Smuggling Sex Through the Gates: Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of Space in Second Wave Feminism

The "Second Wave" of feminism was a mass movement forged through acts that reconfigured the relationship among women, sexuality, and public space. But the sites of women's activism also engendered race and class hierarchies, despite diverse membership and anti-racist commitments. This article uses a case study -- the formation of A Woman's Coffee House in Minneapolis, Minnesota -- to show how activists shaped and gave meanings to race, class, gender, and sexuality in and through the conflicting stakes that they had in the places of their activism.