Sexism board game
Scope and Contents
A board game, titled Sexism, published in 1971 in Seattle, Washington, created by Houger & McCaw (Carolyn Houger and Martin McCaw), and sold by the National Organization of Women (NOW). According to the game's designer, Carolyn Houger, the game was meant to "bring out the humor in the Women's Liberation Movement and, at the same time, sensitize people so they realize what sexism means, for both men and women." The game's goal is to make it from the doll house at the start of the game to the White House at the end. If the woman wins, it's proclaimed: "You are now a person, and must be treated as such for 24 hours. Nonwinners may be treated as usual." Throughout, players draw both role and chance cards that place them in potentially sexist situations, while progressing along squares addressing everything from beauty pageants and typing pools to abortions and divorce. The game was originally sold for five dollars by NOW, mostly in the Seattle region. The board game is in its original box, which contains two folded game boards (one cardboard, one vinyl), six playing pieces, 36 Woman chance cards, 36 Man chance cards, 35 Woman role cards, 35 Man role cards, 18 voting cards ("sexist", "in-betweener", "liberationist"), a small plastic baby, and instructions for playing the game.
Dates
- Creation: 1971
Creator
- Houger & McCaw (Publisher, Organization)
- Houger, Carolyn (Designer, Person)
- McCaw, Martin (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Extent
0.83 Linear Feet (1 box)
Language of Materials
English
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Kate Mitas, Bookseller, November 15, 2023.
Physical Description
Box: 18.5 x 27 cm. Board: 51 x 65 cm. Board game in original box, containing: two folded boards (one cardboard, one vinyl); six playing pieces; 36 Woman chance cards; 36 Man chance cards; 35 Women role cards; 35 Man role cards; 18 voting cards ("sexist", "in-betweener", "liberationist"); small plastic baby; directions (bifolium, 4pp.). INCOMPLETE. No list of items included, but one Woman chance card, one Man chance card, two Man role cards, and all six "liberationist" voting cards have been copied from a complete set. Light wear to box, pieces and cards otherwise in excellent condition.
Subject
- National Organization for Women -- Archives (Seller, Organization)
- Houger & McCaw -- Archives (Organization)
- Houger, Carolyn -- Archives (Person)
- McCaw, Martin -- Archives (Person)
Genre / Form
Topical
- Title
- Finding aid for the Sexism board game
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Bo Doub -- with collection-level notes adapted from the seller, Kate Mitas, Bookseller
- Date
- 2024 January
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States
specol@usc.edu