--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In the States, there has been, compared…" description: "\"In the States, there has been, compared to the Sixties and Seventies, a huge retrenchment - not just in poetry - into the personal. A withdrawal from t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/adrienne-rich-803_becoming_in-the-states-there-has-been-compared-to_1482352.jpg" --- # In the States, there has been, compared to the Sixties and… ![“In the States, there has been, compared to the Sixties and Seventies, a huge retrenchment - not just in poetry - into the personal. A withdrawal from thinking in terms of social and collective values, needs and solutions. The consciousness-raising groups of the women's movement, for instance…” quote by Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/adrienne-rich-803_becoming_in-the-states-there-has-been-compared-to_1482352.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/adrienne-rich-803_becoming_in-the-states-there-has-been-compared-to_1482352.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8fa/adrienne-rich-803_becoming_in-the-states-there-has-been-compared-to_1482352.jpg) > “In the States, there has been, compared to the Sixties and Seventies, a huge retrenchment - not just in poetry - into the personal. A withdrawal from thinking in terms of social and collective values, needs and solutions. The consciousness-raising groups of the women's movement, for instance, becoming "support-groups" or therapy groups.” [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote critiques a cultural shift from collective social activism to inward‑focused personal expression, noting how feminist consciousness‑raising turned into therapeutic support groups. **In simple terms:** Society moved from collective action to personal introspection. Key Takeaway Recognize the need for both personal insight and collective action. Themes feminism culture individualism activism psychology Mood critical reflective Type analytical political When to use this quote - community organizing - social movements - mental health support - political advocacy Key Concepts social theory collective consciousness personal narrative Questions to Reflect On - How can personal narratives fuel collective action? - What balance should be struck between therapy and activism? A Different Perspective Overemphasizing personal experience can dilute systemic change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Becoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/becoming/) [Collectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collectives/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Groups Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups-therapy-5405824/) [Groups Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups-women-420034/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Huge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/huge/) [Instance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instance/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Needs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/needs/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry Personal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-personal-1110824/) [Retrenchment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/retrenchment-2947825/) [Seventies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seventies/) [Sixty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sixty/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Solutions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/solutions/) [States](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/states/) [Support](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support/) [Support groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/support-groups/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Therapy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy/) [Therapy Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/therapy-groups-5405825/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) [Withdrawal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/withdrawal/) ## Related quotes > [Retrenchment is good for singapore. If there is no retrenchments, then I worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goh-chok-tong/retrenchment-is-good-for-singapore-if-there-is-no-retrenchments-then/) [Goh Chok Tong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goh-chok-tong/) > [We're going through a period of retrenchment as the dynamics of the playing field are changing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-c-griffin/we-re-going-through-a-period-of-retrenchment-as-the-dynamics-of-the/) [Kenneth C. Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-c-griffin/) > [“Every period of racial progress in this country is followed by a period of retrenchment. That’s what the 2016 election was about.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/every-period-of-racial-progress-in-this-country-is-followed-by-a/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [We've learned a lot from the great psychologists. Wilhelm Reich wrote about the relationship between fascism and sexual repression. Freud rediscovered the underworld of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/we-ve-learned-a-lot-from-the-great-psychologists-wilhelm-reich-wrote/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I do consider my engaged poetry as a personal mission, a duty toward a society which evolves into a system of control of consciences:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-theuninck/i-do-consider-my-engaged-poetry-as-a-personal-mission-a-duty-toward-a/) [Jan Theuninck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-theuninck/) > [I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-strand/i-would-say-that-american-poetry-has-always-been-a-poetry-of-personal/) [Mark Strand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-strand/) > [Poetry, from describing external events objectively, is becoming subjectified into a poetry of personal conscious expression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julian-jaynes/poetry-from-describing-external-events-objectively-is-becoming/) [Julian Jaynes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julian-jaynes/) > [Poetry is not about personal pain or tragedy. It should resonate the society's grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gulzar/poetry-is-not-about-personal-pain-or-tragedy-it-should-resonate-the/) [Gulzar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gulzar/) > [I think that if poetry is not a personal act, it's a pamphlet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-teresa-horta/i-think-that-if-poetry-is-not-a-personal-act-it-s-a-pamphlet/) [Maria Teresa Horta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-teresa-horta/) > [A city must be a place where groups of women and men are seeking and developing the highest things they know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/a-city-must-be-a-place-where-groups-of-women-and-men-are-seeking-and/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [I think female-female relationships interest me so much more because they're so encoded. There is kind of a psychic element that happens within groups…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-think-female-female-relationships-interest-me-so-much-more-because/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [We can see, from California to New York, from Maine to Florida, Seattle to New Mexico - everywhere there are women's groups. Everywhere there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/we-can-see-from-california-to-new-york-from-maine-to-florida-seattle/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Even in decision-making, we work in self-help groups. That is women coming together in small groups of 10 to sometimes 15 women, where they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melinda-gates/even-in-decision-making-we-work-in-self-help-groups-that-is-women/) [Melinda Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melinda-gates/) > [If we're by ourselves we come to feel crazy and alone. We need to make alternate families of small groups of women who support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-we-re-by-ourselves-we-come-to-feel-crazy-and-alone-we-need-to-make/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [For two generations groups of women have given their lives and their fortunes to secure the vote for the sex and hundreds of thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-chapman-catt/for-two-generations-groups-of-women-have-given-their-lives-and-their/) [Carrie Chapman Catt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-chapman-catt/) ## More by Adrienne Rich > [Only to have a grief equal to all these tears!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/only-to-have-a-grief-equal-to-all-these-tears/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you...it means that you do not treat your body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/responsibility-to-yourself-means-refusing-to-let-others-do-your/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [What I search for continuously in my art is adequate language, language I hope can stand beyond any particular occasion. What I'm finding is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/what-i-search-for-continuously-in-my-art-is-adequate-language/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Well, she's long about her coming, who must be more merciless to herself than history. Her mind full to the wind, I see her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/well-she-s-long-about-her-coming-who-must-be-more-merciless-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think my work comes out of both an intense desire for connection and what it means to feel isolated. There's always going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-my-work-comes-out-of-both-an-intense-desire-for-connection/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [Popular culture entered my life as Shirley Temple, who was exactly my age and wrotea letter in the newspapers telling how her mother fixed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/popular-culture-entered-my-life-as-shirley-temple-who-was-exactly-my/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [... in a history of spiritual rupture, a social compact built on fantasy and collective secrets, poetry becomes more necessary than ever: it keeps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/in-a-history-of-spiritual-rupture-a-social-compact-built-on-fantasy/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [It's as if, in the mother's eyes, her smile, her stroking touch, the child first reads the message:'You are there!'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/it-s-as-if-in-the-mother-s-eyes-her-smile-her-stroking-touch-the/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The women's movement appeared at a very crucial moment in my life. There was a whole political movement asking such questions and others I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-women-s-movement-appeared-at-a-very-crucial-moment-in-my-life/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The word revolution itself has become not only a dead relic of Leftism, but a key to the deadendedness of male politics: the revolution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-word-revolution-itself-has-become-not-only-a-dead-relic-of/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The decision to feed the world is the real decision. No revolution has chosen it. For that choice requires that women shall be free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-decision-to-feed-the-world-is-the-real-decision-no-revolution-has/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [The necessity of poetry has to be stated over and over, but only to those who have reason to fear its power, or those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-necessity-of-poetry-has-to-be-stated-over-and-over-but-only-to/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [I think many poets, including myself, write both for the voice and for the page. I certainly write for the person alone in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/i-think-many-poets-including-myself-write-both-for-the-voice-and-for/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [If I cling to circumstances I could feel not responsible. Only she who says she did not choose, is the loser in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/if-i-cling-to-circumstances-i-could-feel-not-responsible-only-she-who/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) [Explore all 364 Adrienne Rich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) ## More Becoming quotes > [Focus on becoming more to achieve more while doing less](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-elrod/focus-on-becoming-more-to-achieve-more-while-doing-less/) [Hal Elrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-elrod/) > [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/) [Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/) > [But I already saw no great difference between the psyche and spirituality. 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