Empowering Women—A Series of Articles About the Surge in and Fragmentation of Mid-20th-Century American Feminist Theory

This article series examines the initial surge and ultimate fragmentation of second-wave feminist theory. The analysis reveals that, apparently unbeknownst to the theorists themselves, two primary types of “empowerment” appeared in their writings: empowerment of the autonomous self and empowerment of the relational self. Within these primary types, there are diverse understandings of “empowerment” that are based on varied but adamant notions of what it should accomplish. This first article, “Radical Notions,” discusses the implications of arguments within radical feminist theory. Rather than attempting to understand the reasons for their differences, at least some of them engaged in arguments about what constituted being a “real” radical feminist and attempted to ostracize those who did not fit the proscribed mold