Red Feminism: A Personal and Historical Reflection

The American Communist Party and Feminism at the Beginning of the Cold War (1945-1960)

“…Articles produced from this symposium are instructive, as they contain some of the recollections of women who were Marxist feminists in the 1940's and 1950's. For example, the activist Aptheker [4] points out that she and other postwar feminists felt little support from the CPUSA and that some of the female leaders of CPUSA chapters (for example, Betty Gannett, who Weigand [44] mentioned as an example of the party's enlightened approach to female empowerment) were actually openly hostile to feminist goals.…”

“…But she was also the daughter of the longtime CPUSA leader and historian Herbert Aptheker. Aptheker's [4] critique of Weigand's [45] thesis centers on her own interactions with key people profiled in Weigand's book, as well as her experiences with continued sexism within the CPUSA. In particular, Aptheker reports that Betty Gannet was "decidedly anti-feminist" and that she gave lectures that were "a cross between strict Victorian code and Stalinist ethics" [4, pg.…”