As Robin Presley notes in her online essay, “Women Writers of the Beat Generation,” the Beat women were “prototypical feminists.” While often viewed as victims of both a patriarchal, repressive society and an allegedly male-dominated and phallocentric cultural movement, the Beat women are perhaps better categorized as social pioneers because they were brave enough to cross cultural boundaries that barred their paths independence and self-fulfillment. Hettie Jones, who I will quote tremendously because she explains the achievements of these women so wonderfully, once said in an interview:
Prior to the women's movement there were women who had removed themselves from general cultural expectations, during the 50s especially. I really wanted to show that we had started the whole process, that not enough attention had been paid to the fact that we were there and that we had made a change in women's lives. A lot of the people who began the women's movement had some vague idea we had been out here, though they didn't attribute any real advances to us. But here they were later all out there getting their own apartments and taking off their bras, without realizing that there were women who had already left home like we did and had to suffer for (Grace).
Foremost, these women rebelled against social norms and their own families’ wishes, moving away from home before they were married. Hettie states, “Even among the young women I knew who were slightly younger than I, all this was really considered an accomplishment. You just weren't supposed to leave home until you got married and already lived under another man's hand…We were all thought to be lost, but at least we did what we wanted” (Grace). Unfortunately, not all of these women could break away easily. When Elise Cowen sought her independence, her parents committed her to a mental institution. Eventually, Elise committed suicide, speculatively because her parents would not allow her the freedom she desperately needed.
These women needed space to become the women they wanted to be. They also sought sexual freedom. At a time when premarital intercourse was expressly forbidden, the Beat women recognized themselves as sexual beings whose needs could (and should) be met. These women crossed other boundaries, using birth control and having abortions while both were still prohibited.
They also sought freedom from oppressive beauty ideals (and oppressive clothing!). Hettie Jones elaborates on the significance of Beat clothing choices:
…to take off your girdle was a radical move-first came the girdle and then came the bra-but to take off your girdle! Ah! And be able to think and walk and move without feeling blistered all the time. To acknowledge that you could have an ass. And to wear pants!...just that-the idea that one could move freely! I took off my high heels and threw them in the sewer one day when I first came to New York. (Grace)
These women sought the same freedoms that they perceived men to have, including economic independence. Many of the Beat women had careers of their own. Hettie Jones and Joyce Johnson both worked in publishing; Carolyn Cassady maintained various jobs to support her growing family; Anne Waldman and Diane DiPrima supported themselves by publishing their works and teaching writing and literature courses.
Unlike the feminists who would emerge a decade or so after the Beat women emancipated themselves, these women did not have a lot of female support. Most women did not understand their desire to rebel against conventionality or their passion for artistic and literary pursuits. Within the Beat movement, they found the freedom and support they needed to obtain self-fulfillment. However, they were also objectified by males within the movement, who didn’t quite understand these women and the obstacles they were constantly having to overcome. Even though the Beat movement rebelled against conventionality, it was still subject to the patriarchal ideology plaguing America at that time. Often, their primary source of support was each other. They helped each other through everyday ups-and-downs, through pregnancies, abortions, marriages, divorces, publications, exhibitions, and even deaths.
The solidarity and defiant attitudes of these women provided the seed that would germinate into the women’s movement of the late sixties. Although their impact wasn’t as strong, no one can deny that they sought their independence first, at a time when the slightest rebellion was quite an accomplishment. In conclusion, I leave you with a final thought from Hettie Jones:
By physically taking a stand, rather than intellectually, or through any particular writing. Simply by saying, "Okay, I'm going to live on my own. I'm going to acknowledge that I am a sexual being and I'm going to have sex and I'm going to practice birth control. I'm going to be a responsible person comparable to a man-I'm going to live what is generally regarded as a man's life. I'm going to have my own apartment and I'm going to have a job and I'm going to be self-supporting." Even among the young women I knew who were slightly younger than I, all this was really considered an accomplishment. (Grace)
Works Cited
Grace, Nancy. “Women of the Beat Generation: Conversation with Joyce Johnson and Hettie Jones.” Artful Dodge.com. Editors Daniel Bourne, et al. Online Journal. 14 Mar 2005. <http://www.wooster.edu/artfuldodge/interviews/ johnsonjones.htm>
Jones, Hettie. “Babes in Boyland.” The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats: The Beat Generation and American Culture. Ed. Holly George-Warren. New York: Hyperion, 1999.
Knight, Brenda. “Women of the Beat Generation : the Writers, Artists, and Muses at the Heart of a Revolution. Berkeley, CA: Conari Press, 1996.
Presley, Robin. "Women Writers of the Beat
Generation." The Other Feminist.com. 29 May 2003.
7 Feb 2006. <http://www.theotherfeminist.com/stuffiknow/women_of_the_beat_generation.htm>