised by trimming radicals from their ranks. Conservative women, meanwhile, proved adept at applying old fears to new targets. Kemper's analysis places the women's opposing viewpoints side by side to unlock the differences that separated the groups, explain one to the other, and reveal feminism's fate in the Midwest
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Print version record
Subject Feminism -- Indiana -- History -- 20th century
Feminism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Women's rights -- Indiana -- History -- 20th century
Conservatism -- Indiana -- History -- 20th century
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies.
HISTORY -- Women.
Conservatism
Feminism
Women's rights
Indiana
United States
Genre/Form Electronic books
History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780252050701
0252050703