7/27/25
I think I read this a long time ago. The gist of what I remember is that a lot of feminist groups in the 70s eschewed formalized social structures and hierarchies. This came from a desire for freedom and to rebel against the current system I think. This seems like a common refrain for anarchism, but I might be missing stuff there. I’m not well versed in anarchism.
The author (Jo Freeman) talks about how these structureless groups were instead controlled by informal structures. Powerful members using their social capital to get what they wanted and lead the groups.
The big difference here is that it was much harder to challenge these informal structures. There is no process to do this. You cannot impeach or vote against an informal leader. They’re not a real leader (in name, just in practice).
I think there were other problems with this structurelessness in the article. I think the author was saying that it led to groups being less well organized and ineffectual? The author in general I think advocates for a democratic process where groups can find the structure that works for them. Don’t blindly accept external structures. Those may be harmful. But, don’t just rebel against the entire concept of structure.