in a Second Wave Organization”
A hallmark of third wave feminism is a willingness to speak openly about sex and sexuality. To many observers, it seems that feminists today are uncharacteristically frank, even confrontational, about sex and sexuality – that is, such openness is quite new. Many young feminists embrace this sense of newness – that is, many would argue, or at least assume, that their predecessors were reluctant to entertain complex notions of sex and sexuality. Yet, in National Organization for Women (NOW) chapters around the country during the heady days of second wave feminism in the 1960s and 1970s, feminists embraced sex and sexuality in all of its complexities and in myriad ways. This paper traces activism among NOW feminists in different locations around the country across three issues: reproductive freedom, sexual autonomy, and prostitutes’ rights. In so doing, it illuminates how feminists of the second wave understood the complexities of sex and sexuality and draws attention to common ground among – rather than stark divisions between – feminists across generations. By showing how second wave feminists in NOW discussed and acted upon issues of sex and sexuality, this paper uses sex and sexuality to construct a bridge across the (false?) divides between second and third wave feminism.