Cell 16 is a progressive, radical feminist organization active in the United States known for its program of

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

training (specifically

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

), opposition to

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

, and its analyses of relations between men and women in dating culture, politics and the economics of unpaid labor in the home. Co-founded by Roxanne Dunbar and Dana Densmore in 1968, Cell 16 included early members Betsy Warrior, Abby Rockefeller and Jayne West. Cell 16 was sometimes mischaracterized as promoting

celibacy Celibacy (from Latin ''caelibatus'') is the state of voluntarily being unmarried, sexually abstinent, or both. It is often in association with the role of a religious official or devotee. In its narrow sense, the term ''celibacy'' is applied ...

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

for its suggestion that women remain autonomous from men's groups and avoid romantic entanglements with either men or women, which would take away time and energy better spent on women's rights. The organization had a journal titled ''No More Fun and Games,'' which exerted a strong influence over the development of the second wave of feminism.'

History

In the summer of 1968, Roxanne Dunbar placed an advertisement in a

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, underground newspaper calling for a "Female Liberation Front". The original membership also included Hillary Langhorst, Sandy Bernard, Dana Densmore (the daughter of Donna Allen), Betsy Warrior, Ellen O'Donnell, Jayne West, Mary Ann Weathers, Maureen Maynes, Gail Murray, and Abby Rockefeller.Echols, Alice. ''Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-75'', University of Minnesota Press, 1990, The group's name was meant "to emphasize that they were only one cell of an organic movement" and referenced the address of their meetings – 16 Lexington Avenue. ''No More Fun and Games'' ceased publication in 1973. Cell 16 disbanded in 1973 as well.

Ideology

Founded in 1968 by Roxanne Dunbar, Cell 16 has been cited as the first organization to advance the concept of

separatist feminism Feminist separatism or separatist feminism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's sex segregation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, ...

.Echols, Alice. ''Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967-75'', University of Minnesota Press, 1990, , p. 164. Cultural historian Alice Echols cites Cell 16 as an example of feminist ''heterosexual separatism'', as the group never advocated lesbianism as a political strategy. Echols credits Cell 16's work for "helping establishing the theoretical foundation for

lesbian separatism Feminist separatism or separatist feminism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's sex segregation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, ...

." In ''No More Fun and Games'', the organization's journal, Roxanne Dunbar and Lisa Leghorn advised women to "separate from men who are not consciously working for female liberation", and advised periods of celibacy, rather than lesbian relationships, which some lesbian groups labeled as "nothing more than a personal solution". In Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's book, ''Outlaw Woman'', in referring to an article by member Dana Densmore titled "On Celibacy" that was published in the first issue of ''No More Fun and Games'' (1970), Dunbar-Ortiz explains, "That essay mythologized our group as having taken "vows of celibacy."

References

External links

* Pearson, Kyra, ''Mapping rhetorical interventions in "national" feminist histories: Second wave feminism and Ain't I a Woman'' (1999)
abstract
* Duke University has digitize
vol. 1, no. 2
of the journal "No More Fun and Games"

History

Ideology

References

External links

Further reading