FEAR AND LOATHING IN MISSISSIPPI - THE ATTACK ON CAMP-SISTER-SPIRIT

In 1993, the small rural community of Ovett, Miss., and a group of sel f-described radical lesbian feminists clashed over the establishment b y the women of a feminist educational retreat known as Camp Sister Spi rit. This dispute took the form of physical and psychological harassme nt of the women, wide-open public debate in the community, in the pres s, and on television, federal mediation efforts, and two lawsuits. Thi s article analyzes this dispute using Mary Daly's seven patterns of th e sado-ritual syndrome (Daly 1978). The analysis examines the ideologi cal and moral standpoints of the participants, the issues of ''blaming the victim'' and scapegoating, the development of the conflict from a dispute between neighbors to the involvement of international media, national activists and the Clinton Administration, the transformation of the conflict from a political to legal dispute, the representations of the groups within the community and the media, the effect of publi c opinion on the dispute, and the politics of the media in the dispute .