![\"Shop](\"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/businessofwomenswords\/files\/2020\/03\/feministbookshop.jpg\")
\u00a9 Gail Hewison <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
I do\nknow because this bookshop was the place where I first discovered bell hooks\nafter buying her book with a voucher given to me by my Mum for my 16th<\/sup>\nbirthday. I was blown away by bell hooks\u2019 feminism\nis for everyone, <\/em>both in terms of the challenge to feminists who centre\nwhite women\u2019s experience, as well as the generous way hooks expressed this. I\nwas also staggered at my Mum\u2019s generosity: the voucher was for $100 (\u00a350) which,\nat the time, seemed an enormous sum of money. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\nwas such a pleasure to speak with Gabrielle (Gail) Hewison, who, along with her\nsisters, Libby and Jane, owned and ran this important Sydney feminist\ninstitution for thirty years. It began in 1974 and they took it over in 1982\nand ran it until 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When\nGail and her sisters took over The Feminist Bookshop in 1982, \u201cnone of us had\nany experience in running bookshops whatsoever.\u201d Gail had, however, significant\nmanagerial experience in other organisations and businesses. Before being\nheavily involved in the Women\u2019s Liberation Movement, she managed a photographic\nstudio for her then partner, who was one of Australia\u2019s leading photographers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the mid 70s Gail came out as a lesbian and a feminist and immediately became an activist. She worked in management roles at a private abortion clinic, after abortion was decriminalised in New South Wales. This service prioritised profit and speed over the needs of women having abortions. This was \u2018chalk and cheese\u2019 when compared to the Bessie Smythe Clinic, a service started by feminists in the 70s. At the Bessie Clinic, Gail was part of a flat-structure feminist collective where decision making, administration duties, cleaning, and abortion counselling, were everyone\u2019s responsibility. \u201cWe trained ourselves up to do everything\u201d she said. Gail suggested, that the Bessie Smythe Clinic and other feminist services began to set the standard for abortion provision, thus changing the experience of abortion for women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When speaking about The Feminist Bookshop, Gail claimed that it was so successful because she, Jane and Libby, were intimately and enthusiastically involved in the Women\u2019s Liberation Movement. \u201cBecause we were all active feminists, we knew what the issues were for women at the time.\u201d \u00a0A very big focus of the bookshop was lesbian visibility and creating a safe space for lesbians.\u00a0 The bookshop catered to women both inside and outside of the Movement. \u201cWe had a circle of absolutely devoted supporters who would not shop anywhere else\u201d. \u00a0But, it was also the place where feminist services, such as rape crisis centres, health centres and women\u2019s refuges would go to stock their libraries with good resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Feminist\nBookshop was also recommended as a resource by those working in feminist\nservices to their clients. Gail is clear that \u201cif we had only relied on feminists\nwho just liked a good read then we would have gone broke. We had to reach\nbeyond the women\u2019s movement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n I was struck in the interview by the continual refreshing of bookshop stock by the owners, in line with feminism\u2019s own transformations. \u201cWe survived for so long, because we knew that feminism was more than just nice women\u2019s novels, it was about so many practical things\u2026and there kept on being new issues.\u201d As feminists became interested in for example, addiction or Indigenous issues or non-sexist children\u2019s books they would find them at the bookshop. As demand arose, transgender people found their way to The Feminist Bookshop for the new books stocked, and transgender people knew they would be welcomed by Gail, Jane, Libby and their staff. The bookshop was open and welcoming to people of all genders from the very beginning, a decision that was both sensitive and made good business sense. Many men even declared it their favourite bookshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Toward\nthe end of our interview, Gail reflected broadly on the project of the bookshop,\nand I want to give her the last word: \u201cWe were pretty tired by the end, it was challenging\nand stressful sometimes trying to keep a feminist business going, as feminism\nbecame more mainstream. But it was so rewarding, to be at the centre of a vital\npart of the Women\u2019s Movement, to be doing something that was really changing\nlives. We knew most definitely that books can change lives. Over 30 years, we\nsaw it happen!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosa\nCampbell is completing a PhD in the global history of Australian Women\u2019s\nLiberation at the University of Cambridge. Recently, she has written for the\nIndependent, Overland and Novara media. She has just finished a children\u2019s book\nabout the history of international women\u2019s day. Say hello on twitter\n@rrrosavalerie<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With many thanks to Gail\nHewison. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Rosa Campbell In the oral history interviews I have recorded with those involved in the Australian Women\u2019s Liberation Movement, The Feminist Bookshop, Sydney, comes up again and again. Jane Bullen, active in Canberra Women\u2019s Liberation, spoke of coming to…<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Close](\"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/businessofwomenswords\/files\/2020\/03\/feminist-bookshop-window.jpg\")
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Left to Right: Jane, Libby and Gail <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n