Q 1. In one of our opening lectures for the course looking at the work of Susan Stanford Friedman (“Women’s Autobiographical Selves”), we read about the Sheila Rowbotham’s theory that “women can move beyond alienation through a collective solidarity with other women- recognizing that women as a group can develop an alternative way of seeing themselves by constructing a group identity based on their historical experience.” To quote from Rowbotham again: “In order to discover its own identity as distinct from that of the oppressor, [an oppressed group] has to become visible to itself. All revolutionary movements create their own ways of seeing. But this is a result of great labour. People who are without names, who do not know themselves… experience a kind of paralysis of consciousness. The first step is to connect and learn to trust one another… Solidarity has to be a collective consciousness which at once comes through individual self-consciousness and transforms it.” How might this theory be applicable to Leymah Gbowee’s story? How did women in her story develop an alternative way of seeing themselves, and to what end? Discuss in detail how they ‘constructed a group identity based on their historical experience,’ and how, in telling their story, they shattered “the cultural hall of mirrors” and broke “the silence imposed by male speech.” 2. How does Leymah challenge traditional ideas and narratives about gender in the methods she uses to achieve her dreams while supporting four children? In what ways is she making her own rules about gender roles? How are her choices shaped by the ways gender impacts women during war? 3. Consider the Cohn and Jacobson article about women and political activism. What, in your opinion, are the strengths and limitations of women acting ‘as women’ or ‘as mothers’ in the Mass Action in Liberia? Cite from both the Gbowee book and the Cohn and Jacobson article in developing your response.