ABSTRACT
Before beginning the story of the Los Angeles anti-rape movement, consideration of some definitions and theoretical questions is in order. This study contributes to two theoretical dialogues. One is the question of what the anti-rape movement can tell us about the larger new feminist movement of which it was a part. How shall we characterize and analyze feminist organizations? What distinguishes them from other movement organizations? I discuss below some of the models that have been developed by feminist scholars in the past and how well they apply to the anti-rape movement. The second set of issues I raise below have to do with developing an understanding of the relationship between social movements generally, and feminism in particular, and the state. I outline the model of the state I draw on in this study, and discuss how the professionalization of reform connects movements and the state. Then there’s the question of developing a gendered theory of the state. Does the state have a distinctive place in the maintenance of gender inequality? Is the state male?
