Consciousness-raising groups convened small weekly circles in homes to foster sisterhood

Evidence

By the 1970’s, my mother was attending meetings at the Junior Women’s Club, the closest thing to a ‘consciousness-raising’ group in our town. “A consciousness-raising group consists of a small number of women (generally not more than twelve) who meet informally once a week at a member’s home or women’s center,” reads a pamphlet of the time. “Ask friends to bring friends—it isn’t necessary to know everyone. Sisterhood is a warm feeling!” — Theresa M. Senft, Camgirls, 60

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the 1970s women’s movement’s consciousness-raising as the historic precedent for networked small-group intimacy that social media later automated; parallels the author’s own viewership community structure. — connects to: Larger social circles expand possibilities for developing unique inner lives. — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 655; Black women’s separatist organizing added gender consciousness to racial self-help — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 338
• SEED: Angle: consciousness-raising groups as the forgotten pre-digital template for online intimacy communities, blog rings, and subscription fanbases.

Broader Connections

• Black women’s separatist organizing added gender consciousness to racial self-help #expands (0.78) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 338
• Larger social circles expand possibilities for developing unique inner lives. #expands (0.72) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 655