Pre-baby boom women's attitudes and responses to second wave feminism in Ireland

Synopsis The history and politics of the 1970s second wave feminism in Ireland have been well documented however the reactions of women who were not key feminist activists, have received little attention. Employing Mannheim's (1953) concept of generational cohort and explanations of women's identification with feminism, we examine oral histories from Irish women born prior to 1942 to identify their generational frame of reference and uncover how this influenced their responses to Irish second wave feminism. Our analysis reveals that while most of the women interviewed demonstrated an awareness of the ideas and activities of second wave feminism, they exhibited forms of feminist consciousness which were partial and uncertain. Significantly however the data demonstrates the salience of second wave feminism in Ireland highlighting that even amongst women who were not activists feminism provided an alternative interpretative framework from which to evaluate their lives. The data also reveals the existence of a micro-cohort (Mannheim, 1953) amongst the women interviewed whose feminist consciousness and engagement in feminist activism set them apart from their peers. The two women in this micro-cohort came to feminism at different points in their lives, through similar but diverse life experiences. Factors such as interest and exposure, spaces and places occupied (Aikau et al., 2003), access to resources (Bolzendahl & Myers, 2004) and attitudinal factors (Williams & Wittig, 1997) were influential in shaping their feminism.