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+--- Thread: Feminist Theory TRASHING: The Dark Side of Sisterhood by Joreen (1976) (/showthread.php?tid=1120)
TRASHING: The Dark Side of Sisterhood by Joreen (1976) - Clover - May 2 2025
https://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/trashing.htm
Quote:This article was written for Ms. magazine and published in the April 1976 issue, pp. 49-51, 92-98. It evoked more letters from readers than any article previously published in Ms., all but a few relating their own experiences of being trashed. Quite a few of these were published in a subsequent issue of Ms.
RE: TRASHING: The Dark Side of Sisterhood by Joreen (1976) - OffMyTit - May 3 2025
This reminds me of Joanna Russ’s Trembling Sisters and Magic Mommas, which I have recommended in several feminist spaces in the 20-some years since I first read it. Joreen says that the only acceptable roles for women are helper and helped, which align pretty neatly with being a trembling sister or magic momma.
“The Movement's worship of egalitarianism is so strong that it has become confused with sameness. Women who remind us that we are not all the same are trashed because their differentness is interpreted as meaning we are not all equal.”
This dynamic is one I have watched women who are black, disabled, lesbian, non-gender-conforming, or prostituted struggle against among women who call themselves feminist. To say that an experience is different, perhaps even worse than another, is not to say anything at all about the person experiencing it.
Thanks so much for sharing this! When I think about tuff_terfies, I’m really sad to have seen this all play out yet again. As someone who has also been ostracized in similar ways, I can only say I hope she is as satisfied as I am that I never allowed myself to be made small enough to fit in.