The Rag: Feminist Journal of Politics and Culture, vol. 1, no. 1

The Rag: Feminist Journal of Politics and Culture (vol. 1, no. 1), published by undergraduate students at Harvard University. 

From the back:

The theme of this first issue of The Rag is control. We chose control as a starting point from which to consider issues that many of us have never addressed publicly before. At a forum held in October, we discussed our thought and ideas about the theme - what controls our lives, and what we control. As well as providing a springboard for work to be published, the forum was emotional, historic and turbulant. We emerged with the realization that we were not all of a single feminism.

We were women of different races, sexual orientations, regional and economic backgrounds. We left feeling exhausted and disheartened. It is easier to acknowledge our shared experiences than what divides us. Differences felt threatening. Would we be able to honor each woman's thoughts and feelings in the process of joint creation? Would consensus be adequate to give each of us a voice or would our differences fragment the group? Could we actually share the control of the group among so many?

Why ''The Rag"? We chose the name because it conjures up images that need to be exanuned, contrasted and confronted. A rag can be: a cleaning cloth women use in their own homes or the homes of others; a scrap worked into a patchwork quilt; a newspaper; a harsh critique. The name also carries images of menstruation, backaches and mood swings and boxes of Nuprin, the taboo of blood. These are things we want to explore and reclaim.

Not all of us like the name ''The Rag," and in fact the name was the first consensus we reached, with each person adding her thoughts to the group's discussion. Consensus gives us a structure in which the perspectives and opinions of each are given the same weight as those of others. We have no editors or editing process- instead proposals are developed in ongoing workshops, and anything workshopped will be in the journal. Everyone may express her views: we can reach agreement without anyone feeling silenced. We have had to keep from slipping back into in group/out group patterns: to accomplish this goal has meant continually examining the group dynamics of our meetings, which are Thursday nights at nine and open to all - just come to the Adams House Coolidge Room.

In the absence of a Women's Center, we have created a space for ourselves in which we are comfortable speaking out.