Lesbian-Feminist Newspaper Archive "The Other Woman" and "SpeakOut", 1973-77

The Other Woman SpeakOut

Archive

[Newspapers][Feminism][LGBTQ] Archive of three issues of feminist newspapers "The Other Woman" and "SpeakOut", 1973–1977. Two issues of The Other Woman (Vol. 1 No. 6, July-Aug 1973; Vol. 2 No. 2, Nov-Dec 1973) and one issue of SpeakOut (October 1977, Vol. VI, No. 9). Three issues total. All tabloid newspaper format, folded as issued. Exceptionally scarce and content-rich run of grassroots feminist newspapers foregrounding queer, Indigenous, and socialist feminist perspectives in 1970s North America. Includes editorial work and contributions from BIPOC and lesbian women activists, writers, and artists within the radical feminist press. Each paper documents the evolving critique of state power, colonialism, media misrepresentation, heterosexism, and racism in tandem with developing feminist organizing infrastructure. Archive includes:

[1] The Other Woman. Vol. 1, No. 6. Toronto: The Other Woman, July-August 1973. This early issue includes bookstore distribution data and a public appeal for volunteer support, noting that The Other Woman was produced entirely by unpaid labor. The content includes coverage of Toronto-area activism, grassroots news bulletins, and poems by women readers. A featured editorial urges collective resistance to British imperialism and includes an annotation below the fold—“Queen Elizabeth was here. So pass on another token woman, symbol of British imperialism.” Articles address topics such as Indigenous organizing, systemic inequality in women’s prisons, and the promotion of an 18-point government program for equal opportunity. This issue reflects the beginnings of a sustained, intersectional analysis by Canadian feminists that centers race, class, and sexuality.

[2] The Other Woman. Vol. 2, No. 2. Toronto: The Other Woman, November–December 1973. This issue opens with a collective editorial outlining the paper’s new political direction, emphasizing internationalism, anti-imperialism, and lesbian-feminist solidarity. Articles include “Women Marching in Northern Ireland” and a column on early Canadian women writers, foregrounding erased Indigenous and women’s histories. The “Help!” column discusses the financial precarity of the publication and its radical commitment to free access. A notable inclusion is the announcement of the HERSTORY calendar project by the Canadian Women’s Educational Press, designed to reclaim women’s history through feminist timekeeping. This issue is especially important for its documentation of the editorial and political evolution of the collective itself.

[3] SpeakOut: A Feminist Journal. Vol. VI, No. 9. Albany, NY: SpeakOut Collective, October 1977. This New York-based publication centered lesbian feminist thought and communal organizing. Themed “Womenfriends,” this issue includes works such as “Friendship, Feminism & Betrayal” by Susan Lee, and “A Poem to a Sister” by Tawnda-Llea Barnes, among others. There is a strong focus on intimacy between women as political practice and on the importance of emotional labor in sustaining activist communities. It also includes legal and activist news updates, including “Recalled Rape Case Judge Defeated in Wisconsin!” and National Gay Task Force updates. The publication illustrates the cross-border feminist exchanges between Canadian and American radicals during the decade.

Folded newsprint, as issued. Light edge wear, minor toning throughout. Text remains entirely legible and structurally sound. Overall very good condition. This archive documents the radical presswork of lesbian and women-of-color feminists in the 1970s. It provides irreplaceable historical evidence of grassroots feminism across national and racial boundaries, with urgent relevance to scholars of gender, sexuality, and anti-colonial thought.

Item #21754

Price: $385.00