La voix de son maître : Les intellectuels radicaux et le mouvement féministe américain dans les années 1910 : entre avant-gardisme et conservatisme

Résumé 0

This article analyzes the complex relationship between radical intellectuals writing for The Masses and the most radical wing of the feminist movement in the 1910s. Even though radical thinkers tended to support wholeheartedly women’s rights and equality in theory, they were quite reluctant to share intellectual power with women in practice, fearing the negative impact women might have on American cultural life. In spite of such misgivings, these intellectuals remained quite supportive and helped the feminist cause in many respects. They tended to see feminism as a central component (along with socialism for instance) of their fight for social, economic and cultural changes. World War I put an end to the short-lived cooperation between these two avant-gardes ; indeed the war split both intellectual and feminist ranks at a time when the American government branded radical activities as un-American. Thereafter, feminism lost some of its appeal and very few intellectuals (except perhaps V.F. Calverton) in the 1920s continued to support feminism as a major radical cause.