The leaders of the [women's suffrage] movement trembled on seeing a tall, gaunt black woman in a gray dress and white turban, surmounted with an uncouth sunbonnet, march deliberately into the church, walk with the air of a queen up the aisle, and take her seat upon the pulpit steps. A buzz of disapprobation was heard all over the house, and there fell on the listening ear, 'An abolition affair!" "Woman's rights and niggers!""I told you so!" "Go it, darkey!" . . Again and again, timorous and trembling ones came to me and said, with earnestness, "Don't let her speak, Mrs. Gage, it will ruin us. Every newspaper in the land will have our cause mixed up with abolition and niggers, and we shall be utterly denounced." My only answer was, "We shall see when the time comes."
--First-wave feminist Frances Gage, reflecting on the occasion of Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech

Although, like always, there is a lot of hard-hitting feminist news coming down the wire today (this New York Times article on women's studies programs comes to mind), sometimes it's nice to just kick back and watch some video clips. After all, it's Wednesday, and we could all use a media-fueled brain break every once in awhile.

In the interest of said brain break, here is a collection of feminist-themed internet videos. So put on your headphones, tilt your computer monitor away from your boss's line of vision, and prepare to be enlightened, entertained, enthralled, and maybe even enraged. (And if you can think of another adjective that begins with "en" you might be that as well.)

Feminism Survey: Men on the Street



More videos and commentary after the jump!

While being a musical vagabond is in Ani DiFranco’s blood, the changing face of the music industry in a sinking economy has made touring for this feminist icon a financial necessity.