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This chapter traces the help extended by the Left to weomen's liberation movements. The term “Old Left” is used for describing Marxist-inspired parties and individuals and the term “New Left” refers to the modernization of the group. The New Left gave much help and support to the Women's Liberation Movement. The women who commenced the Women's Liberation Movement were influenced by Old Left parties. The chapter brings together examples from lives of radical women and discusses how the Left parties affected their thought flow. The chapter also talks about the organizational help extended by the Old Left parties to the women's liberation movements. Next the chapter studies the presence of Women's Liberation pioneers in the New Left parties and the institutional help extended by the New Left to women liberation groups. Men on the Left front who extended their full support to women during the movement also get a mention in the chapter.

The feminism of women activists working with women's liberation movements has been framed by powerful forces. All these feminist activists shared common life experiences. This chapter aims to give insight on these common features prevalent in the lives of women activists. The common feature was the presence of an Old Left family background for these feminists. The chapter provides an account of the presence of radical feminism in the lives of major activists. The activists talked about in the chapter include Judith Brown, Pam Allen, Pauli Murray, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ella Baker, and Patricia Robinson. These women activists had an idea about the woman question much before they became Women's Liberation pioneers. This can be attributed to their radical feminist families.