Literature in the Feminist Movements
Similar topics of discussion arose at Saint Mary’s, as displayed by newspaper clippings from 1972, echoing ideas posed by the movement which was particularly influential given the all female population. An article titled Young Women Torn Between Roles of Wife and Career, published in the South Bend Tribune on July 20, 1972, discusses the struggles that women faced in pursuing a career at that time. The article details that women often have to choose between being a wife and being a member of the workforce. Another article titled Shapiro attacks the antifeminism in literature, published in the Observer on October 24, 1972, recounts a talk given at Saint Mary’s by Gloria Shapiro on October 23. Shapiro was an associate professor of English at Indiana University at South Bend who spoke on the topic of “Antifeminism in Literature: An Historical Perspective.” In her public lecture, Shapiro pointed out that “a ‘gross absence of truth exists today in contemporary fiction which portrays only ‘half of humanity’” (Gallagher 1972). Throughout her speech, she confronted the inaccurate portrayal of women in literature by men -- a topic clearly of interest to a student body composed entirely of women.