Lucy Delap - Experiences of the feminist past to resist sexism and patriarchy

Lucy Delap, historian at the University of Cambridge and fellow of Murray Edwards College, talks to us about the usability of the feminist past.

About Lucy Delap

"I’m a Reader in Modern British and Gender History at the University of Cambridge and the Deputy Chair of the History Faculty.

I’ve written books on the transatlantic and global history of feminisms, as well as on women’s domestic labour."

Learning from the feminist past

Today’s activists have sometimes been ambivalent about the feminist past, so I’d like to ask: what is usable about feminist histories? How can we draw on the experiences of the past? How can we develop a rich relationship to the past that can help us infuse our contemporary problems and our contemporary activism? When activists look back to feminists of the past, they sometimes see a movement that, in their eyes, was too timid or too class-dominated by wealthy and educated women, too racist or too oriented around the concerns of the global north to have much significance to their struggles today.

There has been a repudiation of feminism of the past, but I want to suggest that there are important ways in which we should be looking back. One way is to see shared tactics over time. In my research, I’ve been fascinated by the returning to particular ways of fighting male violence and of resisting sexism and patriarchy.

Key Points

• There has been a repudiation of feminism of the past, but by looking back on shared tactics we can develop a rich relationship to the past that can help infuse our contemporary problems.
• Similar tactics have emerged amongst women activists at different historic periods and places. For example, Women stripping to show their lack of respect and their freedom has been an important tactic over time, though it varies in impact and symbolic meaning.
• The fact that there are feminists with a mixed legacy doesn’t mean we should wipe them out of the feminist canon.