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From: NETOPRWA@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu (Wayne Aiken)
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Subject: Re: The Feminist Majority
Message-ID: <77494@aerospace.AERO.ORG>
Date: 6 Jul 90 14:50:39 GMT
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First, for those of you asked, the 'name' that I mentioned was misspelled was
my own, on the envelopes of the literature they sent me.  I have lots of fun
tracking who sells what mailing list to who, based on the various permutations,
some accidental and some intentional.

In article <9006282136.AA09662@houston.cs.columbia.edu>,
   travis@houston.cs.columbia.edu (Travis Lee Winfrey) writes:
>>   goals as NOW, but this one has much more of a political bent; among the
>>   letter I got is a questionnaire.  They gradually go through the
>>   demographics, then to membership in other organizations, political
>
>My understanding is that when Eleanor Smeal was not reelected to the
>presidency of NOW, she left and started this group.  The bogus
>questionnaire/petition format for fund-raising is so common that I'm
>surprised you haven't seen it before.

Yeah, I've seen this sort of thing before.  What made this particular one
noticeable was the way they tried (and failed miserably) at being subtle in
the way the questions went gradually from mundane details to social/political
orientation to whether I would support unspecified political goals.

I've seen other organizations, often splinters from other larger groups, which
seem to have the same goals as the original group, but in reality serve little
more than a means of giving the founders an impressive title and position.
The FftFM says that they produce and distribute educational videos, and they
do put out a newsletter showcasing the accomplishments of female lawmakers.
Beyond that, I don't know.

>The only "convoluted socio-political group" to watch out for is the New
>Alliance Party, a well-funded group of far-left wing psychos.  They
>publically support women's rights, gay rights, and other cool things;but
>my activist friends assure me that they are loons.

Thanks for the warning.

>So, is The Feminist Majority real?  Yes.  Is it effective?  In this
>political climate, what could be?  Give your money to NARAL instead.

ok... based on a '% effectiveness' scale, which of the following are the
best ones to support:

      1) Fund for the Feminist Majority  (doesn't look good, so far)

      2) NOW

      3) NARAL

      4) ACLU  (maybe worth it for other things they do, but they are
                in the abortion rights battle as well)

Wayne Aiken                netoprwa@ncsuvm.bitnet      "You can BE what
PO Box 30904               netoprwa@ncsuvm.ncsu.edu     you WON'T!!"
Raleigh, NC  27622         slack@ncsu.edu                --"Bob"
(919) 782-8171             BBS: (919) 782-3095