[Satirical Feminist Banner].

Berkeley/Sonoma, CA: Ladies Against Women/National Rutabaga Co. (printers), [circa 1980-1985]. 21½” x 21½”. Cotton banner. Very good with creases at folds and a few soil spots.

This is a humorous, tongue-in-cheek banner or bandanna printed on cotton by Ladies Against Women (LAW), a satirical performance group from Berkeley, California.

Organized in 1980, LAW were known as a “political parody troupe” who performed throughout the Bay Area. In 1984 they traveled to Dallas for the Republican National Convention and organized a “deficit bake sale,” setting up an ironing board outside a prayer breakfast organized by President Reagan and selling Hostess Twinkies for $9 billion each. The most recent coverage we could find of the group was for a performance in 1992, though their (minimalist) website shows comments as late as 2020. A 1991 newspaper article quoted a male audience member who found them to be “about 15 percent funny. They could have balanced their attack better against men.”

The banner features about 13 vignettes with vintage images, including smiling and heavily made-up women – getting married, watching over children or doing chores. Text alongside the images announces things like “You're Nobody Until You're Mrs. Somebody” and “I'd Rather Be Ironing!” One vignette features a classic image of a typewriter and insists, “59¢ is too much ~ It's unladylike to accept money for work.” In 1963, women earned 59 cents for every dollar that men earned, a gap that has only narrowed by 23 cents as of 2020.

Not found in OCLC. There are three institutions that have small LAW collections but this banner did not appear to be in any of their holdings. Very good. Item #4030

Price: $400.00