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Ellen Willis, 1941-2006

Posted by Ampersand | November 10th, 2006

Ellen WillisFeminist essayist (and Redstockings cofounder) Ellen Willis has died. Bitch | Lab has a post with dozens of links to pieces both by and about Ellen Willis - check it out. (And then look through B|L’s other recent posts for more about Willis, including Willis’ NY Times obit).

From Willis’ 1998 essay “We Need A Radical Left”:

No mass left-wing movement has ever been built on a majoritarian strategy. On the contrary, every such movement- socialism, populism, labor, civil rights, feminism, gay rights, ecology-has begun with a visionary minority whose ideas were at first decried as impractical, ridiculous, crazy, dangerous and/or immoral. By definition, the conventional wisdom of the day is widely accepted, continually reiterated and regarded not as ideology but as reality itself. Rebelling against “reality,” even when its limitations are clearly perceived, is always difficult. It means deciding things can be different and ought to be different; that your own perceptions are right and the experts and authorities wrong; that your discontent is legitimate and not merely evidence of selfishness, failure or refusal to grow up.

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2 Responses to “Ellen Willis, 1941-2006”

  1. Tuomas Writes:
    November 10th, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    On the contrary, every such movement- socialism, populism, labor, civil rights, feminism, gay rights, ecology-has begun with a visionary minority whose ideas were at first decried as impractical, ridiculous, crazy, dangerous and/or immoral

    That’s not fair — I still — or especially after having observed them in action — decry some of these (*cough* socialism *cough*) as impractical, ridiculous, crazy, dangerous and immoral.

    But I have something good to say about her:

    I liked

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  2. Tuomas Writes:
    November 10th, 2006 at 3:50 pm

    (sorry, accidentally submitted)

    Here’s the piece I liked (pdf): “Is There Still a Jewish Question? Why I’m an Anti-Anti-Zionist,”

    R.I.P

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  3. Rapture of the Deep Writes:
    November 10th, 2006 at 8:19 pm

    I shamefully have to admit that I had never heard of Ellen Willis before reading her obituary in today’s NY Times. Via Alas, a blog, a quote from her 1998 essay “We Need a Radical Left” that rings very true with me: No mass left-wing movement has ever been built on a majoritarian strategy. On the contrary, every such movement- socialism, populism, labor, civil rights, feminism, gay

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  4. Pacific Views Writes:
    November 12th, 2006 at 2:58 pm

    Wal-Mart wouldn’t settle a claim of less than $20,000 after an attendant at one of their service stations gave away the keys to a customer’s car to a homeless person who then stole it. Alas, A Blog: Ellen Willis, 1941-2006; she seems like someone I wish I’d known more about before she died, Amp quotes from an essay of hers on why it’s important to have a radical left and links to other places where her writing can be found. It would appear that

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