Organizations

From the 1970s to 1990s, the women’s movement proliferated rapidly. Groups formed, grew, disbanded, merged and otherwise went through significant change over the decades. Women organized everywhere –  in workplaces, schools, religious centres, unions, families, households, on a national/provincial and territorial basis, and in communities both large and small. They set up study circles, held consciousness-raising sessions, formed caucuses, built coalitions, set up services and programs, and established autonomous grassroots groups. Some organizations were long-lasting; others, short-lived. Some brought women together on a single issue; others on a more comprehensive political ideology. While many organizations emerged as part of the women’s movement itself, feminists in the union movement, political parties, and many other progressive groups were also mobilizing around demands to create more space within those organizations for women’s leadership and participation, as well as engagement with women’s equality issues.

Feminists of this era also critiqued and challenged traditional structures and ways of organizing that sidelined women and denied access to any real power.  Groups sought to build alternative feminist models and processes. At the same time, Indigenous, racialized and immigrant women, women with disabilities, and lesbians were raising powerful concerns about discrimination and oppression within the women’s movement itself and demanding a re-examination of power relationships and feminist practice.

Existing women’s organizations, some dating from the 19th century, also felt the impact of the feminist movement. These groups often played an important role in fostering women’s leadership and services in many communities and some became increasingly more active and directly involved in advocating on women’s equality issues.