From Feminine to Feminism: Work, Gender, and Politics on Capitol Hill

This presentation examines an overlooked, local source of support for feminist legislation in Congress, 1960-1975.  It refutes current literature which attributes the success of feminist legislation to women’s rights lobbies, arguing that these external power networks were at their weakest during this time.  The paper demonstrates that policy was fundamentally shaped by “local,” internal networks of feminists who intermixed daily within the halls of congressional buildings.  As an oppositional yet internal force within Capitol Hill, the presentation argues that the space, culture, and politics of Congress facilitated the development of feminism on the Hill.  Secretaries, staffers, and congresswomen thus played a critical role in the formulation, passage, and implementation of feminist legislation.