Ann Barr Snitow
in 2011
BornMay 8, 1943
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
DiedAugust 10, 2019(2019-08-10) (aged 76)
Manhattan, New York City
Occupation(s)Feminist activist, writer, teacher

Ann Barr Snitow (May 8, 1943 – August 10, 2019) was an American feminist activist, writer and teacher.[1] She was a co-founder of the New York Radical Feminists, and the (co-)author and (co-)editor of several books.

Life

Snitow was born in New York City to a Jewish family. Her father Charles Snitow was born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants Aaron Snitow and Mary Sackowitz.[2] Her mother Virginia Snitow was born in Brooklyn to Louis Levitt of Kiev and Tillie (Toba) Rosenberg of Huși, Romania. Virginia served as President of American Jewish Congress' Women's Division and was an activist in the feminist, anti-racist, and anti-war movements.[3] Ann took her doctorate in London and returned to her home city where she was a founding member of the New York Radical Feminists in 1969 with her friend Ellen Willis.[4][5]

In the 1970s she became known for her talks on the not for profit New York radio show Womankind on WBAI.[1]

She was a serial movement founder. In 1977 she founded CARASA to campaign against sterilisation and for the right to abortion.[4]

Snitow taught English literature at Manhattan's New School for Social Research in Manhattan during the 1980s, where she established gender studies as another course.[1] In 1981 she gathered together people to form No More Nice Girls, a feminist street theatre group whose message was pro abortion and to uncover female sexuality. Three years later she founded the similarly themed "FACT" which tried to reduce the impact of anti-pornography campaigners.[4] Snitow's approach was summarised as "Pro-sex" as she did not want to see more censorship.[6] In 1983 she brought together her thoughts about feminist sexuality, anti-pornography and prostitution in an essay titled "Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality".

In 1998 she turned historian to recall "The Feminist Memoir Project" about her work.

In 2002 she founded the group "Take Back the Future".[4]

In 2015 she published "The Feminism of Uncertainty (2015)" which gathered together her lifetime of essays. Snitow died in 2019.[7]

Snitow's papers are at Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts where Snitow was a professor of literature and gender studies.[8]

Founding member of...

  • New York Radical Feminists in 1969
  • CARASA (Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse), 1977
  • "No More Nice Girls", 1981, a feminist street theater group focused primarily on abortion and sexuality;
  • FACT (Feminist Anti-Censorship Taskforce), 1984, opposing the feminist anti-pornography movement
  • Network of East-West Women, 1991, with Katha Pollitt,[6] among several others, including Ellen Willis
  • Take Back the Future, 2002

Selected works

  • Snitow, Ann Barr; Stansell, Christine; Thompson, Sharon, eds. (1983). Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality. New York: Monthly Review Press. ISBN 9789350020203.
  • DuPlessis, Rachel Blau; Snitow, Ann Barr, eds. (1998). The Feminist Memoir Project: Voices from Women's Liberation. New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 9780813539737.
  • Snitow, Ann Barr (2015). The Feminism of Uncertainty: A Gender Diary. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822375678. OCLC 914715351.
  • Snitow, Ann Barr (2020). Visitors: An American Feminist in East Central Europe. New York: New Village Press. ISBN 9781613321300.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Seelye, Katharine Q. (August 11, 2019). "Ann Snitow, Feminist Teacher and Activist, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  2. ↑ Feder, Barnaby J. (July 5, 2000). "Charles Snitow, an Impresario Of Trade Shows, Dies at 93". The New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  3. ↑ "Virginia Snitow". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Shulman, Alix Kates (August 13, 2019). "Remembering Ann Snitow, the Feminist Activist Who Embraced Uncertainty". The Nation. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  5. ↑ Tanenbaum, Laura (August 17, 2019). "Ann Snitow (1943–2019)". Jacobin. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  6. 1 2 Pollitt, Katha (August 14, 2019). "Ann Snitow, 1943–2019". Dissent. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  7. ↑ Snitow, Ann Barr, 1943– (2015). The feminism of uncertainty : a gender diary. Durham. ISBN 978-0-8223-5860-2. OCLC 900242724.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Guide to the Ann Barr Snitow papers, 1969–2011". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Retrieved December 2, 2019.
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