On her first day of work back in 2004, Debbie nearly knocked the water cooler over and onto cofounder and then-publisher Lisa Jervis. Luckily no one held it against her, and in fact she was handed the publishing reins in 2006 when Lisa stepped down from the staff.
Prior to joining Bitch, Debbie was, at various points, involved in sexuality and reproductive justice work, union organizing, queer youth counseling, and racial- and economic-justice work. Way back in the day she also used to answer emergency road service calls from stranded Minnesotans in the dead of winter, which led to her fear of phones.
Debbie has a Master's degree in Publishing/Journalism from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which sounds much fancier than it is, 'cause most of her time there was spent working on the collectively run, community-supported, endearlingly-titled Madison Insurgent newspaper and and helping organize the first successful unionizing effort at the Whole Foods Market chain.
She returns to her hometown of Minneapolis occasionally to help her grandma host tea parties. She also likes practicing yoga, playing the accordion, rearranging furniture, talking to animals, and adjusting the lighting.
The rising visibility of trans, intersex, and genderqueer movements has led feminists—and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the world—to an increasing awareness that m and f are only the beginning of the story of gender identity. With the release of Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, Julia Serano offers a perspective sorely needed, but up until now rarely heard: a transfeminine critique of both feminist and mainstream understandings of gender.
The Adipositivity Project aims to promote size acceptance, not by listing the merits of big people, or detailing examples of excellence (these things are easily seen all around us), but rather, through a visual display of fat physicality. The sort that's normally unseen.
The hope is to widen definitions of physical beauty. Literally.
I see a lot of people who say they believe in “intersectionality” talk about it kind of like this: Since some women are people of color, and some women are poor, and some women are queer, it’s important for feminism to take an intersectional approach that recognizes the way some women experience sexism and racism, or sexism and economic exploitation, or sexism and homophobia, or other such combinations. And then maybe they’ll go a step further, and say something about how, for women of color, sexism and racism aren’t just two separate forms of oppression experienced simultaneously, but are intertwined in really complicated ways. So, a lot of self-identified supporters of intersectionality will say, if feminism is going to be a movement by and for all women, it needs to look at how all forms of oppression, not just sexism, play out in different women’s lives. And I think that’s all true and good.
Passing on the news of a recently-launched website dedicated to honoring and mobilizing girls' media production called Girls Make Media. Creator Mary Celeste Kearney is hoping the site will become a resource for girls, as well as media educators, researchers, and others dedicated to amplifying the voices of girls.
Looks like it's off to a good start -- please check it out, spread the word, contribute...
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